Outlook Mailbox full how to Archive
You’re in the middle of your workday, writing an important email, attaching the final document, ready to hit send — and suddenly:
"Your mailbox is full. You cannot send or receive any more emails."
Is Your Outlook 365 Mailbox Full and you're not Receiving Emails
You’re in the middle of your workday, writing an important email, attaching the final document, ready to hit send — and suddenly:
“Your mailbox is full. You cannot send or receive any more emails.”
It’s a frustrating moment we’ve all experienced, whether you’re using Outlook, Gmail, or another email platform. For some users, it’s a one-off inconvenience. For others, it’s a recurring productivity killer — clogging up communications, slowing down systems, and creating panic when critical emails bounce or disappear.
But more than just an annoyance, a full mailbox can:
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Stop your ability to send or receive time-sensitive emails
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Slow down Outlook and reduce overall system performance
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Cause syncing issues across devices
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Create compliance risks if old emails are deleted to free up space
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Lead to missed sales, customer complaints, or internal bottlenecks
Whether you’re a solo operator, a small business, or an IT manager overseeing multiple inboxes across your team, the reality is the same: you need your email working, not working against you.
The good news? There are clear, practical solutions — and most of them don’t require upgrading your plan or spending money. In this guide, we walk you through quick wins, deep clean strategies, and long-term archiving solutions to help you fix a full mailbox — and keep it running smoothly for good.
Let’s get started.
Why Mailboxes Fill Up
Getting a “Mailbox is full” message in Outlook 365 is never fun — especially when you’re expecting important emails from clients or colleagues.
But these alerts are more than just an annoyance. They’re your system’s way of saying:
“Help! I can’t take any more emails!”
If you’ve seen one of these common error messages, your mailbox has likely hit its storage cap:
“Your mailbox is full, you cannot send or receive emails.”
“Mailbox size limit exceeded Outlook 365.”
“Quota exceeded, your message was not delivered.”
“Mailbox is full. Office 365 archive not enabled.”
So, what causes your mailbox to fill up?
Here are the most common culprits:
Large attachments – Those big PDFs, images, and spreadsheets add up fast.
Never cleaning out old emails – Deleted Items, Sent Items, and Junk can quietly hoard space.
High volume of daily emails – If you’re receiving hundreds of messages a day, it’s only a matter of time.
Storing years of emails – Keeping everything “just in case” means your mailbox is carrying a digital time capsule.
These aren’t just annoying popups.
They’re red flags that your Outlook 365 mailbox is bursting at the seams — and once you hit that limit, you won’t be able to send, receive, or even archive emails until you make space.
Seeing error messages like “Mailbox size limit exceeded” or “Your mailbox is over its size limit”?
How to Check Your Mailbox Size in Outlook 365
Before you start deleting emails or archiving years of correspondence, it’s important to check how full your mailbox actually is.
Outlook 365 gives you a few different ways to view your current mailbox usage — both in the desktop app and online via Outlook Web Access (OWA).
This step is crucial because it helps you understand just how close you are to your limit, and which folders (like Sent Items or Deleted Items) are eating up all your space.
Check in Outlook Desktop App
1. In Outlook, click on File in the top-left corner
2. Select Tools
3. Select Mailbox Cleanup
4. In the pop-up window, click View Mailbox Size
You’ll now see a detailed breakdown showing:
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Your total mailbox size (in kilobytes or megabytes),
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How much of your allotted space you’ve used,
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And how much is still available.
Check in Outlook Web (OWA)
No access to the Outlook app?
You can still check your storage status via any browser using Outlook Web Access (OWA).
1. Head to outlook.office.com and sign in with your Microsoft 365 account.
2. Click the gear icon (⚙️) in the top-right corner to open Settings.
3. In the settings menu, go to Account > Storage.
5. You’ll see a visual pie chart or bar showing:
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Your current storage usage,
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Your total available space,
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And how much you need to clean up.
Checking your usage regularly can help you catch storage problems before they disrupt your workflow — especially if you work in a high-email-volume environment or share large files often.
How to Archive Emails in Outlook 365 (Manual & Auto)
If your mailbox is nearing its limit, archiving emails is one of the most effective ways to clear space without deleting anything important.
