WMU > OIT > Help Desk > E-mail

Managing Your E-communication Services E-mail Quota

Western Michigan University has established a quota for storage of e-mail on our servers. Students have a default e-mail quota of 50 MB and Faculty/Staff have a default e-mail quota of 300 MB. Quotas should be checked periodically to assure you remain below your limit.

If you reach 92% of your quota, you will receive an e-mail notification that you are close to exceeding your quota. You should immediately remove unneeded messages from your account. If you reach 100%, or exceed, your quota, you will no longer receive incoming e-mail.

• How to check your quota via ECS
• How to check your quota using Netscape Mail & Newsgroups, Mozilla Thunderbird & Mozilla Mail Client
• Emptying your trash
• Deleting and expunging e-mail
• Managing other folders
• Checking for large attachments or large e-mail sizes
• Emptying trash using other e-mail clients

How to check your quota

After you have logged into E-communication Services (ECS), either via the GoWMU portal (gowmu.wmich.edu) or directly at webmail.wmich.edu, you may check your quota by performing any of the following options:

1. View the bottom of your screen when you are in the Inbox tab.
   
   
   
   
2. Click the Options tab at the right of the tool bar.
   
   
   
   
3. The Account Summary tab will alrady be chosen and will display your quota.
   
   

How to check your quota using Netscape Mail & Newsgroups, Mozilla Thunderbird & Mozilla Mail Client

Right click on the inbox and choose properties. Then click on the quota tab to display the size of your quota and how much of it is being used.

Emptying your trash

You may empty your trash by selecting the Folders tab. Click the Empty Trash button that is next to the Trash folder. Effective 11/20/06, all messages in the trash folder for 14 days will be automatically deleted daily.

Deleting and expunging e-mail

1. There are two settings that give you different ways of deleting e-mail through WebMail. These settings are located under the Options tab, then under the Settings button on the left side of the screen.
   
   
   
   
   
2. You have the choice to use the Move deleted messages to Trash folder. This option sends the e-mail messages that you delete to the Trash folder where it will await you to expunge it when you click the Empty Trash button. This is the preferred and easiest method.
3. The other choice is Mark messages deleted. This option marks the message as deleted, but does not remove it from the folder it is in. To completely remove the message you have to expunge it, or it remains in the folder taking up quota space. After you have marked the message deleted, click the Expunge button to remove it. Messages marked deleted have an "X" next to the name of the e-mail sender. After you click the Expunge button, all messages marked deleted will be permanently removed from the server and your quota space.
   
   
   

Managing other folders

If you empty your trash but still have a high percentage of your quota used up, you should also check your such as Sent, Sent Items, and Sent Mail folders. A copy of messages you have sent is stored in these folders. Delete, using the procedures above, any that you do not need to keep.

Checking for large attachments or large e-mail sizes

1. When you receive an e-mail with an attachment, the attachment is saved on the e-mail server until you download and delete it from your account. Large attachments consume a lot of space which greatly decreases the amount of space left in your quota. To check the size of an attachment, look under the Size heading in the folder you are in. You will be shown the size of the e-mail and its attachment together.
   
   
   
   
2. To download the attachment, you must first open the e-mail and then right-click the attachment link and choose the Save Target As (or Save Link As) to save the file wherever you choose on your local computer.
   
   

Emptying trash using other e-mail clients

• Thunderbird
• Outlook Express, Outlook 2003 & Outlook XP
• Netscape 7.2
• Mozilla 1.7.12
• Entourage
• Mac Mail

Thunderbird

In Thunderbird, the trash can be emptied by selecting File > Empty Trash on the menu bar.

Outlook Express, Outlook 2003 & Outlook XP

1. Outlook does not use the Trash folder. Outlook allows you to delete a file and then marks it to be deleted by putting a line through the message.
   
   
   
   
2. After you have chosen all the messages you want deleted, you purge them by selecting Edit > Purge Deleted Messages.
   
   

Netscape 7.2

In Netscape 7.2, the trash can be emptied by selecting File > Empty Trash on the menu bar.

Mozilla 1.7.12

In Mozilla 1.7.12, the trash can be emptied by selecting File > Empty Trash on the menu bar.

Entourage

After you delete a message, Entourage places it in a Deleted Items folder. To permanently remove these messages, select Edit > Purge Deleted Items.

Mac Mail

After you have deleted a message, Mac Mail places is in a Deleted Items folder. To permanently remove these messages, select Mailbox > Erase Deleted Messages > IMAP Account.

Need More Help?

If you need assistance, the Help Desk is located down the hall at the end of the UCC lab. They may be reached by telephone at (269) 387-HELP, option 1, or by e-mail to .