Tips for Managing Your Outlook Email
for Office XP Users

 

Below are some useful tricks for managing the size of your Microsoft Outlook Inbox.  Remember, by default all your email is stored on the University’s server, which has a limited capacity and will cease functioning if it gets too full.  It is everyone’s responsibility to manage the size of their Outlook Inbox.

Important Note: These procedures were composed and tested using Microsoft Office XP.  Most of them should also work with Office 2000, but a few may not.  If you are still running Office 2000 or Office 97, you are urged to consider an upgrade to Office 2003.  Please contact the Computer Services office at (205) 665-6512 for assistance.

Another Important Note:  In Windows 2000 and Windows XP, infrequently used menu choices are not always visible.  You may have to click on the two down-arrows at the bottom of a menu to see all the choices.

 

1. Check the size of your Mailbox.
   Before we start cleaning up, let’s see just how large your Mailbox is.  That way, you can look again when you’re done to see how much space you cleared out.
    
   1. In Outlook, click Tools then Mailbox Cleanup…
      
       
   2. Click the Click here button near the top of the screen to see the size of your Mailbox.  You should see this screen:
      
       
   3. As you can see, the Total size of my Mailbox (including subfolders) is currently 7705 KB or 7.5 MB
       
   4. Click Close to exit this screen, then Cancel to close the Mailbox Cleanup screen.
       
2. Empty your Sent Items folder.
   By default, Outlook saves a copy of every email you send in the Sent Items folder.  Needless to say, this folder can get pretty big over time.  But be careful when cleaning it out; there may be something in there you want to keep.
    
   1. In Outlook, make sure the Outlook Bar is displayed.  Click View, then Outlook Bar.  This will toggle the Outlook Bar on and off to the left of your Outlook window:
      
       
   2. Click My Shortcuts on the Outlook Bar, and then click Sent Items.  This will display the contents of your Sent Items folder on the right side of your screen.
       
   3. Scroll through the folder looking for any emails you want to keep, and move them to your Inbox.  (Click Outlook Shortcuts to display your Inbox icon, then drag and drop the email onto the Inbox icon.)
       
   4. Unfortunately, there is no menu choice to empty the entire contents of your Sent Items folder.  But you can do it manually.
       
      1. Make sure your Sent Items folder is active by clicking on the Sent Items shortcut on the Outlook Bar.
          
      2. Scroll through your Sent Items folder one more time to check for emails you want to save.
          
      3.  If you’re certain there’s nothing in your Sent Items folder you wish to save, simply choose Edit from the menu bar at the top of the Outlook window, then choose Select All.  Then choose Edit again, then Delete.  (Be careful with this step.  Make sure your Sent Items folder is what you’re looking at before you delete the contents.)
          
3. Empty your Deleted Items folder
   You may think when you delete an email that it’s gone for good, but think again.  It’s actually just been sent to your Deleted Items folder.  Clearing out this folder can free up a lot of space!
    
   1. Once again, make sure the Outlook Bar is visible (View ...Outlook Bar)
       
   2. Click Outlook Shortcuts on the Outlook Bar, then click the Deleted Items icon.  This will display the contents of your Deleted Items folder.
       
   3. If you see anything you want to keep, drag it out of the Deleted Items folder and drop it into your Inbox.  (Drag and Drop it onto your Inbox icon on your Outlook Shortcuts.)
       
   4. Once you’re sure there’s nothing in your Deleted Items you want to rescue, right-click on the Deleted Items icon, then select Empty “Deleted Items” folder.
       
   5. You will be asked if you’re sure you want to proceed.  Click Yes.
       
4. Archiving Your Email
   Another way to reduce the size of your Inbox is to allow Outlook to archive older items for you.  Once enabled, Outlook’s AutoArchive feature will move older emails, tasks, journals and so forth to an Archive folder on your hard drive.
   
   Important Note:  Items that have been Archived, including emails, are cannot be viewed through Outlook Web Access.
   
   By default, Outlook’s Auto-archive feature is enabled, but let’s make sure it’s enabled on your PC:
    
   1.  On the Outlook menu, choose Tools, then Options, then the Other tab
       
   2. Click the AutoArchive… button.
       
   3. You should see this screen:
      
       
   4. If there is a checkmark next to Run AutoArchive every…, then AutoArchive is already running on your PC.
       
   5. If there is not a checkmark next to Run AutoArchive every…, then AutoArchive has been disabled on your PC.  Put a checkmark in the box if you want to enable it.  You can also set how often AutoArchive will run.  (The default is every 14 days.)
       
