How to Disable Outlook Mailbox Cleanup

By default, when you set up a new e-mail account in Microsoft Outlook, the program enables the automatic mailbox cleanup feature, also known as AutoArchive. Mailbox cleanup is intended to help you keep the size of your inbox under control by automatically transferring old messages to archived locations. However, if you want to have complete control over the movement of your emails, you should disable this feature.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• PC running Windows XP or later
• Microsoft Outlook 2003 or later

1. Launch the Microsoft Outlook application and log in to your email account.

2. Go to the "Tools" menu at the top of the window and choose "Options." A pop-up window will open displaying different email settings.

3. Go to the "Other" tab at the top of the pop-up window.

4. Click the "AutoArchive" button in the middle of the window to customize the mailbox cleanup settings.

5. Uncheck the box next to "Run AutoArchive."

6. Click the "OK" button at the bottom of the window.

7. Click the "Apply" button to save the new settings, and then restart Outlook for the changes to take effect. Automatic mailbox cleanup has now been disabled, and AutoArchive will no longer run.

References

• Microsoft Office Outlook: Turn Off Autoarchive
• LTS Documentation: Microsoft Outlook 2007: Enabling and Disabling AutoArchiving