Seeing a message that your storage is full can feel alarming, but please do not panic. This is a very common situation, and there are clear steps you can take to fix it. This article will walk you through what to do first, second, and third — in the right order so that you get results as quickly as possible.
It might be tempting to click away from the warning and carry on as normal, but storage problems do not go away on their own. In fact, they tend to get worse. A nearly-full or completely-full storage will cause your email to stop working, slow down your device, and prevent you from saving new photos or files. The sooner you deal with it, the sooner things will return to normal.
Before you start deleting things, it helps to know which type of storage is full. This will save you time and effort.
If the warning message appeared inside your email (or mentions words like "mailbox," "quota," or "email storage"), then your email storage is full. Focus on clearing out old emails first — see Step 2.
If the warning appeared on your computer or tablet (or mentions words like "disk full," "low storage," or "not enough space"), then your device storage is full. Focus on clearing out files, photos, and programmes from your device — see Step 3.
If you are not sure, contact our support team and we will identify the issue for you straight away.
The fastest way to free up email storage is to delete large or unnecessary emails and empty your Trash. Here is the order of priority:
Delete emails with large attachments first. These take up the most space. Look for emails with photos, videos, or documents attached. If you have already saved those files on your computer, or you no longer need them, delete those emails.
Empty your Spam or Junk folder. All those unwanted emails are taking up space. Most email programs let you empty the entire Spam folder in one click.
Empty your Trash or Deleted Items folder. Deleted emails are not truly gone until the Trash is emptied. Find your Trash folder and empty it completely.
Go through old emails in your Inbox and other folders and delete anything you no longer need.
For more detail on this process, please see: "How to Delete Old Emails to Free Up Space" in the Email section.
If your computer or tablet is running low on space, here are the first things to look at:
Empty the Recycle Bin (Windows) or Trash (Mac). Just like with email, deleting a file on your computer does not actually remove it until you empty the bin. Right-click on the Recycle Bin or Trash icon on your desktop and select "Empty."
Delete files you no longer need. Go through your Documents, Downloads, and Desktop folders and delete anything you no longer want — old files, programmes you no longer use, duplicate photos, and so on.
Check your Downloads folder. This is one of the most commonly overlooked folders, and it often fills up with files that were downloaded once and never used again.
Move large files to an external drive or USB stick. If you have important files you want to keep but do not need to access regularly — such as old photos or documents — you can move them to an external storage device to free up space on your computer.
After completing the steps above, check your storage level again (see: "How to Check How Much Storage You Have Left") to see how much space you have freed up. If your storage is now at a comfortable level, your email and device should begin working normally again.
If you have cleared as much as you comfortably can but are still running low on storage, you may need to consider increasing your storage allowance. This could mean:
Upgrading your email plan to one with more storage
Buying an external hard drive to store large files off your computer
Upgrading your device if its storage capacity is simply too small for your needs
Please contact our support team and we will talk you through the options that make the most sense for your situation.