Clean Your Mailbox: Large Messages Need to go First

It's time to clean out your email account!

Don't waste time getting rid of twenty small messages — take care of the largest items to get the job done faster.

Attachments take up the most room on Winnefox's email server, so find those emails first, and save & delete the attachments.

Low-hanging fruit: if you send lots of attachments, your Sent Items folder can get big, so remove most, if not all, attachments from items in your Sent Items folder. These attachments are spreadsheets and documents you've got on your computer or local drive share, and since these files are stored in one place already, they can be removed while the message is retained. (Read Remove Email Attachments In Outlook Without Deleting the Message for instructions.)

The article Tips For Cleaning Up Your Mailbox will take you step-by-step through identifying and cleaning large items (whether emails, calendar appointments, contacts or tasks) in your Outlook (2007, 2010, 2013 versions) or Outlook Web Access/App:

Watch this Lynda.com tutorial Checking your mailbox size that demonstrates how you can do this in Outlook Web Access/App (OWA):

Here's an example of an "extreme makeover" of a message I smallified by removing its attachments:

  • Before:
  • After:

Contact Pete if you have any questions about your Outlook email account.

Reminder: your library email account is not for personal use; I urge you to set up a Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail account for all personal email.

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