Mailbox Quota Information

Background

If you use Webmail along with other email clients such as Outlook or Thunderbird, there may be folders created by your mail client which are not visible in Webmail. These folders could contain deleted messages consuming your mailbox quota without your knowledge, leading to alert emails stating your mailbox is almost full.

A Short Explanation

Eastex supports two mailbox protocols: IMAP and POP3. With IMAP, all messages and folders are stored on the mail server. When a mail client is configured to check Eastex email, it will create special folders such as Drafts, Trash, Sent, etc. This is perfectly normal, and something all mail clients do. However, if any of these special folders have a different name than those already created by our Webmail system (INBOX, Drafts, Sent, Junk, Trash), those folders may be hidden within Webmail.

The Problem

As an example, if you receive an alert your mailbox is approaching the quota limit, you may open Outlook and delete a bunch of old messages. Outlook will “delete” these messages by moving them to the Deleted Items folder. The next morning you check your email, and you’ve received another message from us saying your mailbox is nearly full. What happened?

The Fix

Outlook (and Thunderbird, Apple Mail, etc.) didn’t actually delete the message. It simply moved the message to another folder. In order to truly delete the message, you must empty the trash. There is commonly a setting you can check to empty trash daily, weekly, or upon closing the mail software - check your mail client documentation for details on how to set this up.

In Webmail, you can see these hidden folders after changing a setting. After logging in, go to Settings → Folders. All folders stored using IMAP on the server are displayed. Look for any folders without a check next to them, and check the box.

Checking the box will subscribe to those IMAP folders within Webmail, allowing you to see them in the left column of your mailbox. Once they are checked, you can then delete messages from that folder and empty the Trash.

Additional Info

If you prefer to use the Deleted Items folder instead of Trash so that Webmail aligns with your mail client, this is easily accomplished with a couple settings.

First, make sure you are subscribed to the Deleted Items folder (see above)

Then, go to Settings → Preferences → Special Folders

Change the Trash dropdown to your preference:

Click Save.

Now Webmail will use the Deleted Items IMAP folder (instead of Trash) while viewing Trash in your mailbox.