Empty non-standard folders in Outlook 2003 w/ right-click.

[Guest]

Hello-
I was wondering if there is a setting or registry change that will allow me
to select a folder in my Folder list and right-click it and choose "Empty "X"
Folder?

I realize this can be done to the Deleted Items and Junk E-mail Folders.
I'm using Outlook 2003 and there are a few folders that I occasionally like
to clean out but would rather not have to do a Ctrl+A and then a Shift+Delete
to clean them out.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

No, Outlook doesn't have a setting for that. Have you thought about setting up AutoArchive for that folder to clean out items that are more than a day old? .

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the suggestion Sue! I might try that although I don't really want
to archive the mail, I would rather just delete it as I doubt I'll get around
to reading it all.

I've got all of my newsletter subscriptions from CNET Networks going into a
specific folder. When I get a little behind on reading them, I search
through the folder quickly and pick out those that catch my eye. After I've
read through those, I delete the whole lot.

Too bad this functionality doesn't exist for anything but the Deleted Items
and Junk Mail folder in Outlook. That's an option that would be handy
sometimes.

Mike

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Look at the archive properties: Deleting is one of the options. That's how I keep my Deleted Items and Junk E-mail folders under control.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[Guest]

You are right. I posted a reply before exploring your solution and noticed
the delete option afterwards. Because I had AutoArchive turned off, I ran
into this message when trying to set AutoArchive for the CNET folder to
delete after 3 days.

"There are no global AutoArchive options set. Global AutoArchive options
will be set to archive every 14 days at startup. You can modify these
settings on the Other tab (Tools menu, Options command)."

So I disabled AutoArchive again after clicking OK to that dialog box, but
don't know if the AutoArchive setting for the CNET folder will remain. I
guess I could test it out by waiting 3 days and seeing what happens.

I'm not too concerned with the Deleted Items folder as I have that set to
"be emptied upon exiting" and have unchecked the option to "warn before
permanently deleting items". As for the Junk Email folder, I check that
throughout the day to make sure it doesn't catch anything it shouldn't and
then at the end of the day I right click it and choose "Empty Junk E-mail
folder".

I may start playing around with AutoArchive a little now. If you don't mind
me asking, how do you have AutoArchive set up in general to maintain your
email?

Thanks again for the suggestion!

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

If you disable AutoArchive, it won't run for any folder at all.

I archive my Sent Items folder to a .pst file and use AutoArchive to purge the Deleted Items and Junk E-mail folders. I leave all other folders alone.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers