How to Check Your Outlook Folders and Sizes

Reduce your Outlook folder sizes by finding the largest emails

By

Updated on January 23, 2021

What to Know

Right-click a folder and select Data File Properties > Folder Size to see folder and subfolder sizes. Consider archiving old messages.
To find the largest emails in your folders: Select Search Current Mailbox. Go to Search > Options > Search Tools > Advanced Find.
Then, go to the More Choices tab, set size parameters for your search, and select Find Now. Open or delete messages in the search results.

This article explains how to check the size of folders and subfolders in Outlook. This is handy because Outlook can become slow when its folders accumulate large emails and attachments. When you identify which account uses the most space, as well as the subfolders that contain large files, you can delete unnecessary data. Instructions cover Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2007; and Outlook for Microsoft 365.

Checking Your Folders

To see the size of your folders in Outlook:

Right-click the folder you want to check, and select Data File Properties. In Outlook 2019, select Properties.
Select Folder Size.
The Folder Size dialog box shows the size of the folder and its subfolders in kilobytes.

If you use Outlook 2007:

Select Tools > Mailbox Cleanup.
Select View Mailbox Size.
Select Close (two times) to close the mailbox size view again.

Reduce the Size of an Outlook File by Archiving Mail

Archiving old or less frequently accessed messages is an easy way to keep the sizes of your Outlook folder and files manageable. Outlook can even do the archiving automatically.

Find the Biggest Emails in Your Outlook Folders

To have Outlook gather all the largest emails in all your folders:

Select the Search Current Mailbox text box, or press Ctrl+E.
Go to the Search tab.
In the Options group, select Search Tools > Advanced Find.
In the Advanced Find dialog box, select the Look dropdown arrow and choose Messages.
To search more folders than the inbox (or whichever folder is currently open in Outlook's main window), select Browse. Select the check box next to the folders you want to search, and select the Search subfolders check box. Select OK.
In the Advanced Find dialog box, go to the More Choices tab.
Select the Size (kilobytes) dropdown arrow, choose greater than, then enter a size (such as 5000 for folders greater than 5 MB).
Select Find Now.
Double-click a message to open it and deal with it as you see fit. Or, select Delete in the search results to delete any message right away.

Was this page helpful?

Thanks for letting us know!

Tell us why!