Technical Trainingoutlook 97 Managing Outlook

Technical TrainingOutlook 97—Managing Outlook

Managing Outlook

Your Outlook mailbox contains the following items: Calendar, Contacts, Deleted Items, Inbox, Journal, Notes, Outbox, Sent Items, and Tasks. All of these items are stored on the Exchange server.

There are several ways to manage the contents of your mailbox. But first, you may want to determine the size of your mailbox items and determine which e-mail messages are the largest.

Determining the Size of Folders

It is desireable to determine the size of your mailbox items so that it is easier to manage them.

What To Do …

1)Select the mailbox.

2)From the File menu, point to Folder and then point to Folder Size.
In a few minutes, the folder size window will display. Scroll down in the window to see the folder total size.
Note: The “Folder Total Size” figure is the total size of all of your mailbox items, i.e. whatever you see directly under your mailbox in the folder list. Personal folders and the personal address book are stored locally and are not part of the total Mailbox size.

Figure 1 - Folder Size Window

Sorting Inbox Messages by Size

Sorting Inbox messages by size helps to determine which files are taking up the most room. You may want to store these messages in a personal folder on your local hard drive.

What To Do …

1)Click on the Inbox.

2)Right-click on any field heading and choose Field Chooser from the pop-up menu.
The Field Chooser dialog box is displayed.

Figure 2 - Field Chooser Window

1)Drag the size field to a location on the field bar in the Inbox window pane.

Figure 3 - Drag Field To Field Bar in Inbox

1)Right-click on the Size field and choose Sort Ascending or Sort Descending.
Messages are now sorted by size.

Note: Messages with enclosures will take up much more room than messages with no enclosures.
In managing your mailbox size, it is much more useful to delete e-mail messages with enclosures rather than deleting old calendar entries, for example.

Delete Items

You can delete items you no longer need. There are several ways to delete items.

What To Do …

1)Drag the item to the Deleted Items folder.
OR

2)Select the item and tap the <Delete> key.
OR

3)Select the item, right mouse click and choose Delete from the pop-up menu.
OR

4)Select the item, click on the Delete button on the Outlook toolbar.

Note: Outlook has been configured to automatically delete on exit, any items that are in the deleted items folder located under the mailbox. (Items moved to the deleted items folder take up space on the server until they are actually deleted.)

Save to Personal Folders

A folder called “Personal Folders” has already been created for you in Outlook. This folder is located on your local hard drive. You can create subfolders within this “Personal Folder” to store Outlook items on your own hard drive. It is recommended that you create subfolders within your local “Personal Folder” as a way of managing the size of your mailbox.

Create a Subfolder Within the Personal Folder on the Local Drive

What To Do …

1)Select the “Personal Folder” folder displayed on the Folder List.

2)From the File Menu, point to New and then point to Folder.
The Create New Folder dialog box is displayed.

Figure 4 - Create New Folder Dialog Box

3)Type the name of the new subfolder in the Name text box.

4)Click on the OK button.
The new subfolder will now be displayed under the Personal Folder list in the Folder List. (Hint: Be sure to expand the Personal Folder list to see all the subfolders.)

Note: You can also create subfolders within subfolders.

Move/Copy Items to Subfolders Within the Personal Folder on the Local Drive

To move or copy items to a subfolder you created within the Personal Folders on the local drive, follow the steps outlined below:

What To Do …

1)With the right mouse button, drag the item to the desired Personal Folder.

2)From the shortcut menu, choose to move or copy the item.

Archive and AutoArchive

In Outlook, you can manually transfer old items to a personal folder by clicking Archive on the File menu, or you can have old items automatically transferred by using AutoArchive. Items are considered old when they reach the age you specify. With AutoArchive, you can either delete or move old items.

Your computer will be set up to prompt you to AutoArchive the contents of your mailbox every 14 days. It is strongly suggested that you archive when prompted. However, if you choose not to archive when prompted, it is suggested that you find a convenient time to archive.

Figure 5 - AutoArchive Prompt

The AutoArchive properties of each folder are checked by date, and old items are moved to your personal folders. Items in the Deleted Items folder are not moved to another folder. They are deleted.

The Sent Item folder will be installed with AutoArchive turned on and set to delete items older than 14 days. You can set AutoArchive aging periods for the other folders (Inbox, Calendar, and Tasks). Contacts are not AutoArchived.

Note: If you are a RAS associate, please note that it is a RAS policy NOT TO DELETE calendar items. If you choose to archive the calendar, do not set the option to delete.

Change AutoArchive Options

You may need to change the AutoArchive options as well as the time set for AutoArchive.

What To Do …

1)From the Tools menu, choose Options.

2)Click on the AutoArchive tab.
The AutoArchive options tab is displayed.

Figure 7 - AutoArchive Tab in Options Window

1)Change the settings to your desired settings.
Do not change the default archive file.

2)Click on the Apply button.

3)Click on OK.

Specify Individual Folders AutoArchive Settings

Each individual folder in the Mailbox can be set with specific archive properties.

What To Do …

1)Right-click on the folder (Inbox, Calendar, Notes, etc.)

2)From the pop-up menu, select Properties.

3)Select the AutoArchive tab.
The AutoArchive options will be displayed.

Figure 8 - AutoArchive Tab of Sent Items Properties Window

1)Choose a time for items to be cleaned out.

2)Choose what action should be taken for the item when archived. You can choose to delete the item or choose to move the item to a folder.

Note: You will probably want to delete your Sent Items.

6)Click on OK.