Microsoft Outlook 2003

Emptying the Deleted Items Folder

To help preserve your Outlook Exchange account quota and to keep organized, you should empty your Deleted Items folder on a regular basis. For more information, refer to Managing Your Account Quota. There are two options within Outlook 2003 for deleting items; the best option for you depends on your personal working style. If you wish to view a message before deleting (to verify that you really want to delete it), simply double click the item in the Deleted Items folder to open it or use the Reading Pane. Outlook also allows you to recover items if they were recently emptied from the Deleted Items folder.

Emptying Deleted Items When Exiting Outlook
Emptying Deleted Items upon Demand
Recovering Permanently Deleted Items

Emptying Deleted Items When Exiting Outlook

RECOMMDED: Emptying the Deleted Items folder every time you exit Outlook 2003 is a good maintenance practice to adopt. The process is simple and performing it can save you time in the long run.

From the Tools menu, select Options...
The Options dialog box appears.
Select the Other tab
Select Empty the Deleted Items folder upon exiting
OPTIONAL: To suppress the warning that typically appears before the Deleted Items folder is emptied:
1. Click ADVANCED OPTIONS...
  The Advanced Options dialog box appears.
2. Deselect Warn before permanently deleting times
3. Click OK
Click OK
The Deleted Items folder will now be emptied upon every exit.

Emptying Deleted Items upon Demand

You may also wish to empty the Deleted Items folder periodically while using Outlook 2003. If you are using Outlook throughout the day to send and receive messages or update your calendar, it would be a good idea to clean up your space from time to time.

From the Tools menu, select Empty "Deleted Items" Folder
If a confirmation dialog box appears, click YES
The Deleted Items folder is now empty.

Recovering Permanently Deleted Items

Outlook gives you the ability to recover items that you have recently permanently deleted from the Deleted Items folder. This should be done as soon as possible to ensure that they are still recoverable. Recovered items are placed back into the Deleted Items folder.

From the Folder List, select Deleted Items
From the Tools menu, select Recover Deleted Items...
The Recover Deleted Items dialog box appears.
Select the items which you want to recover
OR
Click SELECT ALL
To recover the selected items, click RECOVER SELECTED ITEMS
OR
To purge the selected items permanently, click PURGE SELECTED ITEMS
The dialog box closes and you are returned to Outlook.