Changing the AutoArchive Settings for all your Mailbox Folders Changing the AutoArchive Settings for all your Mailbox Folders (cont.) One way to minimize the amount of server space you are using for your emails is to take advantage of the AutoArchive feature that is available in Outlook. When the AutoArchive feature is set to active, you will periodically see the following message pop up when you are working in Outlook: You can also bring up this window at any time through the Outlook menus. To do so. 1. Click on the Tools menu. The frequency with which this message appears depends upon your AutoArchive Settings. You can easily view and/or change these settings directly from this pop-up screen. To do so, simply click on the AutoArchive Settings button. This will bring up the AutoArchive window. 2. Select Options. f d 3. Now click on the Other tab..
Changing the AutoArchive Settings for all your Mailbox Folders (cont.) Change the AutoArchive Settings for all your Mailbox Folders 4. Then click on the AutoArchive button, which should be the second button down. This will bring up the AutoArchive dialog box. The very first AutoArchive setting dictates how often you will be asked if you want to AutoArchive your old messages. The other settings function as follows: a. Prompt before AutoArchive runs If you uncheck this box, AutoArchive will run automatically without first displaying the pop-up box that asks: Would you like to AutoArchive your old items now? b. Delete expired items (e-mail folders only) c. Archive or delete old items If you check this box, the AutoArchive tool will scan all the emails and folders within your mailbox (your mailbox is named Mailbox your name ). d. Show archive folder in folder list If you check this box, the archive folder you create each time you run AutoArchive will be displayed in your folder list within Outlook. We recommend that you do check this box. e. Clean out items older than x months AutoArchive will only archive emails that are older than the age specified in this setting. f. Move old items to: This dictates where your archived items will be stored. You may change the default path by either typing over the path that is displayed, or selecting the desired path by clicking on the Browse button. If you want to move your old items to an archive folder rather than delete them permanently, make sure that the Move old items to: button is selected, in addition to specifying where your archive folder should be stored. g. Permanently delete old items If you select this option, your old emails will be perma nently deleted instead of saved to a local archive folder. h. Click on the Apply these settings to all folders now button to save these settings. You will notice that just below this button, it tells you how to specify different archive settings for a specific folder or folders. We will review that process in a minute, but for now click on the OK button to close this dialog box.
Change AutoArchive Settings for all your Mailbox Folders (continued) d 4. Then click on the AutoArchive button, which should be the second button down. This will bring up the AutoArchive dialog box. As you can see, the very first AutoArchive setting dictates how often you will be asked if you want to AutoArchive your old messages. The other settings function as follows: a. Prompt before AutoArchive runs If this box is checked, when it is time for the AutoArchive process to run, you will first be prompted with a pop-up box that asks: Would you like to AutoArchive your old items now? b. Delete expired items (e-mail folders only) If there are expiration dates set on any of your emails, if this box is checked, expired messages will be deleted from your mailbox when the auto-archive process runs. c. Archive or delete old items If this box is checked, the AutoArchive tool will scan all the emails and folders within your mailbox (your mailbox is named Mailbox your name ). d. Show archive folder in folder list If you check this box, the archive folder you create each time you run AutoArchive will be displayed in your folder list within Outlook. We recommend that you do check this box.
Change AutoArchive Settings for all your Mailbox Folders (continued) e. Clean out items older than x months AutoArchive will only archive emails that are older than the age specified by this setting. f. Move old items to: This dicatates where your archived items will be stored. You may change the default path by either typing over the path that is displayed, or selecting the desired path by clicking on the Browse button. If you want to move your old items to an archive folder rather than deleting them permanently, make sure that the Move old items to: button is selected, in addition to specifying where your archive folder should be stored. g. Permanently delete old items If you select this option, your old emails will be permanently deleted instead of saved to a local archive folder. 5. Click on the Apply these settings to all folders now button to save these settings, then click on the OK button to close this dialog box.
Change the AutoArchive Settings for a specific folder in your Mailbox To set different AutoArchiving parameters for a specific folder or folders: 1. Right-click on that folder from your Folder List. There is no way to select multiple folders at once, so if you want to apply these parameters to multiple folders, you will need to go through this process for each folder individually. 2. Choose Properties from the drop-down menu. 3. Click on the AutoArchive tab. 4. Set the desired AutoArchive parameters for this particular folder, then click OK. 5. You will need to repeat steps 1 through 4 for each folder that you want to have different archiving settings than the standard ones you have defined for your mailbox.
Running the Archiving Process Once you have your archive settings set the way you want them: 1. If you have your archive parameters set up to prompt you before running automatically, just click on the Yes button on the pop-up message that appears when it is time for the archive process to run. 2. You can also archive your mail at any time using the following steps: a. Select the Archive option from the File menu. b. Either select the Archive all folders according to their AutoArchive settings option at the top of the screen to apply the archiving rules to all folders, or c. Select the Archive this folder and all subfolders: option.
Running the Archiving Process.and select the folders and subfolders you wish to archive: d. Then click on the OK button to start the archiving process. e. No message is displayed when the archiving has completed. However, you can take the following steps to verify that the archiving was successful: 1) Verify that the correct emails have been archived. There are a couple different ways to do this: a) The easiest way is to look for the Archive Folders in your Outlook Mail Folder List. Your archive folders will appear in your folder list as long as you have the Show archive folder in folder list option checked in your AutoArchive options. If this is the case, each time you execute the archive process, a new folder is created called Archive Folders. Unfortunately, Outlook does not attach a date or a number to the Archive Folders, so each time you execute the archive process, it will create a new folder with the same name. In order to help you distinguish these folders in the future, we recommend that after you complete an archive, you rename archive folder to include the date the archive was executed. b) If you choose not to show your archive folders in your folder list, another way to verify that the emails were archived correctly is to use My Computer. Follow the path you specified in the Move old items to: field in your AutoArchive options to verify that the backup file has been created. The filename should be in the form emailbackupmmddyy, where the month, day, and year reflect the date the backup was created. 2) Confirm that the emails that were archived have been deleted from your Outlook folder(s).
Viewing Archived Items To view emails and folders that have been archived through the AutoArchive feature: 1. On the Go menu, in the Folder List (If the Folder List is not visible, on the Go menu, click Folder List.), click Archive Folders (or the name you specified for the archive location). 2. In the Navigation Pane, under All Mail Folders, in the Folder List, click Archive Folders (or the name you specified for the archive location). 3. Click on the folders and/or emails within the Archive folder to get to the item you want to see.