If you use an Elmnet email account, you may occasionally receive an email warning that your mailbox is getting close to its storage quota.
This isn’t something to ignore – but it also isn’t something to be concerned about. Your email account has a storage limit for a good reason, and managing your mailbox regularly will help make sure you continue to receive emails without interruption.
Why can’t email storage be unlimited?
It might seem strange that something as simple as email needs a storage limit. After all, storage is relatively cheap these days, so why can’t you just keep every email you’ve ever received?
The simple answer is that email has to be stored somewhere.
Elmnet email accounts are hosted through Heart Internet. Every email you receive, including its attachments, has to be stored on their mail servers. The more messages people keep, the more storage is required.
If everyone kept every email, attachment, newsletter, notification and piece of spam they had ever received, indefinitely, the amount of storage required would keep growing without limit.
That’s why email providers put sensible limits on mailbox storage. A mailbox that reaches its limit can also cause a more serious problem: new incoming emails may no longer be delivered.
Email is a messaging system, not a filing cabinet
One of the easiest ways to think about email is to compare it with the telephone. When you have a phone conversation with someone, you don’t normally record the conversation and keep it forever. You have the conversation, get the information you need, and move on. Email is similar. It’s primarily a way of communicating – a messaging system – rather than a permanent document storage system.
Of course, there are emails you may need to keep. Important correspondence, invoices, contracts, instructions and other records may need to be retained. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they need to remain in your email mailbox forever.
If an email contains information that you need to keep as a record, consider saving the relevant document somewhere designed for long-term storage – such as your company’s document management system, SharePoint, OneDrive or another appropriate filing system.
Think of your inbox as your desk, rather than your filing cabinet. You wouldn’t keep every piece of paper that had ever landed on your desk. You’d deal with it, file the things you need, and get rid of the rest.
Attachments can fill a mailbox surprisingly quickly
It’s often not the number of emails that causes a mailbox to fill up – it’s the attachments. A few years of ordinary text emails might not take up very much space. Add photographs, PDFs, Word documents, spreadsheets and other files, however, and storage usage can grow surprisingly quickly.
It’s also worth remembering that messages in folders such as Sent and Trash can contribute to your mailbox usage. So deleting old messages isn’t just about tidying your Inbox. It’s worth looking at your Sent and other folders too.
Don’t forget your Junk folder
Your mailbox also receives messages that you don’t necessarily want to see. Spam and other unwanted messages can be automatically moved into your Junk or Spam folder. Although this helps keep your Inbox manageable, those messages can still occupy storage space.
There’s another important reason to check your Junk folder occasionally: legitimate emails can sometimes be incorrectly identified as spam. So it’s worth making it part of your normal email housekeeping routine.
You’ll receive a warning before you run out of space
Your mailbox quota isn’t something you need to constantly monitor. As your mailbox approaches its limit, quota warning emails should be sent to you. These are there to give you an opportunity to clear some space before the mailbox becomes full. If you receive one, don’t ignore it.
Have a quick look through your mailbox and remove old emails, particularly those with large attachments. Empty your Trash and check your Sent folder too. If you have important information that you need to retain, consider moving it to a more appropriate long-term storage location.
How can I check how much space I’m using?
You don’t have to wait for a warning email to check your mailbox. There are two ways you can check. The first is via your email hosting control panel – if you don’t have access to this and would like us to send you login details then let us know and we’ll sort it for you. The second way is logging into Webmail at outitgoes.com. Log in using your normal email address and password and you’ll be able to access your mailbox. Then go to the ‘settings’ page, and check its current status. You can use Webmail even if you normally read your email using Outlook, Apple Mail, Gmail or a phone app. It’s exactly the same mailbox, just a different way of reaching it.
A little email housekeeping goes a long way
Keeping your mailbox under control doesn’t need to become a big job. Every now and then:
- Delete emails you no longer need.
- Empty your Trash/Deleted folder.
- Check your Sent folder for large attachments and old messages.
- Check your Junk/Spam folder for genuine emails that have been filtered incorrectly.
- Save important documents somewhere more appropriate for long-term storage.
- Pay attention to mailbox quota warning emails.
- Check your mailbox usage through Webmail if you’re concerned about how much space you’re using.
The aim isn’t to keep your mailbox completely empty. It’s simply to use email for what it was designed for – communicating – and use proper file storage for things you need to keep long term.