Information Technology

Microsoft Outlook Information

Outlook for Windows Mailbox Maintenance

If you keep getting messages from the System Administrator saying your mailbox is over its size limit, here are some ways you can make sure your mailbox is taking as little space as possible.

1.  Deleted Items folder
2.  Sent Items folder
3.  Move needed messages to your Personal Folder
4.  Stop Journal logging

1. Deleted Items Folder

If you delete mail messages to reduce the size of your mailbox, don’t forget to empty your DELETED ITEMS folder because that folder is also included in your mailbox size. There are three ways to empty your DELETED ITEMS folder: 

  1. Choose EMPTY DELETED ITEMS FOLDER option from TOOLS menu; or 
  2. Choose EXIT AND LOG OFF option from FILE menu; or 
  3. From within DELETED ITEMS folder, select each mail message and delete it again.  Deleting messages from the DELETED ITEMS folder actually does delete them. 

2. Sent Items Folder

Your Sent Items folder may be retaining a copy of every email message you send. (This is especially if you are using Outlook Web Access (OWA).)  Review this folder every now and then to eliminate unneeded copies of sent mail. You can turn this auto copy option off and manually keep copies of particular messages. 

In the full Outlook client (as opposed to OWA), to keep from saving a copy of every email message you send, select the "Options..." option from the "Tools" menu. Click on the "E-mail options..." button and take the check mark away from the "Save copies of messages in Sent Items folder" option. 

To manually keep a copy of a particular email message you are about to send, click the "Options..." button on your Outlook toolbar at the top of your composed message. In the "Delivery Options" section, place a check mark in front of the "Save sent message to:" option. Then select the email folder into which you want the message copy to be saved. The "Sent Items" folder is the default. 

3. Move Needed Messages to Your Personal Folder

Warning: Your Personal Folder is a file on your hard drive. If something should happen to the integrity of your hard drive, or the file is accidentally deleted, it cannot be recovered unless you are backing this file up (i.e., regularly saving a copy of your MyDocuments/Outlook/NetworkID.pst file to some other media). Your other email folders are preserved in case of a University-wide network problem because we regularly back up the mail servers and network drives. 

You may drag or move needed email messages to your Personal Folder, which is located near the bottom of your Outlook Folder List. You can add sub-folders to your Personal Folders. Go to File, New, Folder and enter the name you desire.  Or just right-click on your Personal Folder and choose the New Folder option.

You can also create rules that automatically move specific messages from your Inbox to your Personal Folder area while you are running Outlook.  For help with this, set up a mail consultation meeting through the IT Help Desk (310-506-4357).

We recommend that you DO NOT password protect your Personal Folder. If you password protect your Personal Folder and forget the password, it cannot be recovered. 

4. Stop Journal Logging if You're not Utilizing it.

The Journal keeps track of how you utilize your time. It tracks how long you worked on specific email messages, Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. If you do not have a need for this, go to Tools, Options, Journal and de-select the checked boxes. 

Also, delete any existing Journal entries by clicking on the Journal in Outlook and select "Entry List" view. Click on the first item and press Ctrl+A to select all items, then hit the "Delete" key to delete them.

 

Get more help from the IT Help Desk at 1-310-506-HELP (4357).