Identifying and deleting old mail from Outlook

From time to time, it is necessary to purge old items from Outlook to keep it compact and running well. PST files over the size of 2GB are at risk of permanent file corruption (unless you are using Groupware), and in general it is good habit to keep things clean and do yearly archives.

Generally smaller mailboxes launch & run quicker.

To determine which folders are taking up the most space:

• Right-click on the top-most folder above your Inbox that contains all email, usually called "Public Folders" or "Mailbox"
• Click on Properties > Folder Size
• Click here for link to support video on Identifying large folders in Outlook

Archiving emails

• You can automatically move old emails (based on age) using the Auto Archive function. This is a good strategy if you don't want to delete email and want the ability to refer to them later.
• Autoarchive can be found under Tools > Options > Other > Auto Archive
  • You can modify where the archives are saved (server or local) and the scheduling for it.
• Click here for directions on how to use Outlook Archiving.

Eliminating emails

• Find emails with large attachments by sorting by File Size, and delete the largest emails first
  • In Outlook 2003 and above, you can use the Large Mail search folder to help find emails with large attachments
• Right click on Junk Email, choose Delete Junk Email
• Right click on Deleted Items, choose Empty Deleted Items