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  5. Managing Mailbox
  6. Archiving

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Archiving Staff Email

How can archiving help me?

Staff and Shared Mailboxes have size restrictions in place and the capacities needs to be maintained to ensure that incoming emails are received and to enable the sending of emails. Regularly archiving (whether manually or automated) will assist with ensuring mailboxes do not exceed the limits.

The below FAQs will assist with the archiving of mailboxes.

Recovering mailbox space

As your mailbox reaches its limit, you will need to look at what is using large amounts of space or may be unneeded and delete or archive as appropriate.

The two main things that take up space in your mailbox are emails and calendar items. Below are steps to clean up calendar items and create a Search Folder in Outlook (these are folders that automatically identify any item in your mailbox that meets a set criteria, e.g. older than one year).

Delete Calendar items

These are generally less visible than emails and so can be an unexpected source of mailbox space usage, especially the longer a staff member works at the University. Calendar items are also easier to clean up as they’re generally unnecessary once the meeting has happened.

Calendar items will show up in Search Folders but since they’ll show up among emails you may need to review, this method can be a quick and easy way to focus just on your calendar.

  1. Go to Calendar
  2. Select View tab
  3. Click Change View and select List
    NOTE:     Before changing to List make a note of what it’s currently set to for when you change back.
  4. Click End to sort items by oldest to newest
  5. Review calendar items and delete unneeded items
  6. Change Calendar View back to previous settings as shown in Step 2

For step by step instructions (with screenshots) see delete calendar items page.

Search Folders

These are useful as a permanent means of identifying emails you no longer need. Create a Search Folder for each criteria by following these steps:

  1. Scroll to Search Folders within your mailbox
  2. Right-click Search Folders
  3. Click New Search Folder
  4. Select desired criteria
    NOTE: Only one criteria can be selected for each Search Folder. Some recommended options are:
    • Large mail – show mail at least this large: 1024KB
    • Old mail – show mail: older than 6 months
  5. Click OK
  6. This will now be present as a subfolder under Search Folders and you can review its contents for items to delete or archive.

For step by step instructions (with screenshots) see search folders page.

How do I open a previously created PST/Archive folder?

  1. Open Outlook
  2. Click File
  3. Click Open & Export
  4. Click Open Outlook Data File
  5. Locate where the PST file was saved and double click on it
  6. The PST file is now open on the left hand side under your mailbox

NOTE: Only 1 person can view a PST file at a time. If it is used by a number of staff you will need to ensure that you close it (by right mouse clicking on it and clicking Close "<pst file name>") after you have finished.

Or for step by step instruction on how to open a specific PST file see the opening a PST file page.

How can I create a PST/Archive folder?

It is recommended that your PST file is saved to the local hard drive. Saving your PST to a network drive can cause issues with the performance of Outlook. Create the pst in a folder called 'Outlook files' within your Documents folder and then back up the PST to a network location. The backup process can be automated using a program called SafePST which can be installed via the Software Centre.

Open Outlook

  1. Click New Items in the top left corner
  2. Click More Items
  3. Click Outlook Data File...
  4. Select C:\My Documents\Outlook files (create 'Outlook files' folder if it does not already exist)
  5. Change default naming convention of File name: to something more appropriate, eg Username2020 or SharemailboxName2020
  6. Click Ok
  7. Your new PST will now appear at the bottom of the left hand side of your mailbox and you can now create/move folders/emails from your mailbox

For step by step instructions (with screenshots) see How can I create a PST/Archive folder? page.

For step by step instructions for setting up a backup process for your pst file see the page How do I use SafePST?

Or for step by step instruction on how to setup automatic archiving (not the recommended process) on specific folders see the configuring automatic archive page.

 

How do I use SafePST?

These instructions show you how to configure SafePST to create a backup copy of your current email archive (pst file) to a network folder. SafePST is a program that can access and backup the pst file while it is in use - this file is locked by Outlook and cannot otherwise be directly accessed. This programs runs in the background keeping the backup of the pst file updated according to the schedule. 

  1. Open SafePST
  2. Click in the Backup destination folder window
  3. Browse to the network folder where the backup will be created
  4. At the Settings window click on the Schedule tab
  5. Set a schedule for the backup
  6. Click on the Files and folders tab
  7. Select only the current pst file/s that you wish to backup - that is only the pst files that you currently add email to
  8. Click OK to return to the main window
  9. The first backup will begin
  10. Close the program - it will minimise and remain running in the background. If you wish to change any settings you can open it from the taskbar.

If prompted to activate or update SafePST do not do so. There is no need to update or activate as this will lead to issues.

For step by step instructions (with screenshots) see How do I use SafePST page.

Issue viewing PST content or opening

PST files could have issues opening or displaying content for a number of reasons. Outlook may display a warning/issue message when you first open the software or when you click on your PST to try and access content within.

Closing the PST and re-opening will refresh the connection with the file and resolve most issues:

  1. Close/Cancel any error message pop-ups
  2. Right mouse click on PST
  3. Click Close 

Once you have closed the PST re-open it by:

  1. Open Outlook
  2. Click File
  3. Click Open & Export
  4. Click Open Outlook Data File
  5. Locate where the PST file was saved and double click on it
  6. The PST file is now open on the left hand side under your mailbox

NOTE: Only 1 person can view a PST file at a time. If it is used by a number of staff you will need to ensure that you close it (by right mouse clicking on it and clicking Close "<pst file name>") after you have finished.

Is SharePoint still a recommended storage facility for emails?

Unfortunately Microsoft no longer supports this option and therefore the IT Help Desk at UniSA are also unable to assist. Even though you cannot move emails directly to SharePoint from Outlook, you could potentially set up a sync between SharePoint and OneDrive and move emails to OneDrive.

Can I setup auto archiving in Outlook?

Step by step instructions (including screenshots) can be found on LinkedIn Learning.