Prepare for Exchange

email and calendaring project

  2. Use an older email application? You may need to upgrade.

CLEANING and organizing

Click here to learn about the Top 5 Clean Up Tips

Delete mail you no longer need from your Inbox, Sent folder, and any personal folders you may have created. Once you have moved items into the trash, remember to empty the Trash/Recycle Bin.

Please pay special attention to messages with attachments. If you no longer need the message itself, but want to keep the attachment, create a folder on your computer in which to save your attachments, then delete the messages. If you need the document to be accessible from multiple locations, save the attachment in MyFiles@bc.

PACKING

Creating and moving messages into personal folders is a great way to stay organized; however, having too many messages in any single folder may slow down performance. Aim to keep message counts per folder below 15,000.

NOTE: It's the message count on each individual folder that needs to be limited. For example: Performance may be slowed by a single folder containing 30,000 messages, but having a folder that contains five separate folders, each with 6,000 messages, would not have the same effect on performance.

Tips for Cleaning and Packing

Print version Cleaning and Packing Tips (PDF)

Selecting Messages

  • Press Ctrl and A simultaneously to select all messages in a folder (Command and A on a Mac).
  • Select multiple adjacent messages at once by clicking the first message, then holding Shift while clicking the last message in the list.
  • Select multiple non-adjacent messages at once, by clicking the first message and then pressing Ctrl (Command on a Mac) while clicking additional messages.

Sorting and Searching

  • Most email programs let you sort by name or by date simply by clicking on the appropriate section of the header above the message list. It’s an easy way to find all the messages from a particular person or subject.
  • Once sorted, use the selecting techniques above to move messages into personal folders.
  • Your email client's search function can also help you isolate messages from a particular person or topic.

Using MyFiles@bc Instead of Attachments

Instead of saving messages with attachments in your Inbox or mailing attachments to multiple recipients, we recommend that you use MyFiles@bc. Documents stored in MyFiles@bc can be accessed from anywhere via a web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari). They can easily be organized, searched, and shared. Click here to learn more about using MyFiles@bc.

QuickLinks to Detailed Instruction

If you have questions or need help, please contact the Technology Help Center at 617-552-HELP (4357).