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Outlook Size Tricks

Procedures to Reduce Mailbox Size

The following describes several ways to enhance the performance of your email client and maintain its storage space on the email server. It applies to Outlook 98, Outlook 2000/2002 client configuration.

Special notes are also included for Outlook97, Exchange Client 5.0, Outlook Express, Eudora Pro 4.0, and Outlook for Mac v.8.x.


Mailbox Management

As your mail storage grows you will need to manage your mailbox size. There are a number of things that you can do to assist in this maintenance. Listed below are current recommendations to help reduce the storage space. The reduction of used space can be accomplished by saving the email attachment(s) to a file location on a local or networked drive. Deleting items in various folders in your mailbox including the Sent Items folder and making sure that the Deleted Folder is purged or emptied. Finally you can create a PST (Personal Folder) file for long-term storage of your important email messages or else set Outlook to AutoArchive your mailbox.

Just how big is my Mailbox?

To determine just how big your Mailbox is:

  • Right click on "Outlook Today - [Mailbox - Your Name (IC)]"

  • Select "Properties for Outlook Today"

  • Under the "General" property tab select "Folder Size"

  • You will then be presented with a list of sub-folders and their size.

  • Adding size column to message view:

    • Select View menu, Current View, Customize Current View...
    • Select Fields Button, choose from Available Fields window, add 'size' field
      *** For Outlook97 and Outlook for Mac, select View menu, Show Fields.
      *** For Exchange Client 5.0 and Outlook Express, select View menu, Column.

Save Attachments to Another Location

To save attachments to another location follow these guidelines:

  • Clearing/saving attachments:

  • In the message with an attachment, right mouse click on the attachment, choose 'Save As'.

  • Select the location where the attachment should be saved: local drive or your home directory.

  • The attachment is now saved and can be cleared from the message by selecting the attachment and pressing the 'Delete' key on the keyboard.

  • Select File menu, Close and click on Yes when prompted "Do you want to save changes?"

Clean out Sent Items Folder

Periodically checking and deleting unwanted messages in your Sent Items folder will also help the storage space on the exchange server since deleted sent items will end up in Deleted Items folder, which will be attended by manual or AutoArchive mechanism.

Emptying Deleted Items

Messages in Deleted Items folder are still counted for in the Information Store. Prompt purging of unwanted message in this folder will help alleviate the space shortage on the server

Note: Deleted items can be undeleted for up to 48 hours after deletion.
 

To empty (purge) Deleted Items:
Option A: Select 'Tools' from the menu bar and "Empty deleted items folder"

  • Exchange Client 5.0, this option does not apply. Simply right click on Deleted Items folder and click Empty folder.

  • Mac Outlook v8.1, this option does not apply.

  • Outlook Express, select Edit menu and select Purge Deleted Messages.

  • Eudora Pro 4.0, 1) highlight the items to be purged, 2) select Delete from Message menu, 3) select Remove deleted messages from Message menu.

  • Netscape Communicator 4.5, emptying Trash folder has no effect on the Deleted Items folder, i.e. deleted items remain intact on the mail server.

    • Note: In Microsoft Outlook 98, clicking "Empty 'Deleted Items' Folder" on the Tools menu does not empty all Deleted Items folders. This menu command empties only the Deleted Items folder on the primary store. Deleted Items folders on other personal stores are not affected.

    • RESOLUTION: To empty other Deleted Item folders, using the right mouse button, click the folder name, and then click "Empty 'Deleted Items' Folder" on the shortcut menu.

Option B: Right-click on Deleted Items and click on Empty "Deleted Items" Folder.

  • Note: Macintosh Outlook 8.2.1 users must Control-click on the Deleted Items and then click on the Empty Folder choice.

  • To turn on or off automatic emptying of the Deleted Items folder:

    • On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Other tab.

    • Select or clear the Empty the Deleted Items folder upon exiting check box.

      • Note: To be notified before you empty the Deleted Items folder, click the Tools menu, click Options; click the Other tab, click Advanced Options, and then select or clear the Warn before permanently deleting items check box.

      • Outlook97, Exchange Client 5.0, Outlook Express, Outlook for Mac, select Tools, Options and the General tab instead of the Other tab.

      • Eudora Pro 4.0, first select Tools, Options, Miscellaneous and under Category, select or clear Empty Trash when exiting check box, next highlight items in Deleted Items folder and select Transfer then Trash.

Create a PST file

To manage your email in a more efficient manner it recommended that you create a PST file on either your local hard drive or networked “home drive”. The creation of a PST will allow saving your mail long term and maintaining a small store on the server.

Windows Outlook Clients:

  • In Outlook, go to Tools / Services

  • If there is no Personal Folders choice in the Services, click the Add… button and double-click on the Personal Folders option. If the Personal Folders choice is already in the Services window, double click it.

  • Create a new file by selecting the Add… button.

