outlook 2016 archive does not reduce mailbox size

#Outlook 2016 archive does not reduce mailbox size archive

Then pick Other Actions > Save All Attachments. Right-click on the attachment and then pick Save All Attachments.This requires extra steps yet may help slim down the size of your Outlook mailbox: Depending on the email communication, one option is to save the attachment and then to remove the attachment from the original message. Save and Remove AttachmentsĪttachments in email messages are responsible for a bulk of the space used in your Outlook mailbox. If you feel confident that you want to delete a message forever, you can bypass the Deleted Items folder by pressing + for a selected item instead of pressing the key. Once you clear deleted items, it cannot be reversed. To manually clear deleted items, locate and right-click the Deleted Items folder and click Empty Folder on the shortcut menu ( Empty “Deleted Items” Folder for Outlook 2010). From the Outlook start and exit option, check Empty Deleted Items folder when exiting Outlook and OK to apply. To apply this option choose File > Options > Advanced tab. Quickly clean up your deleted items by automatically emptying the Deleted Items folder when you exit Outlook. Just as with the Personal Folders file, your archived items are not accessible remotely the file should be backed up on a regular basis.

#Outlook 2016 archive does not reduce mailbox size archive

Archived items are removed from your Outlook mailbox size and moved to the archive file based on the settings you determine. The archive.pst file can be created and updated at any location you specify, usually your local hard drive. Setup your archive preferences under the Info > Cleanup Tools > Archive option. If you are accessing Outlook from Exchange, you may not be able to change archive options as archiving is often controlled by system administrators or a third party program. Archive Older MessagesĪnother useful maintenance step is to periodically archive your Outlook folders. If you are running a standalone version of Outlook your email, calendar, tasks, and notes are all stored in the outlook.pst file (or. You should also backup this file to prevent losing these Outlook items if your computer goes down or is updated.

This option may not be available to you as many organizations have moved away from supporting Personal Folders.Įven though the messages you move to Personal Folders are no longer counted in the size of your mailbox, the Personal Folders file (outlook.pst) is stored on your local hard drive and is not accessible remotely. If you’re accessing Outlook from Exchange, another way to reduce the Outlook mailbox size is to move Outlook items to your Personal Folders. If available, one option is to view and delete multiple versions of items in our mailbox.Ģ. Finally, check the size of the Deleted Items folder and Empty the folder if you want (specific options detailed below as well).Depending on your archive settings (see Archive Older Messages below), you can also run an AutoArchive.Next, pick the options to Find older or larger items which you can delete directly from the results to cleanup the Outlook mailbox size.Only look at the Local Data tab cleanup changes you make will automatically take place on the server as well. When connecting to Exchange, you’ll see a Local Data and Server Data tab. This is a great way to target which folders are the biggest contributors to your large mailbox so you can clean these up first. First, choose the View Mailbox Size option which scans the size of your mailbox and all of the subfolders.In Outlook, choose File > Info > Cleanup Tools > Mailbox Cleanup. The best place to start is to open the Mailbox Cleanup tool. The following steps apply to Microsoft Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010: 1. Reducing the size often improves performance.Ĭaution: Before starting these steps, take the time to backup your Outlook.pst file (stand-alone version) which is usually found under the Outlook Files folder in Documents. And, you can still cleanup your Outlook mailbox size if you are running Outlook as a stand-alone (POP3) version. Note: With the move in many organizations from Exchange Server (local/network) to Exchange Online (cloud/Office 365), the following steps will be less important as storage space is dramatically increased. However, it’s still a best practice to reduce the number of items in Outlook for simpler organization and faster search.

Try these tips for a faster, more organized approach to keep your mailbox smaller and easier to work with. Is your mailbox full? Are you getting weekly or even daily messages from your system administrator saying you need to reduce the Microsoft Outlook mailbox size? This can lead to a lot of wasted time cleaning up your mailbox.