How to Clear Storage Space in Outlook Web

How to Clear Storage Space in Outlook Web

Purpose:
To help users free up space in their Outlook Web mailbox and stay under storage limits.

1. Check Mailbox Storage

• Go to https://outlook.office.com and sign in.

• Click the Settings gear icon (top-right).

• Click View all Outlook settings.

• Go to General > Storage.

• Review folder sizes and overall usage.

2. Empty Deleted Items and Junk Email

• In the left pane, right-click Deleted Items > Empty folder.

• Do the same for Junk Email.

3. Sort and Delete Large Emails

• In your Inbox or any folder:

  • Click the Filter drop-down > Sort by size.

• Open large emails and decide to:

  • Delete them, or

  • Download and remove attachments (see step 4).

4. Remove Attachments (Keep the Email)

• Open the email.

• Click on the attachment.

• Choose Download to save it locally or to OneDrive.

• After saving, delete the email or archive it elsewhere.

5. Search and Delete Old Emails

• In the search bar, type:

  • size:>5MB to find large emails.

  • older_than:6months to find older emails.

• Select and delete what’s no longer needed.

6. Clean Up Sent Items

• Go to Sent Items.

• Sort by Size or Date.

• Delete old or large messages.

7. Manage Folders with High Usage

• Use Settings > General > Storage to see which folders use the most space.

• Go to those folders and delete unnecessary messages.

8. Empty Recoverable Items

• After deleting emails, go to Deleted Items.

• Scroll to the bottom and click Recover items deleted from this folder.

• Select all > click Permanently delete.

9. Optional: Set Auto-Deletion Rules

• Go to Settings > Mail > Rules.

• Create a rule to auto-delete old or unnecessary emails (e.g., newsletters older than 30 days).