REDUCING YOUR MICROSOFT OUTLOOK MAILBOX SIZE
There are several ways to eliminate having too much email on the Exchange mail server. To reduce your mailbox
size it is recommended that you practice the following tasks:
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Delete items from your Mailbox:
o In your Sent folder, delete outdated or unwanted email
o Empty your Deleted Items folder from your mailbox upon exiting from Outlook
Manually Archive or AutoArchive mail to a personal storage file
Create Personal Folders
Deleting items from Deleted Items Folder
One of the main ways to save space is to empty the deleted items folder. Simply hitting the delete key or the delete
icon will not delete your unwanted email. Doing this puts the items in a deleted items folder. You are required to
physically delete or empty the folder.
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Manually Deleting Email:
1. Click on the Deleted Items folder icon in your Mailbox.
2. Although you have already deleted these items, you may want to review the contents of this folder to
be sure you are ready to empty it.
3. To empty the folder, right click on the Deleted Items folder. Select Empty Deleted Items Folder
from this menu and click the mouse again.
4. A message will appear asking "Are you sure that you want to permanently delete the selected item(s)?"
Click the Yes button to finish emptying the folder.
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Automatically Deleting Email:
To delete the emails in the Deleted Items Folder automatically, the "Empty the Deleted Items folder upon
exiting" option must be enabled. Outlook will then cleanup the deleted items folder each time the application is
exited.
5.
6.
To set the delete items option, click on Tools from the menu bar. Click on Options and select the
Other tab.
The Options window will appear. Place a check mark in the box prior to "Empty the Deleted Items
folder upon exiting" option and click OK.
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REDUCING YOUR MICROSOFT OUTLOOK MAILBOX SIZE
Archiving Your Email in Outlook
In Outlook, archiving is a way to back up or delete old items, such as e-mail messages, appointments, contacts,
tasks, journal entries, notes, posted items, and documents. Archiving email is a way to preserve old items in an area
separate from your mailbox by transferring them from the server to your “archive” folder stored locally on your
computer’s hard drive. AutoArchive backs up items for you automatically by using either the default settings or
settings that you specify. However, sometimes you might not want to worry about all of those settings and just
archive an individual folder manually.
The three key benefits of archiving
When you archive, you get three key benefits: you keep
a historical record, you save disk space, and you cut
down on visual clutter.
Effective record keeping
When you archive messages instead of deleting them,
you'll have records of your work that can help you
remember the details of events, projects, and processes.
If you're the kind of person who never throws anything
away, archiving is your dream.
Save disk space
Because archiving makes use of compression, archived
items use less storage space.
Cut down on visual clutter Archiving removes items
from your mailbox and puts them in the archive file. Now
that you can more easily see the messages you need,
you can work with them more effectively.
AutoArchive versus Archiving on Your Own
There are two ways to archive: You can let Outlook
automatically archive messages at regular intervals, or
you can archive at times that you specify.
AutoArchive allows you to set up a schedule and
archive multiple folders at the same time at set intervals.
You'll know you have this feature turned on if periodically
you get a friendly dialog box like the one in Figure 1. By
default, Outlook turns on the AutoArchive feature.
Figure 1 You'll see this dialog box if AutoArchive is
enabled.
The catch with AutoArchive is that it doesn't simply
archive stuff, it can also delete it. If you want to keep
everything, you should adjust your AutoArchive settings
accordingly, as shown in Figure 2.
To change the AutoArchive settings, click Options on
the Tools menu, click the Other tab, and click
AutoArchive.
Figure 2 You can change the AutoArchive settings on
the AutoArchive dialog box. You can also use this
dialog box to turn AutoArchive off if you prefer to archive
things on your own.
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REDUCING YOUR MICROSOFT OUTLOOK MAILBOX SIZE
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Manually Archiving Your Email in Outlook
You can manually archive your email in Outlook. Manually archiving your email allows you to select when you
want to archive a particular folder (or mailbox).
1.
In Outlook, click the File menu. (Select the double arrows at the bottom to expand the menu, if
necessary.)
2.
Select Archive....
3.
Click once on the individual folder that you want to archive. If you wish to archive everything including your
Contacts and Calendar, select the Mailbox icon that has your name next to it.
4.
In the "Archive Items Older Than" drop-down list, select a date for when you want the archive to begin.
If this is your first time manually archiving your Exchange mailbox, do the following. Otherwise, go to the
next numbered step.
a.
Click the Browse button. The default folder where your archive files are saved on the
computer will display.
b.
You may rename the "archive.pst" file in this folder or any folder of your choosing. Click OK.
5.
Click OK to complete archiving task. You can read your archived messages by clicking the plus sign next to
Archive Folders in the Folder List.
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REDUCING YOUR MICROSOFT OUTLOOK MAILBOX SIZE
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AutoArchiving Your Email in Outlook 2003
You can tell if Outlook is set up to use AutoArchive by
opening the AutoArchive dialog box. To see this dialog
box, you would click Options on the Tools menu, click
the Other tab, and click AutoArchive.
By default, AutoArchive is set to run every 14 days. To
change the frequency, you would change the number in
the days box.
Tip You can also run AutoArchive at any time, if your
Inbox is getting too full, by clicking AutoArchive in the
Mailbox Cleanup dialog box (which you can get to
from the Tools menu).
Of course, you'll also know that AutoArchive is running if
you see the friendly dialog box we showed you at the
beginning of this lesson. If you'd rather not see that
dialog box each time AutoArchive runs, you would clear
the Prompt before AutoArchive runs check box
(shown in the illustration).
If the Run AutoArchive every check box is selected,
AutoArchive will run. The number in the days box
specifies how frequently messages will be archived.
You can read your archived messages by clicking the
plus sign next to Archive Folders in the Folder List.
The list of your archived folders will appear. Clicking on
an archived folder displays its contents in the same form
that you are used to seeing in the Mailbox. When you
open an archived message, it will look the same as
before it was archived.
Click this plus sign to read archived messages.
Archived messages are visible in Archive Folders.
Click a subfolder to read the messages.
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REDUCING YOUR MICROSOFT OUTLOOK MAILBOX SIZE
Creating Personal Folders in Outlook
Filing e-mail in a personal folder gives you maximum control over how and where your stuff is stored. With personal
folders, you set up the folders and move messages manually, exactly the way you want them.
With personal folders, you design the filing system. You can combine folders that are separate in Mailbox, or you can
split Mailbox folders, depending on your long-term needs for these filed messages. For example, you could group
messages by project or divide them by sender. This freedom is unlike archive folders, which simply mimic Mailbox.
By default, you should already have an item called “Personal Folders” on your folder list in Outlook. This resides
locally on your computer, so you can move email from your Inbox to the Personal Folder to free up space.
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To Create New Personal Folders in Outlook
You would start creating your personal folders by clicking
New on the File menu. After that, follow the procedure
shown in this illustration to the left.
Once you create Personal Folders, it's a good idea to
create some folders inside it—you're doing this because
you want to get organized, right? For example, a folder
named Temporary can be a useful place to put
messages you need to keep but don't expect to keep for
long.
After you've got your filing system worked out, you can
start moving messages by:
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Right-clicking them and then clicking Move (this is
the only way to move a message while it's open for
viewing).
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Dragging your message to the folder.
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Creating rules to move them automatically.
On the File menu, click New.
Select Outlook Data File.
Select Microsoft Outlook Personal Folders File
(.pst).
Personal Folders appears in the Folder List.
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