Managing eMail Storage Limits
You’re getting that dreaded “out of memory” from your IT administrator, but you don’t have that much in your inbox! Alas and alack…what to do?
1. The first thing to do is set up personal folders:
-Open Outlook
-Click on File
-Choose New
-Choose “Outlook Data File”
-Click on Office Outlook Personal Folders File (choose the one appropriate to your version of Outlook)
-Click OK
-Click the drop down menu where it says Outlook and change it to your network drive (commonly the G drive)
The G drive will not take up space on your Email Storage and is often backed up each night on the server. Some companies don’t back up personal folders by policy, but it’s still less likely have a fatal accident on your network drive.
What we refer to as “Personal Folders” are really a single database (it is called a ‘data file’…) of folders – it can contain any number of folders that you’ll set up as you need them.
2. Make actual folders:
-Chose File/New/Folder
-A pop-up will appear. Highlight the name of set of Personal Folders in which it will reside
-Type a name in the “Name” box
-Click OK
Now you can drag and drop any of your mail to this folder for storage without impacting the size limits of your inbox.
3. You don’t need to do that because you already have Personal Folders, but you checked “Mailbox Cleanup” under the “Tools” menu and your mailbox size didn’t change after you moved things into personal folders!
The problem here is that your personal folders are stored in your inbox. This often happens by default. You need to move them.
-Right click on “Personal Folders.” (Most people have this showing in the default view under “All Mail Folders.” If you don’t, go into help and learn how to change your view.)
-Choose “Properties”
-Chose “Advanced”
-Under “Filename” you’ll see something like “C:Documents and SettingsyournameMy DocumentsOutlook.pst.” This would be bad. Your C drive is the hard drive on your computer…it’s not on the network, and doesn’t get backed up in most companies. You want to move it to your network drive. Other companies don’t back up personal folders, period, so be aware. You’re less likely to lose it on your network drive than your C drive, in any case.
One way to do this:
-Make a note of where the file is
-Close out of Outlook
-Follow that path to the file (in the example above, you would choose “My Computer,” choose your “C” drive, then “Documents and Settings,” etc. until you get to file called “Outlook.pst”)
-Highlight the file and choose “move this file,” which is in a sidebar menu if you are in Windows XP in standard view. If you’re in something else, you’ll have to hunt for it. (alternative: “copy file” or Cntrl C in Windows, Apple C in Mac)
-Navigate to your network drive. I have a folder called “Outlook,” and that’s where I keep it. (alternative: navigate to the new spot and paste right into the window)
Outlook may argue. It’s like that. Sometimes it’s easier to just make new personal folders and drag and drop from your old folders to your new ones, then throw away the old ones. (Be sure to give the new set a different name so you don’t get confused! But then, that only happens to me, right? 
)
4. Automatically Archive Your Older Items:
Tools>Options>Other>AutoArchive
This will set the default for all of your folders. You can choose whether or not to do it automatically and how often.
You can make exceptions to archive one folder or another by right clicking on the folder in mailbox view. Select “Properties,” then click on the “AutoArchive” tab.
NOTE: There is rarely a reason to archive a personal folder. A personal folder is not taking up any room in your mailbox – it’s already a form of archive. You should follow the steps above for making an exception for each personal folder: right click>properties>autoarchive, then choose “Do not archive items in this folder.”
The more often you archive, the cleaner your mailbox. You can view your archive folder in your list of all mail folders and open them like any other folder, so they aren’t lost forever.
To view how much of your space is being used by your folders in your Outlook, follow these steps:
Go to your Email
Right click on “Mailbox – your name” (See screen shot #2 attached)
Go to Properties for Mailbox
Go to Folder Size
This will show you exactly how much is being stored in each folder of your Outlook, including your calendar
Cleaning out your Calendar Storage
Your calendar in Outlook may be taking up almost half of your storage space. Archiving old calendar information will help give you more room for incoming emails.
To clean up your calendar, follow these steps:
Go to your calendar
Click on View (See screen shot # 3 for the following steps)
Click on Arrange by
Click Current View
Click on Define Views
Hit New
Name a new Table “Clean Up”
Make sure it is set on Table
Hit OK
Select “Only Visible to Me”
Hit OK
Apply View
This will change the view to show you old events from your calendar that you can select to delete. It will break them down by recurring or non-recurring.
Do not delete old recurring events if they are still existing events now!
When this is complete, go back to View and change back to the Day/Week/Month View.
Now that you have “Clean Up” View saved it will show up as a choice in your current view screen.
Cleaning out your email
Cleaning email is easier – just look at what mailbox is taking the most space. Sort your email by size and file the largest in personal folders or discard them.
Best Practices for Invitations
Cannot Access Personal Contact from eMail
How to Avoid Disappearing Meetings
How to Avoid Double Booked Resources
Managing Time Zones in Outlook
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