Mailbox Size - How to Manage

A. Summary:

Due to space constraints, AFSC Outlook users have a limit of 800 MB (megabytes) of storage space for email messages. Users will get a notice to reduce size starting at 750MB. Cleaning out a mailbox will reduce mailbox size. Personal folders and archives do not count toward the 800MB limit.

B. Key Points:

· Each Outlook user is allotted 800 MB of space on our server

· When your mailbox reaches 775MB, you will be able to receive messages but not send

· When your mailbox reaches 750MB, you will receive a warning to reduce the size

· Emptying your Deleted Messages folder will help reduce mailbox size

· Copying your Sent Messages to a folder under your Personal folder and then deleting your Inbox Sent messages should also be done regularly

· You can view messages by size and delete large unneeded messages

· Only the messages in your Mailbox count toward your limit

· Personal folders, Archive folders, and Public folders do not count toward your 800MB limit

· For corrections, updates, or clarifications on this Star Point, please email plor@afsc.org

C. Details:

Each Outlook user is allowed 800MB of server space for a mailbox. At 775MB, you will not be able to send messages, and at 750MB you will receive a warning to reduce your mailbox size.

In addition to the total mailbox size limitation you need to be aware of one more size limitation: the size of attachments that you send with an email: 15MB. This means the total size of all attachments with one email cannot exceed 15MB. If you are sending the email outside AFSC, keep in mind that most Internet Service Providers limit the total size for send/receive messages to 10MB.

To View the Size of Your Outlook Mailbox and Folders

Right-Click on your mailbox in the Outlook Folder list (at the top, titled Mailbox - Your Name). Select Properties For Mailbox - xxxxxx (where xxxxxx is your name). Click the Folder Size button. You can see the total size of your mailbox and the size of each sub folder. (Use the Local Data tab, the default, rather than Server Data, for the size of your folders.)

After you delete messages and empty the Deleted Items folder, you will see the size of your mailbox get smaller.

To Empty the Deleted Items Folder

Right-click on the Deleted Items folder in the Outlook folder list (the left side pane), and select Empty "Deleted Items" Folder.

Not all messages are the same size. Messages with attachments, especially audio and video files, can be huge, as large as thousands of text messages. So it's good idea to keep as few large messages as possible.

It is a good idea to also regularly copy your Sent messages from your Inbox to a subdirectory under your Personal folder. You can include in the name of the subfolder the dates of the stored messages to make retrieval easier.


To Sort Your Messages By Size

From the Outlook Menu Bar, Select View, Arrange By, select Size This puts your messages in order of size.


What Contributes to Mailbox Size

Only messages within Mailbox - xxxxxx (where xxxxxx is your name) contribute toward mailbox size. Archive Folders and Personal Folders are stored on your local PC and do not count toward mailbox size.