outlook express help requested

[devonwoody]

Looking at my outlook express in box I most probably have over 3000 entries (over a year).

I would like to delete most of the contents of this inbox but the delete button seems to only work singularly. Thats going to be along job.
I dont want to select all and then delete.
Can anyone please tell me how to selectively delete a large number of messages at one go.

 

[Adam]

If you hold down the control (CTRL) button, you can click each email you don't want, and then press delete every 50 or 100 or so.

Adam

 

[Adam]

Also, if you click on a message in the main pain, press "Shift" (the up arrow) then click somewhere else, it selects all the messages between those two places, and again, press delete.

Adam

 

[Pete W]

I don't use OE any more, but these things used to work...

1. You can shift-click to select messages x to y; ie, click on message 4, then shift-click message 12, and you select all messages between 4 and 12. Now delete them.

2. ctrl-click to select more than one message at a time; ie, click on message 4, ctrl-click on message 7, ctrl-click on message 12, selects only those three messages. Now you can delete them.

3. Use the headings at the top of the message list to view your messages by date, sender, etc. This way you can use techniques 1 and 2 to select and delete all messages from one particular sender, or all messages between a certain date.

Hope that helps.

PS: You can also use ctrl-click to deselect a single message from a list, while leaving all others selected.

 

[Adam]

Pete W makes a very valid point, it may be quicker to "select all" then use CTRL click to "unselect" the ones you want to keep, rather than go through and select all the ones you want to delete.

As mentioned, sorting by clicking on the column headings such as name, date recieved etc, can be a big help, as you can more easily see groups of messages you do and do not want to keep.

Adam

 

[tim]

it may be quicker to "select all"

If you press Ctrl and A together then that will select all - but keep the Ctrl down when deselecting the ones to keep or it will 'forget' the selection.

Obviously you realise that emails are like off-cuts and that tomorrow you will need the information in at least two of them that you haven't needed to look at for three years! :wink:

Cheers

Tim

 

[devonwoody]

it may be quicker to "select all"

If you press Ctrl and A together then that will select all - but keep the Ctrl down when deselecting the ones to keep or it will 'forget' the selection.

Obviously you realise that emails are like off-cuts and that tomorrow you will need the information in at least two of them that you haven't needed to look at for three years! :wink:

Cheers

Tim

Thanks all Nice answers in that lot.

Perhaps as Tim says I'm bound to want something next week , perhaps I aught to put the lot on a CD.
Is that possible?

 

[tim]

I imagine it is but I don't know how!

T

 

[Adam]

If you go to "File" on the top left, below it is "Archive" - you can then select what to archive, e.g. all mail older than the 3 months old, or whatever you choose. You can select a drive - or a location, and then copy it to a CD, or depending on your CD write,r you could copy it there directly.

Adam

 

[devonwoody]

Thanks Adam

My version of O/E must be different I do not have an item anywhere titled Archive.

Do have something about" send to foler" so might find a cd saving option around there somewhere.

 

[Les Mahon]

I don't think O/E allows you to export messages to anything other than the full blown version of Outlook - from where you can archive. I've had difficulty with this before moving from one machine to another.

Are you trying to get rid of the messages becasue of a spaceissue or just to make the in-box more readable? for the second you could just move all the items to another folder in O/E.

Les

 

[devonwoody]

Thank you Les on both counts.

One wonder what else I am missing. My Windows XP is an OEM version.

 

[Les Mahon]

You are not necessarily missing anything - Outlook express is shipped with windows, the full blown version is part of the complete MS Office suite, and is more commonly found in office environments where it links to the corporate e-mail system, most likely your machine came with XP OEM version and perhaps MS works or office "home" (Or whatever it is called!) which does not include Outlook

 

[Alf]

To compact and back up e-mail folders

Select an e-mail folder.
On the File menu, point to Folder, and then click Compact.
To back up the folder, find the folder file, and then copy it to a backup folder, floppy disk, or network drive. Outlook Express e-mail folders have a .dbx extension (for example, "Sent Items.dbx").

Worked for me - I think. :shock: Finding the files to copy was the hardest part, but a search of hidden files with ".dbx" found 'em.

Cheers, Alf