   6. By default when enabled, AutoArchive will create a personal storage file on your PC called Archive Folders.  It will run according to the schedule you specified in the previous step, and will move emails and other items to this folder depending on how old they are.  The defaults for the various types of items are:
       
      1. Inbox, Calendar, Tasks and Drafts:  6 months.
          
      2. Sent Items and Deleted Items:  2 months.
          

      In other words, with AutoArchive enabled, emails in your Inbox will be sent to your Archive Folder once they are 6 months old.  Emails in your Sent Items will be archived once they are 2 months old.
      
      Important Note:  Emails and other items in your Deleted Items are NOT archived.  When AutoArchive is active, items in your Deleted Items folder are deleted after 2 months.

   7. Click OK to accept any changes that you have made or Cancel to close the window without making changes in the AutoArchive window.
       
   8. If you don’t like the defaults that AutoArchive uses, you can set them manually for each folder.  For instance, you could set your Inbox to move emails to your Archive Folder after 8 months instead of 6.
       
      1. Right-click your Inbox icon on the Outlook Bar.
          
      2. Choose Properties.
          
      3. Click the AutoArchive tab.  You should see this screen:
         
          
      4. Here, you can change the period after which items are archived, tell Outlook to permanently delete old items, or even turn off AutoArchiving for this particular folder.  You can set these kinds of options for all the folders in your Mailbox.  Go to View on the Outlook menu, then Folder List to view all the folders in your Inbox.
          
5. Personal Folders
   If you’re not comfortable allowing Outlook to archive items for you, or if you just want to handle it manually, you might want to consider using a Personal Folder to store older emails and other items.  The Personal Folder will reside on your hard drive, just as the Archive Folder does, but you can name it anything you wish and nothing will be moved to it automatically.
   
   Important Note:  As with archived items, Personal Folders and their contents are not available through Outlook Web Access.
   
   Another Important Note:  If you decide to use a Personal Folder to archive your email, be sure to turn AutoArchiving off.
    
   1. To create a Personal Folder in Outlook, click File on the Outlook menu, then New, then choose Outlook Data File.
       
   2. You should see this screen:
      
       
   3. Highlight Personal Folders File (*.pst) and click OK.
       
   4. The next screen will ask you to select a location and name for your new Personal Folder.  It’s best just to accept the defaults and click OK.
       
   5.  You should now see this screen:
      
       
   6. Here, you can name your new folder, and also password-protect it, if you like.  The name you give it here is how it will appear in Outlook.
       
   7. Name your new folder and click OK to continue.
       
   8. Your new Personal Folder will now appear in the Outlook Folder List, as in this illustration:
      
       
   9. To view the Outlook Folder List, click View, then Folder List.  Your new Personal Folder will be displayed in the list alphabetically.
       
   10. Now, you can move items, especially old emails, manually from your Inbox into your personal folder.  This procedure will remove the email from the server and put it on your hard drive.
        
   11. You can create sub-folders in your personal folder.  Simply right-click the folder in the Folder List and choose New Folder.  You will be asked to name your sub-folder, then click OK.  You may need to click the + next to your Personal Folder in the Folder List to display your new sub-folder:
       
        
   12. To move an email from your Inbox to your personal folder or sub-folder, simply click and hold the email, drag it over the folder you wish to move it to, then let go.
        
6. Backing Up Your Email
   Now that you are saving your email to your hard drive instead of the server, it is important that you begin to save a backup of your email periodically.  The simplest way is to copy any files on your hard drive ending in .pst.  These are your personal storage and archive files.  To make sure you find all these files, follow these steps:
    
   1. Click on Start, then Search, then For Files or Folders...
       
   2. You should see this screen:
      
       
   3.  Click All files and folders
       
   4. In the box that reads All or part of the file name: type *.pst, then scroll down and click on More advanced options.
       
   5. Scroll down some more, and make sure there is a check in the box next to:
      √  Search system folders
      √  Search hidden files and folders
      √  Search subfolders
       
   6. Click Search.  After a minute or so, the Search Results window will display all the email storage files on your hard drive.  Simply copy these files to another media, such as a CD, to back them up.
      
      Important Note:  These personal storage files can get pretty big.  Please note that your network store (your H drive) is not an appropriate place for these files.

If you have any questions about any of the procedures in this document, or would like to schedule a technician to come to your office for a consultation, please do not hesitate to contact the Computer Services Help Desk at (205) 665-6520 between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm Monday - Friday or send an email to helpdesk@montevallo.edu.

 

Updated January 2006