Option 1: Archive Manually
- In Outlook, right-click the folder you want to archive (e.g., Inbox or Sent Items).
Option 2: Set Up AutoArchive
Best for users who want Outlook to do the cleanup regularly behind the scenes.
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Click File > Options > Advanced.
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Under AutoArchive, click AutoArchive Settings.
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Choose how often it runs, and how old items should be before being archived (e.g., older than 6 months).
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Choose a destination — PST file on your computer or network location.
⚠️Warning: PST files are not backed up by Microsoft.
If your PC crashes or is lost, those files — and your emails — could be gone for good.
If keeping your email history safe is important, consider using cloud archiving for better protection and peace of mind.
Enable Online Archiving in Microsoft 365 (Cloud-Based Option)
For businesses using Microsoft 365, the best long-term solution is Online Archiving, also known as “In-Place Archive.”
Why use Online Archiving?
Emails stay accessible from Outlook or OWA
Auto-expands to over 1.5 TB*
Complies with data retention & legal hold policies*
No local PSTs to manage or lose
How to Enable It:
Enabling mailbox archiving is handled through the Microsoft 365 Admin Centre and needs to be done by your IT technician or administrator.
If your mailbox is full or close to the limit, ask your IT team to turn on archive mailboxes and apply the appropriate retention policies. This allows older emails to be automatically moved to an archive, freeing up space in your main inbox.
Other Ways to Free Up Space Fast
Here are some smart habits and tools to reduce mailbox size without relying solely on archiving:
Clean Your Sent Items
Sent Items often take up a huge chunk of mailbox space — especially if you’re always attaching documents.
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Sort by size and delete large sent emails
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Save the attachments first if needed
Use OneDrive or SharePoint for Attachments
Instead of attaching 15MB PDFs or images, store the file in OneDrive and send a link. You’ll reduce mailbox clutter and version-control headaches at the same time.
Clear Out Deleted & Junk Regularly
Set a reminder to empty your Deleted Items and Junk Email folders weekly — they count toward your quota.
Bonus: Set Mailbox Size Alerts Before It’s Too Late
Admins can configure alerts so you (and your IT team) know when a mailbox is nearing its limit.
Example thresholds:
Warning at 47 GB
Send-only at 49.5 GB
Block all mail at 50 GB
Don’t wait for disaster — set alerts to catch issues before they snowball
Free Up Space with Storage Sense
If you’re using Windows 11, you can take advantage of a built-in tool called Storage Sense to help free up space — especially if large Outlook files or downloads are cluttering your system.
torage Sense automatically clears out unnecessary files like:
Temporary files
Items in your Recycle Bin
Old downloads
Local copies of OneDrive files you haven’t opened in a while
How to Use It:
Click into Cleanup recommendations for a quick overview of where you’re using the most space — including Outlook data, downloads, and more.
Choose what you want to delete or move to the cloud.
💡 Tip: You can even schedule Storage Sense to run automatically, so your system stays clean without you having to think about it.
This is a simple, effective way to keep your PC running smoothly — and help reduce the risk of hitting storage limits, especially when Outlook data is stored locally.
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- Go to Settings > System > Storage
2. Turn on Storage Sense
3. Click into Cleanup recommendations for a quick overview of where you’re using the most space — including Outlook data, downloads, and more.
4. Choose what you want to delete or move to the cloud.
Tip: You can even schedule Storage Sense to run automatically, so your system stays clean without you having to think about it.
This is a simple, effective way to keep your PC running smoothly — and help reduce the risk of hitting storage limits, especially when Outlook data is stored locally.
Need Help Managing Mailboxes Across Your Team?
At SouthEast IT, we help businesses audit, clean, and future-proof their email systems with:
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Mailbox archiving setup
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Online Archive enablement
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Automated retention policies
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Shared mailbox restructuring
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Staff email hygiene training
Whether it’s a single user or your entire organisation, we’ll help you clear the clutter and stay in control.
Ready to Get Your Mailbox Under Control?
If your Outlook 365 mailbox is full and slowing you down, don’t stress — there are smarter ways to fix it without deleting important emails or upgrading your plan.
Let’s Talk
We’ll help you clean up, archive the right way, and prevent this from happening again.
* Default Limits from Microsoft, dependant on your Microsoft 365 License
