Understanding Quota Messages
Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 will reach end of support on April 11, 2017. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.
Applies to: Exchange Server 2007, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP3
A quota message is an e-mail message that is automatically sent by Microsoft Exchange to the owners of a mailbox or a public folder when a size limit (called a storage quota) for the mailbox or public folder is exceeded. You can use the New-SystemMessage, Get-SystemMessage, Set-SystemMessage, and Remove-SystemMessage cmdlets in the Exchange Management Shell to view existing quota messages or to create, view, modify, or remove customized ones. For more information about customizing quota messages, see How to Manage Quota Messages.
Storage Quotas
A storage quota is a storage size limit for a mailbox or a public folder. You can use the Exchange Management Console or the Exchange Management Shell to view or set the storage quotas for all of the mailboxes or public folders in a database. You can also use the Exchange Management Console or the Exchange Management Shell to set storage quotas on a per-mailbox basis, thereby overriding the storage quotas that are set at the database level. However, storage quotas for individual public folders can be viewed or set only in the Exchange Management Shell.
For more information about viewing and configuring storage quotas, see the following topics:
Quota Messages
By default, Exchange sends a quota message to mailbox or public folder owners when a:
Mailbox or public folder exceeds its Issue warning limit (the lowest storage quota).
Mailbox exceeds its Prohibit send limit or a public folder exceeds its Prohibit post limit (the middle storage quota).
Mailbox exceeds its Prohibit send and receive quota (the highest storage quota).
Quota messages for mailboxes are sent to mailbox owners. If a mailbox is owned by a security group (that is, if it is a shared mailbox), quota messages are sent to the security group. Quota messages for public folders are sent to every public folder owner. Owners of mailboxes and public folders can be users, contacts, or security groups.
Quota messages are sent with high importance and are not subject to storage quotas. They are always delivered, even if the recipient's mailbox is full.
Exchange Server 2007 can generate quota messages in many languages. For a list of the supported language locales that are available for use with quota messages, see Supported Locales for Use with System Messages.
You can use the New-SystemMessage, Get-SystemMessage, Set-SystemMessage, and Remove-SystemMessage cmdlets in the Exchange Management Shell to view existing quota messages or to create, view, modify, or remove customized ones. For more information about customizing quota messages, see How to Manage Quota Messages.
Quota Message Format
There are seven types of quota messages: four for mailboxes and three for public folders. All quota messages include the following:
Text Microsoft Exchange in the From field
Brief, non-customizable description of the situation in the Subject field
Customizable message in the message body
Graphical representation of the storage quota and the amount of storage used in the message body (except for mailboxes or public folders of unlimited size)
Default Quota Messages
The following tables list the subject and the default message text for the seven default English quota messages (four for mailboxes and three for public folders). The default message can be customized, but the subject text cannot.
For information about customizing quota messages, see How to Manage Quota Messages.
Mailbox quota messages
| Event | Subject of message | Default message text |
|---|---|---|
Mailbox of unlimited size exceeds its Issue Warning quota |
Your mailbox is becoming too large |
Please reduce your mailbox size. Delete any items you don't need from your mailbox and empty your Deleted Items folder. |
Mailbox of limited size exceeds its Issue Warning quota |
Your mailbox is almost full |
Please reduce your mailbox size. Delete any items you don't need from your mailbox and empty your Deleted Items folder. |
Mailbox of limited size exceeds its Prohibit Send quota |
Your mailbox is full |
Your mailbox can no longer send messages. Please reduce your mailbox size. Delete any items you don't need from your mailbox and empty your Deleted Items folder. |
Mailbox of limited size exceeds its Prohibit Send and Receive quota |
Your mailbox is full |
Your mailbox can no longer send or receive messages. Please reduce your mailbox size. Delete any items you don't need from your mailbox and empty your Deleted Items folder. |
Public folder quota messages
| Event | Subject of message | Default message text |
|---|---|---|
Public folder of unlimited size exceeds its Issue Warning quota |
Your public folder is becoming too large |
Please reduce the size of your public folder by deleting any items you don't need |
Public folder of limited size exceeds its Issue Warning quota |
Your public folder is almost full |
Please reduce the size of your public folder by deleting any items you don't need. |
Public folder of limited size exceeds its Prohibit Post quota |
Your public folder is full |
Users can no longer post items to this folder. Please reduce the size of your public folder by deleting any items you don't need. |
For More Information
For more information about customizing quota messages, see How to Manage Quota Messages.
For more information about using the Exchange Management Shell to manage quota messages, see the following topics:
For information about how to manage recipient storage quotas, see Managing User Mailboxes.