  • A dialog box “Create\Open Personal Folder” will come up and ask you name the PST file and you will be able to select the location of where the file will reside on the network or local hard drive.

  • Name it whatever you want and place it in your desired location.

  • Choose level of encryption desired and if you want to have a password to open the file.

    Note: The password associated with your Personal Folder is completely separate from your login password. If you lose your Personal Folder password, there will be no way to get into your Personal Folder.
     

  • Close out of the dialog boxes.

  • You should now see your Personal Folders in your folder list view.

Macintosh Outlook Client 8.x:

  • Navigate to Tools / Services

  • If there is no Personal Folders choice in the Services, click the Add… button and double-click on the Personal Folders option. If the Personal Folders choice is already in the Services window, double click it.

  • Create a new file by selecting the New… button.

  • Name it whatever you want.

  • Choose level of encryption desired and if you want to have a password to open the file.

    Note: The password associated with your Personal Folder is completely separate from your login password. If you lose your Personal Folder password, there will be no way to get into your Personal Folder.
     

  • Close out of dialog boxes

  • You should now see your Personal Folders in your folder list view.

To compact PST or OST files on local machines:

  • To conserve space on your computer's hard disk, you can delete unwanted items from the various PST and/or OST folders and then compact the files to make them smaller.

  • NOTE: Deleting the unwanted items from each folder only moves them to the Deleted Items folder, but not from the mailbox itself. You must delete the items from the Deleted Items folder to permanently delete them, so that Outlook can compact the file.

  • The compacting process does not remove all the free space from the file.

  • It leaves either 16 kilobytes (KB) or 4 percent of the file size (before compacting) whichever is greater.

  • To be compacted, a file must meet the following requirements:

    • The file must be 16 KB or larger.

    • The file must have at least 16 KB of space freed since the last time it was compacted.

Personal folder compaction may be initiated either manually or it will happen automatically. Automatic compaction takes place as an idle task in the background while Outlook is running. In some cases the PST files stored on a file server may require manual compaction, due to interactions between the file server where the PST files are stored and your computer.

To Manually Start PST Compaction (this also applies to Outlook97, Exchange Client 5.0, and Outlook for Mac):

  • On the Tools menu, click Services.
  • Click to select Personal Folders, and then click Properties.
  • On the General tab, click Compact Now.
  • Click OK twice.


To Manually Start OST Compaction (this also applies to Outlook97, Exchange Client 5.0, and Outlook for Mac):

  • On the Tools menu, click Services.
  • Click to select Microsoft Exchange Server, and click Properties.
  • On the Advanced tab, click "Offline Folder File Settings."
  • Click Compact Now.
  • Click OK three times.

Auto Archiving

Note: This does not apply to Exchange Client 5.0, Outlook Express, Outlook for Mac, or Eudora Pro 4.0.

Your Outlook mailbox grows as items are created in the same way that papers pile up on your desk. In the paper-based world, you can occasionally shuffle through your documents and store those that are important but not frequently used. Documents that are less important, such as newspapers and magazines, you can discard based on their age.

You can quickly complete the same process in Outlook. You can manually transfer old items to a storage file by clicking Archive on the File menu, or you can have old items automatically transferred by using AutoArchive. Items are considered old when they reach the age you specify. With AutoArchive, you can either delete or move old items. Outlook can archive all types of items, but it can only locate files that are stored in a e-mail folder, such as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet or Word document attached to an e-mail message. A file that is not stored in a e-mail folder cannot be archived.

AutoArchive is a two-step process:

  • First, you turn on AutoArchive. On the Tools menu, click Options, click the Other tab, and then click AutoArchive.
    *** For Outlook97, click AutoArchive tab instead of Other tab.
     
     
     
  • Second, you set the AutoArchive properties for each folder that you want archived. At the folder level, you can determine which items are archived, and how often they are archived. You can automatically archive individual folders, groups of folders, or all Outlook folders. The process runs automatically while Outlook is running. The AutoArchive properties of each folder are checked by date, and old items are moved to your archive file. Items in the Deleted Items folder are deleted.
     

Several Outlook folders are set up with AutoArchive turned on. These folders and their default aging periods are Calendar (6 months), Tasks (6 months), Journal (6 months), Sent Items (2 months), and Deleted Items (2 months). Inbox, Notes, Contacts, and Drafts do not have AutoArchive activated automatically.

There is a difference between exporting and archiving. When you archive, the original items are copied to the archive file, and then removed from the current folder. When you export, the original items are copied to the export file, but are not removed from the current folder. In addition, you can only archive one file type, a personal folder file, but you can export many file types.

When you archive, your existing folder structure is maintained in your new archive file. If there is a parent folder above the folder you chose to archive, the parent folder is created in the archive file, but items within the parent folder are not archived. In this way, an identical folder structure exists between the archive file and your mailbox. Folders are left in place after being archived, even if they are empty.

 

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