Archive email

Question

Received email it is almost full how or what to delete?

Answer 1

Hi,

Sign in to Outlook.com and sort your Inbox by Size to find large emails and attachments. Delete Emails with larger attachments. If you need to keep emails with attachments, save the attachments to your computer or OneDrive first, then delete the emails.

In addition, Check the Sent Items folder, as large attachments sent by you also count toward your storage.

Last,Open Deleted Items and select Empty folder to permanently remove deleted messages.

I’m eager to hear back and work together to find a solution.

Answer 2

To free space when Outlook/Outlook.com says the mailbox is almost full, delete or move items that count toward the storage quota and then empty Deleted Items.

Steps in Outlook on the web / Outlook.com:

1. Check which folders use the most space
   • At the top of Outlook on the web, select Settings > Account > Storage.
   • Review the breakdown of folders to see which ones are largest.
2. Use Storage cleanup
   • On the Storage page, under Clean up Mailbox, choose a folder.
   • Use the options to permanently delete all items, or items older than 3, 6, or 12 months, in that folder.
3. Delete large and old messages
   • Sort by size to find big emails:
     • At the top of the message list, select Filter > Sort by > Size.
     • Open large messages and decide whether to keep them.
   • For messages with big attachments:
     • Select the message.
     • Under the attachment, choose Save to OneDrive to keep the file.
     • Then permanently delete the email (see step 4).
4. Permanently delete items
   • When a message is deleted normally, it goes to Deleted Items and still counts toward the quota.
   • To permanently delete:
     • Select the message(s) and press Shift+Del on the keyboard, or
     • Empty the Deleted Items folder after deleting.
5. Remove messages with images/files
   • For messages with images or files:
     • Find the message in Inbox, Sent Items, or other folders and delete it.
     • Go to Deleted Items, select those messages, and select Delete again to remove them permanently.
6. Use Sweep and Archive to keep the mailbox lean
   • Use Sweep on a sender’s message to:
     • Delete all messages from that sender,
     • Keep only the latest message, or
     • Delete messages older than 10 days.
   • Use Archive to move messages out of Inbox into the Archive folder, then periodically delete from Archive and empty Deleted Items.

If still near the limit after cleanup, move items to an archive mailbox (if available) or contact the organization’s IT admin to increase the mailbox size.

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References:

• Mailbox storage limits in Outlook
• Storage limits in Outlook.com
• Manage my mailbox size in Outlook
• Organize your inbox with Archive, Sweep, and other tools in Outlook on the web