A quick tip on effectively freeing up your email storage on Gmail or Yahoo etc...
Many email providers are free, but they all have limits. Yahoo has 1TB (which should last you a long, long time), Google comes with 15GB of storage and MSN has 10 GB. If you are not a Yahoo email user or you are and somehow managed to come close to the storage limit of 1TB, here are some useful tips on freeing up space. It's surprising to know where some emails hide in your mailbox.
Step 1: Go to your Inbox
Easy way to free up or clear your email storage
Go to the last page of your inbox and look at the very last email you have sitting there. How many years ago is the date sent? If your answer is more than three years, it is quite safe to send this email to your thrash folder right away.
Why three years? We did not come up with this figure off the top of our heads; most countries require you to keep your financial documents for up to three years. The best thing you can do is to google the requirement in your country or state, and use that number of years as a guide. When it comes to legal documents; however, it is always best to store them in a separate folder and to not touch them at all. But for finance, payroll, invoices and what have you, they should not be kept in your inbox till the end of time. So mark all these emails beyond three years and send them all to your trash folder without looking back. Now for the next step.
Step 2: Spam and Junk folders
Easy way to free up or clear your email storage
In most cases, you either have a folder marked 'spam' or 'junk' and in rarer cases, you may even have both filled with emails which have been through your email servers spam filter and are sent there because of their suspicious nature. Which may or not include promos, advertisements, scams, phishing and malware-ridden emails. Technology is not perfect; some of your essential emails which never came could be sitting in there. Have a quick look at folders up to a week-long and see if urgent emails have been filtered and move them to your inbox to address later. Now it is safe the empty every single email in your spam or junk folders into your thrash. Some email services skip the thrash and delete these files immediately, so whichever it may be, move everything out until your spam or junk folder is empty. Do not go to your trash folder just yet; there is one more step to go before you do.
Step 3: Sent email
Easy way to free up or clear your email storage
What many fail to realize is how much space your 'sent email' folder takes up. Imagine all those emails and attachments you have sent to friends, families or clients still stored in your email server. While it may not be advisable to delete every single email you have sent, do note that all the emails your client reply to, does have the content of your original sent email in it. Instead of keeping three years' worth of sent emails, why not just keep one years' worth? Or if you are not too fussed, move all of your sent emails to the trash. And one thing to make sure of before you do, that your last sent email is successful. To do this, click on 'send and receive' email if you have the option and wait for it complete. Now move everything to thrash.
Step 4: Delete thrash folder content
Easy way to free up or clear your email storage
So far, all of your efforts have most likely not reduced the size of your email storage. This is because whatever you delete is not completely deleted, they are inside your thrash folder. This is a safety mechanism in emails, in case you change your mind or have made a mistake, you can undo it by moving it out from the thrash and into your inbox.
In most email services, when you access or right click on your thrash folder, there is an option to 'empty thrash' or 'delete all files permanently'. Click yes of course and feel the emotion of satisfaction as the neurons in your brain fire to applaud your effort. It is even more satifying when you see a deletion progress bar come out and as your eyes gaze at its completion, you feel nothing but elation. And instead of goodbye, let us leave you with a word; congratulations.
Thank you for reading 'Easy way to free up or clear your email storage' by IT Block. IT Block is an IT support service provider based in SIngapore and we love sharing our IT expertise with the world.
