Email Storage Space
Overview
When you get an email account you automatically get 1 GB of storage space. This default storage is called email quota. The way you deal with stored email varies depending on what kind of email program you have and whether you're using POP or IMAP email service. This is important: if you fill up your storage space—i.e., exceed your mail quota—your email program will stop working properly, because you'll be unable to get new email. (It won't have anywhere to go.)
How does this happen? New email comes into the Stanford email system and is sent to your personal mail spool, which resides on one of many Stanford email servers. When you check your email, the new messages are downloaded from the server if you are using POP (this is default behavior) or stay on the server if you are using IMAP. The messages can stay on the server for three days, three weeks, or a month or more. The time limit is determined by settings in your email program. If the time limit is too long, or if the attachments you receive too big, your mail spool fills up, you run out of storage space, and you can no longer receive email.
Cleaning up your storage space
How to control your mail spool
The How to control your mail spool page provides instructions for cleaning up your mail spool according to the type of email program you are using.
The ins and outs of storage
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Mac and Windows POP email
programs
On one hand, these programs are good at keeping your mail spool from building up because your email gets downloaded to your desktop each time you check your mail. On the other hand, these programs can create lots of big mail spools because they tend to have "Leave mail on server" and "Keep copy" options that can be set incorrectly. The "Cleaning up your storage space" options in the section above tells you how to avoid this problem.
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IMAP service
With this service, your email does not get downloaded from the email servers. So what do people do if/when their mail spools fill up? They just buy more storage space. See the Can't clean up your storage space section below.
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UNIX-based email programs
Pine, Elm, and other UNIX-based programs do not download email to your desktop. Instead, your email is downloaded into the Mail subdirectory of your SUNet account (AFS space). This account has a default quota of 1 GB. Your email account (1 GB quota) might be only half full, and your mail spool directory (1 GB quota) only half full, but if the rest of your AFS space is so full of data files, programs, and other stuff that it exceeds its 1 GB quota, then your UNIX-based email program will be unable to receive new email. - Attachments
Remember, it's not just email that clogs up storage space. Attachments count too. Several large .jpg, .mpg, or multimedia attachments can send you over the limit fast. Note that you cannot send or receive any individual email larger than 50 MB, including attachments.
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How full is your storage space?
To find out how much email quota you have used:- Go to Webmail.
- The bar in the upper left corner under the Stanford logo and your name shows your current storage usage.
- Hover your cursor over the bar to display your current quota usage in megabytes and by percentage.
Can't clean up your storage space? Go get more
Whether you have POP or IMAP email service you can always buy more storage space. All you need to do is find someone with the appropriate account privileges to sponsor this purchase for you. (In other words, to affirm that you're using the extra space for University purposes.) Information about buying more mail quota can be found on the Sponsorship page; look for the "Additional email quota" section on the lower right side of the page.
