Cleaning out Outlook E mail

Cleaning out Outlook E­mail The following are tips to keeping Outlook E­mail folder sizes to a minimum. If users have any questions, please call the Helpdesk on 619­4357. Empty the Deleted Items folder Every time an e­mail message is deleted, it goes into the ‘Deleted Items’ folder. This folder can grow quickly, so it needs to be emptied regularly. The folder can be emptied automatically every time Outlook is shut down or manually. To manually empty the ‘Deleted Items’ folder: 1. Open Outlook. 2. On the ‘Go’ menu, click ‘Folder List’. Go Folder list
1 3. Select the ‘Deleted Items’ folder and right­click. Click on the “Empty ‘Deleted Items’ Folder”. This will delete all messages in the ‘Deleted Items’ folder. A message will appear asking if the user is sure they want to permanently delete the selected message(s). Deleted Items Folder
Empty “Deleted Items” Folder Users can delete the messages one at a time by right­clicking on the message and choosing ‘Delete’. Note: Once a message is permanently deleted it is not recoverable. Delete
2 To automatically empty the Deleted Items folder: 1. Click ‘Tools’, ‘Options’ and then click the ‘Other’ tab. 2. Click on the box next to ‘Empty the Deleted Items folder upon exiting’. Tools Options Other Empty the Deleted Items folder upon exiting
Note: Once a message is permanently deleted it is not recoverable. 3 Save attachments outside the mailbox Attachments can take up a lot of space. If attachments do not need to be stored in the mailbox, don't. Instead, use the ‘Save Attachment’ command on the File menu and save the attachments to a convenient location. Once the attachment has been saved, the message can be deleted (if it is not needed anymore), or right­click the attachment icon and click Remove to keep the message but remove the attachment. Before starting to save attachments, ensure a location is thought of for storage. For example, if the attachment is a photo, save it in a special folder for photos on the H: drive. Also, when the attachment is saved, make sure it is named something that will help the user to remember its contents and context. To save an attachment outside the mailbox: 1. Open the message. On the main menu at the top of Outlook, click on ‘File’, ‘Save Attachments’. File Save Attachments
4 2. Browse to the location to which the file is to be saved. Click ‘Save’. 3. Either delete the message by clicking the delete button on the toolbar at the top, or remove the attachment by opening the message, right clicking on the attachment and choosing ‘Remove’. By clicking ‘Remove’, the attachment will be removed, but the message will remain. Delete Remove
5 Archive folders regularly Keeping sent and received messages can be a useful way to track who said what to whom. However, messages do not necessarily need to be kept in the mailbox—which is where a copy of the sent and received messages are stored unless archived. Folders can be archived automatically or manually. To automatically archive folders: AutoArchive backs up items automatically by using either the default settings or user specified settings. To specify default AutoArchive settings for ALL Microsoft Outlook folders: AutoArchive is turned on by default. However, its default settings can be changed. 1. On the ‘Tools’ menu, click ‘Options’, and then click the ‘Other’ tab. Tools Options
6 Other 2. Click ‘AutoArchive’. Auto Archive
7 3. With ‘Run AutoArchive every n days’ selected, specify how often to run AutoArchive. 4. Select the options required. It is recommended that the date be no more than two months previous to today’s date. 5. In the ‘Default folder settings for archiving’ section, click on the ‘Move old items to:’ button and browse to a folder on the H: drive, that way archived messages will be included in the back­up process. Note: The default location for Archive.pst is C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\. A Personal Folders file (.pst) is an Outlook data file that stores items such as e­mail messages, contacts, calendar data, tasks, and notes. If the archive file listed under ‘Move old items to’ location is changed, it is changed for all folders that use the default AutoArchive settings. 6. Warning: If the option to ‘Permanently delete old items’ is chosen, the items will be deleted, not archived. The items will no longer be recoverable. 7. To apply the changes to all folders, click ‘Apply these settings to all folders now’. This will override custom archive settings specified on individual folders.
