About
The following guide provides strategies for managing e-mail in Outlook 2010 and 2013.
Reducing Spam
Outlook Rules
Utilizing Outlook rules is quick and can significantly reduce the amount spam you receive. Rules can be tailored on a variety of factors - key words, recipient or sender address, subject line, etc - so that you can decrease the amount of spam you receive. The most effective rule you can set up, however, uses a calculated "spam" level flag that OSU inserts into the header of incoming e-mail messages. Using this flag you can easily customize how restrictive you want your spam filtering to be.
Click here for information on creating Outlook rules.
SpamBayes
SpamBayes is a free, 3rd-party add-in for Outlook that uses a Bayesian algorithm to identify spam messages. Over time, by you actively identifying good messages ("ham") and bad messages ("spam"), the program's filtering becomes more effective. Of the three options listed, SpamBayes requires the most investment to set up, but the end result is often the most accurate.
Click here for information on using SpamBayes.
Outlook Junk Mail Filtering
Junk Mail Filtering is a built-in feature in Outlook. Using Junk Filtering, you can block individual sender addresses, countries, and languages. Unfortunately, the method is not particularly effective: spammers can easily change the address to evade built-in filtering. We recommend using one of the above methods over the built-in Junk Filtering option.
Click here for information on using Outlook Junk Mail.
Mailbox Organization
Outlook Online Archiving [PREFERRED]
An Online Archive looks a lot like a mailbox but provides extra storage for your e-mail in the cloud. Online Archives provide many benefits: they can hold up to 50 GB of data, and are accessible from everywhere (via the Outlook Web App, the latest versions of Office for Windows, and Office 365 for Mac). Online Archives also allow you to customize nightly backup schemes for your Inbox. A regular backup scheme can actively prevent your mailbox from becoming full. Other benefits are an increase in performance compared to .pst files, and the availability of having all of your e-mail together in one place, where it is searchable.
Click here for information on using Online Archiving.
Creating E-Mail Archives with .pst Files
E-mail archives provide additional storage space for messages and do not count against the total available space in your mailbox. Archives reside inside of a .pst file and can hold up to 50 GB of data. Messages can be directed into archives via the AutoArchive or rules features in Outlook, or by moving them manually.
Click here for information on creating archives with .pst files.
Mailbox Size Management Strategies
Mailbox space can be optimized by managing attachments, and reducing the size of your Sent and Deleted Items folders.
Click here for information on managing your mailbox size.