Can Offline Folders be deleted?

[Danette]

Can offline folders be deleted or compacted? I am having issues with a
network computer having too little space left and noticed that the offline
folder is really huge, can this file be deleted? or compacted? will it affect
the Outlook at some point? Is this file really necessary? We are running MS
2007. Thank you.

 

[Orland, Kathleen]

The OST file can be deleted but it will recreate itself the next time
Outlook synchronizes with Exchange upon exiting. The OST file is really only
required if the user has a laptop and travels.

 

[Leonid S. Knyshov // SBS Expert]

You can delete the .OST file, but it will get re-created on next sync.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/286038 - explains more about customizing
offline folders.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP052422601033.aspx explains how to
reduce the size of the file without deleting data on the server.

Note that you can change the location of OST files as explained at
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP010000781033.aspx

With Outlook 2003, you can choose to work with Exchange in both Online mode
and Cached mode. The cached mode generates huge OST files.

What I find to be the culprit usually is the CSC folder. Download and run
the tool Windirstat http://windirstat.info to visually see what is really
eating all your disk space.

The CSC folder is related to Offline Files
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307853 there is a procedure to clean them up.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/230738 Use Method 1.

The reason why I am including those links, though they are not directly
related, is because I very often find that CSC folder to be the culprit when
users are running out of space on C:\ drive.
--
Leonid S. Knyshov
Crashproof Solutions
510-282-1008
Twitter: @wiseleo
http://crashproofsolutions.com
Microsoft Small Business Specialist
Please vote "helpful" if I helped you

 

[Danette]

Thank you, I will try both options and see what works.