8 To manually archive a folder: 1. On the ‘Go’ menu, click ‘Folder List’. Go Folder list list
9 2. Click the folder that to be archived. In this example, the folder being archived is Quotes. 3. On the ‘File’ menu, click ‘Archive’. File Archive
10 4. Click one of the following options:
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Archive all folders to their AutoArchive settings Allows users to use AutoArchive settings to archive the folder. If this option is chosen, click ‘OK’. The folder will begin to archive.
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Archive this folder and all the subfolders Allows users to archive the folder using the options available in the Archive dialog box. If this option is chosen, follow the steps below to complete the procedure. Archive items older than
1. In the ‘Archive items older than’ list, choose a date from the date picker. In this example, items in the folder created before January 13, 2006 are archived. It is recommended that the date be no more than two months previous to today’s date. 2. To include items previously selected not to archive, select the ‘Include items with "Do not AutoArchive" checked’ check box. (Note: To see if items have the ‘Do not AutoArchive this item’ check box selected, open the item. On the ‘File’ menu, click ‘Properties’. On the ‘General’ tab, verify that the ‘Do not AutoArchive this item’ check box is selected.) 3. To archive the folder to a file other than the default Archive.pst file, click Browse, and then specify a different file name, such as Quotes Archive.pst, and a location, such as the H: drive. 11 Note: The default location for Archive.pst is C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\. A Personal Folders file (.pst) is an Outlook data file that stores items such as e­mail messages, contacts, calendar data, tasks, and notes. 4. Click ‘OK’. The items in the folder are moved out of the folder and into the .pst file specified. To Specify AutoArchive settings for individual folders 1. On the ‘Go’ menu, click ‘Folder List’. Go
Folder list 12 2. On the folder list on the left side of the screen, right­click the folder for which specific settings are to be made, and then click ‘Properties’ on the shortcut menu. Properties
3. Click the ‘AutoArchive’ tab. 13 4. Specify whether this folder is to be archived and if so, whether to use the default ‘AutoArchive’ settings or user defined settings. To archive to a file other than the default one, specify a different file name in the ‘Move old items to’ box. The next time AutoArchive runs on this folder, Outlook will automatically create the new archive file for items in this folder. View archived items 1. On the ‘Go’ menu, click ‘Folder List’. Go Folder list
14 2. Click ‘Archive Folders’ (or the name specified for the archive location). Archive folders List of archived folders
15 To Restore archived items To move individual items from a .pst file into their original folder or a new one 1. On the ‘Go’ menu, click the ‘Folder List’. Go Folder list 2. Click ‘Archive Folders’ (or the name specified for the archive location). Archive folders List of archived folders
16 3. Click the folder containing the items to be moved. 4. Select the items to be moved, and then drag them into their original folders in the Folder List.
17 No response is the best response Users do not need to send an e­mail to say ‘Thank you for the message (or file)’. This simply adds to the user’s mailbox size as well as to the recipient’s. It is understood that thanks is given. In addition, do not respond to unsolicited e­mail messages. Throw them away. Do not respond to junk messages or chain letters. Also, don't click links within this type of e­mail that say things such as "Click here to remove yourself from this mailing list." When users respond or click these "remove me" links, they let the sender know that it is an active e­mail address, and they are more likely to send more of this type of junk e­mail. To view mailbox and folder sizes To keep the maintenance of mailboxes to a minimum, it is easy to check how big the mailbox is getting, and thus, how close to the quota. Seeing the mailbox size this way can help identify areas that may need to be cleared of excess messages. 1. From ‘Folder List’ (which can be reached by clicking ‘Folder List’ on the ‘Go’ menu), click ‘Folder Sizes’ to see the sizes of e­mail folders. Go Folder list Folder sizes
18 2. To see the sizes of the mailbox and the e­mail folders inside it, click ‘Folder Sizes’ on the Navigation Pane. The ‘Folder Size’ dialog box appears and mailbox and folder sizes are displayed. If users have any questions, please call the Helpdesk on 619­4357.
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