How to Automatically Empty Trash in Outlook
How to Automatically Empty Trash in Outlook
Trash can be a real headache in Outlook, cluttering up your mailbox and slowing down your email management. But fear not, there’s a way to automate the process and keep your inbox tidy without breaking a sweat!
Here’s how you can set up Outlook to automatically empty your trash:
- Open Outlook and go to the File tab at the top left corner.
- Click on Options and select Advanced from the left-hand sidebar.
- Scroll down until you find the AutoArchive section and click on the AutoArchive Settings button.
- In the AutoArchive window, check the box that says “Delete expired items (e.g., email folders, contacts)”.
- Choose the frequency at which you want Outlook to empty your trash. You can select options like every day, every week, or every month.
- Click OK to save your settings and close the AutoArchive window.
- Voila! You’ve successfully set up Outlook to automatically empty your trash.
By following these simple steps, you’ll never have to worry about overflowing trash in Outlook again. Your mailbox will stay clean and organized, allowing you to focus on what really matters – managing your emails effectively.
When I delete a message in Outlook, it goes to the Deleted Items folder and stays there until I delete it. It’s kind of like the Recycle Bin for Outlook. But sometimes, this folder can get really crowded and make Outlook slow down.
Even though not everyone uses Gmail, Microsoft lets you sign in to your Gmail account through Outlook because Gmail is super popular. And just like Gmail’s Archived Messages option, there’s no need to keep deleted messages in Outlook. Luckily, you can set up Outlook to automatically delete all your deleted emails.
Deleting Emails Manually
If you just want to get rid of the emails in your Deleted Items folder, it’s pretty easy to do. This is a good option if you like to keep your deleted mail for a weekly or monthly check, just to be safe.
To manually delete the “deleted” emails, go to the Deleted Items folder and remove them like you would any other email. Just remember, this will permanently erase the selected emails, so you won’t be able to get them back. If you can’t find the Deleted Items folder, look for the Trash folder.
Auto Empty Trash
If you want Outlook to automatically empty the Trash folder when you close the app, you can turn on this option and never worry about overloading your Trash folder with, well, trash. But be careful! Only use this if you don’t get a lot of important emails. If you’re not sure, it’s better to delete them manually.
To turn on this option, open Outlook and sign in (even if you use Gmail). Once you’re in your account, click on the File tab and go to Options. In the Outlook Options dialog box, go to the Advanced section. Under Outlook start and exit, check the box next to Empty Deleted Items folders when exiting Outlook. This will delete all the mail in any folder set as the Deleted Items folder every time you close Outlook.
Outlook Online
Unfortunately, this option isn’t available in Outlook Online for a good reason — how many times have you accidentally closed a browser tab? It’s probably happened to you more than once, and you don’t want to lose important emails because of it.
To delete the Trash in Outlook Online, log in to your account and find the Deleted Items folder. Right-click on it and select Empty Trash. This will delete all the trash in your Outlook.
Other Ways
There are other ways you can organize your emails without the risk of accidentally deleting important ones. You can schedule a weekly or monthly cleanup and empty your Deleted Items folder then.
Another great idea is to have Outlook start in the Trash folder, so you can follow up on your deleted emails from the previous workday and clean things up. To do this, go to the File tab, click on Options, go to the Advanced section, and under Outlook start and exit, change the Start Outlook in this folder option to the folder you use for Deleted Items. This will make sure you always stay on top of your emails and keep your inbox organized.
Being Careful
When it comes to keeping my Outlook inbox organized, the most crucial thing is to be cautious, especially if I’m using it for business. If I’m absolutely sure that I want to automatically empty the trash in Outlook, I can follow the tutorial mentioned above. However, if I tend to be more careful, I can explore different methods of organizing my inbox.
So, how do you go about organizing your emails? Would you consider using the auto-empty-trash feature in Outlook? Feel free to share your ideas and thoughts in the comments section below.
