Cant delete emails and the storage is full nothing is working to free up space

Question

Tried all options so far to delete emails and the storage folder doesn't change it wont delete the emails at all

Answer 1

You need to check the status of your Recoverable Items subtree. This is not the same thing as Deleted items/Recover deleted items container, but a separate space within your mailbox where deleted items are kept to meet compliance requirements and to enable the single item recovery feature. In scenarios where the quota of said Recoverable Items subtree is hit, you will be unable to delete any items, regardless of the overall quota of your mailbox.

The bad news is that you need admin access to check on this. Talk to your IT support team and send them this article; https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/security-and-compliance/recoverable-items-folder/clean-up-deleted-items?source=recommendations

Answer 2

Hi Wayne Simcoe,

Since you have already tried the mailbox cleanup options, but the storage still does not change after deleting emails in Outlook on the web, could you please provide more details such as:

• Do the emails disappear but come back after refreshing the page?
• Or do they not delete at all when you click Delete?

In the meantime, you may try the following additional checks:

1/ Permanently delete items from Recoverable Items

Sometimes emails remain in the hidden Recoverable Items folder in Microsoft Exchange Online and still count toward mailbox storage.

• Go to Deleted Items.
• Select Recover items deleted from this folder at the top.
• Select the items and choose Permanently to delete.
• Refresh the page and check the storage again.

2/ Wait for mailbox storage to update

In services like Microsoft Exchange Online or Microsoft 365, storage statistics may take some time to refresh after deletion.

Kindly signing out and sign back in, and wait 30-60 minutes, then check the storage again

3/ Check the archive mailbox option

You may also consider moving older emails to an archive mailbox as described in this article: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/purview/set-up-an-archive-and-deletion-policy-for-mailboxes

Please note that this configuration must be performed by an IT administrator. If you have not tried this option, please contact your administrator for assistance.

Also note that once the archive policy is enabled, emails are usually moved gradually and the process may start after about 7 days.

4/ Check if the mailbox is on hold or under a retention policy

If your organization has retention policies configured in Microsoft 365, emails may not actually be removed even when deleted.

In this case, your IT administrator may need to check:

• Retention policy applied to the mailbox
• Litigation Hold / eDiscovery Hold
• Retention labels that prevent deletion

I hope this information helps. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to let me know.

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Answer 3

Follow these steps in Outlook on the web to actually free up mailbox space when normal deletion does not seem to work:

1. Check storage and use the built‑in cleanup tools
   • At the top of Outlook on the web, select Settings > Account > Storage.
   • On the Storage page, review the breakdown of how much space each folder is using.
   • In the Clean up Mailbox section, use the options to permanently delete all items (or items older than 3, 6, or 12 months) from large folders.
2. Empty Deleted Items (counts against your quota)
   Even if messages are “deleted” from Inbox, they still consume space while in Deleted Items.
   • Go to the Deleted Items folder.
   • Select Empty folder or select all items and delete them.
   • To permanently delete selected messages immediately, select them and press Shift + DEL on the keyboard.
   • Verify that Deleted Items is now empty.
3. Empty Junk Email
   • Go to Junk Email and select Empty folder.
   • Items in Junk are auto‑deleted after 30 days, but emptying it now frees space immediately.
4. Delete large messages and attachments correctly
   Attachments use mailbox storage; deleting only the file preview is not enough.
   • Sort folders by size or use the large‑items view from the storage page.
   • Delete messages that contain large files or photos.
   • Then go to Deleted Items and delete them again so they are removed permanently.
   • For sent attachments, open Sent Items, delete the messages with large attachments, then clear them from Deleted Items.
5. Use Sweep and Archive, then clear Deleted Items again
   • In Inbox, select a message from a sender with many emails and choose Sweep to remove or keep only the latest messages.
   • Remember: items deleted using Sweep still count toward storage until they are removed from Deleted Items, so empty Deleted Items again after using Sweep.
   • Optionally move older mail to an archive mailbox if available, as described in the storage‑limits article.
6. If storage still shows full
   • Confirm that the storage indicator you are looking at is for the correct mailbox (work/school account) and not for OneDrive.
   • If, after cleaning and emptying Deleted Items and Junk Email, the mailbox is still near quota, contact the organization’s IT admin and ask them to review and, if appropriate, increase the mailbox size using Exchange Online settings.

These steps ensure messages are not just moved between folders but actually removed from the mailbox so the storage number changes.

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References:

• Mailbox storage limits in Outlook
• What is Microsoft cloud storage?