Store mail locally to save space on the mail server
Is your mailbox almost full? Then you can move old mail from the server to a local folder on your own computer. That mail will no longer be on the mail server and won't count toward your storage anymore. You can still read and search it in your mail program, but only on that one computer.
First: is cleaning up a better solution?
Often the mailbox is full because of a few large attachments, the trash, or the spam folder. First read Cleaning up your mailbox to free up space in DirectAdmin and Storage or disk space full: here's how to free up space. You can also increase the storage of the mailbox or your package.
Outlook for Windows (classic)
- Click New Items (or next to New Email), choose More Items and then Outlook Data File.
- Choose a folder and a name, for example Archive, and click OK. Outlook creates a .pst file. The new data file appears on the left in the folder list.
- Right-click the data file, choose New Folder and give the folder a name, for example Archive 2024.
- Select the emails you want to move (with Ctrl or Shift) and drag them to that folder.
In the new Outlook for Windows this works differently or not at all. Use the classic Outlook for this instead.
Thunderbird
- On the left in the folder list is Local Folders. Right-click it and choose New Folder.
- Give the folder a name and drag the emails from your mailbox to that folder.
Apple Mail on the Mac
- In the menu bar, choose Mailbox and then New Mailbox.
- For Location, choose On My Mac and give the mailbox a name.
- Drag the emails from your mailbox to that new mailbox.
Check whether the space is freed up
After dragging, the emails are in the local folder and disappear from the server. Some programs first put them in the trash of your mailbox. Empty that as well in that case. You can see how much space your mailbox is using in DirectAdmin under E-mail Accounts. See also Storage per mailbox and what happens when it's full.