Set Outlook Express To Leave Email Messages On The Server
Some Microsoft Outlook Express users would prefer that copies of their email remain on a server so that they can be accessed later, potentially using another web-based email program. Otherwise, POP3 servers will remove email as soon as they've downloaded to the mail client. For users concerned about unintentionally losing access to emails, storing copies on the server adds an extra layer of insurance. Fortunately, configuring Outlook Express to store said copies on a POP3 server for an indefinite or scheduled period of time is pretty straightforward.
Steps
- Open Outlook Express. Locate and start the program as you normally would, either from the Start menu or wherever it may be stationed on your PC or notebook's desktop.
- Select Tools/Accounts. Once you select Tools from Outlook's menu bar up top, you'll see a dropdown menu appear and see Accounts under the last section of that menu. Click on that. Note that older versions of Outlook Express may refer to Account Settings rather than Accounts.
- Select the Mail tab under Internet Accounts. The Mail option will be the second tab to the right. If you have multiple email accounts, you'll see them individually listed here.
- Click on email account you wish to adjust. Once you select it, you'll find that it's been highlighted.
- Click on the Advanced tab. There are two ways to find this. First, you can simply double-click on the email account you've selected, and a menu will appear with the Advanced tab located there.
- Alternatively, you may click on the Properties button over to the right once you've selected the appropriate email account.
- Either way, a Properties box will open, and you'll find the Advanced tab farthest to the right. Click that.
- Leave copies of messages on server under the Delivery section. You'll find the Delivery section near the bottom of the Advanced tab. Simply check the box placed next to the option reading "Leave a copy of messages on server."
- Schedule email copies to be removed from server. Because copies stored on your server can slow mail connections and eat up allotted disk space, you also may wish to check the box next to "Remove from server after X days" while also selecting the number of days you keep the copies.
- You can also (or alternatively) check the box below that, allowing copies to be removed from the served when the original emails are permanently deleted from Deleted Items.
- Click OK and close windows. By this point, you'll need to close both the Properties and Internet Accounts windows.
- Quit and restart Outlook Express. This ensures that your recently made adjustments begin taking effect.
- Verify that copies are being stored. To ensure that the process worked correctly, simply attempt to download and already accessed email from a different device or user profile. If all went according to plan, you'll be able to download the same messages from multiple devices or user profiles.
Warnings
- Internet Service Providers (ISPs) often limit the size of POP3 mailboxes, meaning you may not receive new emails if the server is full of stored copies. Accordingly, it may be particularly wise to select at least one of the options that deletes copies after a period of time or when they're permanently removed from Deleted Items.
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