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10 Minute Guide to Microsoft Exchange 5.0
- Lesson 11 -
Managing Messages
In this lesson, you learn how to manage the messages you've received. You learn
how to create folders to store messages, how to delete messages, and how to rescue
deleted messages.
Storing Messages
If you open and read a message and then close it, the message stays in the Inbox.
However, you know it's been read because its header is no longer displayed in bold
type. Some of those old messages can be deleted, but you'll want to save some for
future reference. Fortunately, Exchange offers a number of options for storing messages.
If you delete the message, it's sent to the Deleted Items folder in your mailbox.
The options for manipulating the Deleted Items folder are discussed later in this
lesson.
If you want to store messages you've already read, you can create a filing system
for them by creating folders and sorting the messages using whatever system suits
your needs. There are two types of folders you can create to hold the messages you
want to save:
- Mailbox folders: Folders you create that have names to match your storage
scheme. These folders are part of your mailbox and are displayed in the Contents
pane (along with the four folders already attached to your mailbox) when you select
your Mailbox item in the Folder pane. Mailbox folders are stored on the server because
they are part of your mailbox.
- Personal folders Additional folders you can create for yourself. They
appear in the Folder pane of your Microsoft Exchange Client window and can be stored
on your local hard drive. See Lesson 13 for information on creating and using personal
folders.
Creating and Using Mailbox Folders
You can create folders to hold specific types of messages and keep those folders
in your mailbox. For example, you may want to keep messages about a specific project
all together in one folder. Or, you may use one folder for all the information you
receive regarding your employee benefits and employee records, as well as other administrative
messages about your organization.
While mailbox folders make it easy to find old messages, there is one thing you
have to be careful about: the amount of room these folders can take up on the server.
In some organizations, the administrators limit the space reserved for your mailbox
in order to conserve disk space on the server. If this is true in your case, you'll
want to use mailbox folders judiciously and create personal folders on your local
hard drive for the messages you want to save.
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Holding Folders One of the best ways to use mailbox folders is as a temporary
holding bin until you can decide where to store a message permanently. This also
is a good place to store any message that needs a reply from you (but not an instant
reply, which you would have done while the message was open).
To create a new folder for your mailbox, follow these steps:
- 1. In the Folder pane, select your Mailbox item. The Contents pane lists
the four default mailbox folders (Deleted Items, Inbox, Outbox, and Sent Items).
2. Choose File, New Folder to display the New Folder dialog box (see Figure 11.1).
Figure 11.1 The New Folder dialog box creates a folder that will be
stored at the location of the selected item in the Folder pane.
- 3. Enter a name for the folder and click OK. The new folder appears in
the Contents pane when your mailbox is selected (see Figure 11.2).

Figure 11.2 The new folder is displayed with the other mailbox folders
(in alphabetical order).
Using Mailbox Folders
After you create a mailbox folder, it's easy to place messages in it. You can
either move or copy a message into a mailbox folder, and you can perform either of
those actions on both open and closed messages.
Working with Closed Messages
The easiest way to put a message into a mailbox folder is to work with a closed
message, because you can simply drag the message from the list in the Contents pane
into the folder. To accomplish this, follow these easy steps:
- 1. Make sure the mailbox folders are displayed in the Folder pane (click
the plus sign next to the Mailbox object).
2. Select the Inbox folder in the Folder pane to display all messages you've
received in the Contents pane, as shown in Figure 11.3.
Figure 11.3 If the messages and the folders are both displayed, it's
easy to drag messages to the folder of your choice.
- 3. To move a message to a mailbox folder, drag it to the folder's
icon.
4. To copy a message to a mailbox folder, hold down Ctrl and drag it
to the folder's icon.
Working with Multiple Messages To move or copy multiple messages, select them
(hold down the Ctrl key and select each one, or hold down the Shift key and select
a range). Then drag any one of the selected messages to the target folder. The others
are copied or moved, too.
Working with Open Messages
To place a message (or a copy of a message) in a mailbox folder when the message
is open, follow these steps:
- 1. Choose File, Move or File, Copy. The Move dialog box or the Copy dialog
box appears (they are the same).
2. Click the + (plus sign) next to the Mailbox object to display the mailbox
folders (see Figure 11.4).
Figure 11.4 The Move and Copy dialog boxes show the objects in your
Folder pane.
- 3. Click the folder into which you want to move or copy the open message,
and then click OK.
Deleting Messages
Just as you can move or copy any message, you can also delete a message—whether
it is open or closed. Deleted messages are moved to the Deleted Items folder in your
mailbox. You can delete a message using either of the following methods:
- Delete an open message by clicking the Delete button on the toolbar.
- Delete a closed message by selecting it and pressing Delete (or dragging it to
the Deleted Items folder in the Folder pane).
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Deleting Multiple Messages You can select multiple messages from the list
in the Contents pane by holding down Ctrl and clicking each message you want to delete.
Then press Delete to delete all the selected messages.
Retrieving Deleted Messages
If you accidentally delete a message you need, you can retrieve it from the Deleted
Items folder with these steps:
- 1. Select the Deleted Items folder in the Folder pane. A list of its contents
appears in the Contents pane.
2. In the Contents pane, select the message you want to retrieve.
3. Choose File, Move, and the Move dialog box appears.
4. Choose the folder in which you want to place the retrieved message (usually
the Inbox).
Understanding Automatic Deletion
By default, Exchange moves messages you delete into the Deleted Items folder and
keeps them there for as long as you are working in the Exchange software. When you
exit Exchange, however, the messages in the Deleted Items folder are removed permanently
and cannot be recovered.
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Clearing the Deleted Items Folder When Exchange removes a message from the
Deleted Items folder, it is permanently erased. It is not sent to the Recycle Bin,
and it cannot be recovered.
You can change this configuration so that messages remain in the Deleted Items
folder until you specifically remove them. To change this configuration, follow these
steps:
- 1. Choose Tools, Options to access the Options dialog box. Click the General
tab (if necessary) to see the options shown in Figure 11.5.
Figure 11.5 You can change your configuration to have Exchange hold
deleted messages until you remove them yourself.
- 2. Deselect the Empty the 'Deleted Items' Folder Upon Exiting option (click
to remove the check mark from the box).
3. Click OK.
Permanently Deleting Messages
If you choose to keep deleted messages after you exit Microsoft Exchange Client
(i.e., until you remove them manually), your Deleted Items folder may eventually
come to take up quite a bit of disk space. You should examine and empty your Deleted
Items folder on a regular basis, perhaps weekly.
- To permanently delete individual messages, select the Deleted Items folder
in the Folder pane, select the messages you can safely get rid of from the Contents
pane, and then press Delete.
- To permanently delete all the messages in the Deleted Items folder, right-click
the Deleted Items object and choose Empty Folder from the shortcut menu that appears.
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Windows 3.x Users If you're using Windows 3.x, you don't have right mouse
button functions. Therefore, to remove all messages from the Deleted Items folder,
you have to select the messages (Ctrl+A selects all messages) and press Delete.
In this lesson, you learned how to manage your messages and how to control the
way in which Microsoft Exchange Client deletes messages. In the next lesson, you'll
learn about faxing with Exchange.
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