In this arena, most of the peoples are sharing their valuable data through email clients. MS Outlook is one such type of application it stores their email data in the form of PST data files. In some cases there is a chance for getting messages like reduce mailbox size in Outlook from the system admin, this is because the peoples store all the mail items whether it is needed or unwanted in their mailbox. To make the mailbox healthy use the following mentioned tips and make the mailbox smaller and easier to work efficiently.
User Query: “I work in a software organization and we are dealing with some issue related to Microsoft Outlook. We cant access our email data’s due to the oversized problem. So, we want to compact Outlook mailbox size. Can anyone suggest the solutions to overcome this situation?”
Note: Before starting the techniques to reduce mailbox size in outlook 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003, backup the .pst file that is present in the Outlook files folder in documents.
Manual tricks to Reduce Mailbox Size in Outlook 2016
Approach#1: Mailbox Cleanup
Step 1: Open the Mailbox cleanup tool by using the options Select File >> Info >> Cleanup Tools >> Mailbox Cleanup.
Step 2: Choose the option “View Mailbox Size” for scan size of the mailbox and all subfolders.
Step 3: You can pick the option to find out larger or older items which you can remove directly from the results.
Step 4: You can also perform run an AutoArchive based on the archive settings.
Step 5: Check the size of the deleted items folder and now, empty the folder if you need.
Approach#2: Archive older messages
One another way to reduce mailbox size in Outlook 2016, 2013 is archive your Outlook folders. If you are accessing Outlook from the MS Exchange, then you will not be able to change the archive option as the method of archiving is primarily controlled by the system administrator.
Setup the options “Archive preferences >> Cleanup Tools >> Archive option”.
The archived.pst file is created and updated at any location which you will specify, usually, it is your local hard drive. The archived files are deleted from your Outlook mailbox size and will get moved to the archive file regarding the settings which you will determine.
Approach#3: Mange size of Outlook Mailbox
If you remove or delete items from PST data file, the file will automatically compact in the background when you are not using the system and while the MS Outlook is running. To shrink outlook mailbox size manually, follow the steps mentioned below:
Step 1: Click on the “File” tab.
Step 2: Open “Account Settings” and then click on “Account Settings”.
Step 3: Select the data file that you want to compact from the “Data File tab” and then click on “Settings Option”.
Step 4: Finally click on the “Compact” option.
Approach#4: Save and Delete the Attachments
Step 1: To shrink Outlook mailbox size first open “Messages”.
Step 2: Right-click on the attachment and select the option “Save all Attachments” or you can go with the options Actions >> Save all attachments.
Step 3: Locate and select the folder that you want to save the files and select the “Save” option.
Step 4: You can delete the message if it is not required to be retained. If you need to keep that message, then there is an option to remove attachments from a message perform right-click and then choose “Remove” option.
Limitations of Manual Approaches:
Time-Consuming Processes: Compact Outlook mailbox size can take a lot of time when we are going through the manual tricks.
Not A Professional Approach: This is not a perfect way to shrink mailbox size in Microsoft Outlook. Peoples looking for the solution to save time and effort.
Steps May Vary: In some cases, there are different steps for each version of Outlook it will make confusion to the user.
Reduce Mailbox Size in Outlook (.pst) using Automated Solution
The above described manual tricks can be used to manage the Outlook mailbox size. But these are time-consuming and lengthy processes. Also, some of the users find these methods are difficult. So by keeping these shortcomings in mind, we are going to provide one excellent solution that is a third-party software namely PST Splitter Tool. The tool can reduce mailbox size by splitting oversized Outlook PST files into smaller parts.
Wind-Up
The use of Microsoft Outlook email application is increased day-by-day because of its unique features, but there are some situations when Outlook creates problem. One such scenario is discussed in the above section. The increasing data inside the account will lead to the increased mailbox size. So to overcome this oversized issue, we have discussed many manual tricks to reduce mailbox size in Outlook. Along with that, we have also mentioned an automated solution to speed up the process.
Mailbox Reader 