back to LCS home

Email and Email Accounts

I just got an email that said my mailbox is too full!

OR

I can't send or receive email!

Note: The email system is controlled and managed by the University, NOT the School of Law . We offer some suggestions below, but for further assistance, you will have to contact the University Help Desk at (310) 506-HELP (x4357).

Most common problem: Your mailbox is too full. The University places restrictions on the size of your email account. Once your mailbox size limit has been reached, your account will not be able to send or receive messages. See the "Mailbox Size Limits" section on the University Help Desk website for more details.

Here are some tips for reducing your mailbox size:

1. Check the size of your folders to find out where the problem is.
   1. Using Microsoft Outlook, find "Outlook Today" at the top of the folder list on the left side of your screen (if you do not see the folder list or "Outlook Today", go to the View menu and choose "Folder List").
   2. Right-click on "Outlook Today".
   3. When a menu pops up, choose Properties.
   4. On the next screen that appears, there will be a button for Folder size. Press that button.
   5. The next screen will tell you what your biggest folders are. As a student, the overall size of all your folders should not exceed 12 megs, or you may no longer be able to send or receive mail.
2. Empty your Deleted Items folder (Webmail: Use the "Empty Deleted Items" icon; Outlook: Go to the Tools menu, choose "Empty Deleted Items").
3. Look for emails with large attachments.
4. One large attachment can take up as much room as thousands of regular emails.
5. Save the attachments to your computer and then delete the attachment from the email. Often, it's just a couple huge messages that are filling your mailbox; don't bother trying to delete hundreds of small ones if a couple big attachments are your problem.
6. Check your Sent Items folder for emails with large attachments, too.
7. Remember to empty your Deleted Items folder again (see Step 2) when you're done, so that emails you have just deleted will really be erased and not counted toward your size limit.

If you use Microsoft Outlook as an Exchange client, the University Help Desk also has a website with the latest tips for reducing your mailbox size and diagnosing why you may be getting error messages about your mailbox size.

For further assistance, please contact the University Help Desk at (310) 506-HELP (x4357). They have access to the actual servers that handle your email, which we do not.