Overview
All email accounts have maximum disk space limits. If emails are left on the email server indefinitely, the email inbox may get full.
The email server will send a notice to your inbox when it reaches 75% of capacity. If this email is missed or ignored, the email account can get full. If the email account becomes full, you might stop receiving emails. Anyone who sends you an email will receive a bounce back email stating that your inbox is 100% full and that their message was undeliverable. Outlined below are several ways to resolve this problem.
Delete emails using webmail
For instructions on how to delete your emails using webmail, see our deleting emails using webmail article.
Set email application to automatically delete old emails
You can automatically set your email application to delete old emails which have already been downloaded from the server. If the email application is set up to connect to the server via POP, there should be an option in the email application to allow users to leave a copy of emails on the server, or to delete them from the server. This setting can be changed after set up to clear out old emails from the web server. To change this setting in Outlook:
- Open Outlook and click on Tools from the top menu
- From the drop down menu, click on Account Settings (some versions of Outlook may title this item Accounts or Email Accounts)
- Select View or Change existing email accounts then click next (some versions of Outlook will not have this option. If you do not see this option, skip to the next step)
- Select the email account you wish to make changes to by clicking on it once, then click on the Change button (some versions of Outlook will have a Properties button rather than a Change button)
- Click More Settings (some versions of Outlook will not have this option. Skip to the next step if you do not see it)
- Click on the Advanced tab on the very right
- Under the Delivery heading you will see a tick box next to the words Leave a copy of messages on the server. Check the box
- If you wish to leave a copy of your emails on the server for a number of days, tick the corresponding box and select the number of days you wish to leave the emails on the server for
- Once complete, click on the Ok button, then the Next button, then the Finish button
- To update the mail server with your new settings, click Send/Receive or the equivalent command in your version of Outlook
This will update your Outlook to the mail server and delete any older emails which have already been downloaded. All other software and devices should have a similar option. If unsure of where this option is, please seek assistance from the software or device provider's manual or online support pages.
Increase email storage on cPanel Hosting
cPanel hosting plans share their disk space between email and website files, which means that if a customer has leftover space, they can increase the disk space allocated to individual email inboxes.
- Log in to the Admin Panel
- Hover over 'Domains' and click 'Manage'
- Click on the domain you want to edit
- Click cPanel Login
- Click on the Email Accounts icon in the cPanel interface
- Locate the email address you wish to increase the disk space for and adjust the quota accordingly
Increase email storage on Cloud Hosting
Email storage on Cloud Hosting has a fixed limit and cannot be modified by customers. Depending on your current hosting plan, it may be possible to upgrade to a plan that includes additional email disk storage. Please speak to our sales team if you are interested in increasing your email disk storage.