TIP 3: Empty your Sent Items folder
Every time you send a message, a copy is stored in the Sent Items folder. To keep your mailbox within its storage limit, you can:
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delete copies of all emails sent prior to a specified date
-
delete copies of emails over a certain size
Delete all emails sent prior to a specific date (eg one month ago)
- click on Sent Items in the Folder List
- sort sent emails by date (right-click Sent on tool bar)
- choose Sort descending
- select all sent emails to be deleted - hold shift key, click first and last emails to be deleted
- choose Delete on keyboard OR right-click and choose Delete.
Delete copies of emails over a certain size (eg 100 kb)
- click on Sent Items in the Folder List
- sort Size emails by date (right-click on Size heading item)
-
choose Sort descending
- select all individual emails to be deleted - hold shift key, click first and last emails to be deleted
-
choose Delete on keyboard OR right-click and choose Delete.
Outlook also provides the opportunity to turn off the option to automatically save outgoing emails, but this is generally not recommended as you may wish to check messages that you have sent.
Don't save sent messages
- choose Options from the Tools menu
- click the E-mail Options button on the Preferences tab
- deselect the Save Copies Of Messages In Sent Items Folder by unchecking the box in the Message Handling section
- click OK twice.
If you later want to save a particular outgoing message in the Sent Items folder, click the Options button in the message window before you send the message, select the Save Sent Message To check box, designate a location, and click Close.