Information Technology

NOTICE

New Retention Periods for Outlook E-mail

On January 15, 2007, Information Technology will begin enforcing new rules for retaining Outlook e-mail messages. Five years ago the Postal ServiceTM averaged 3 million e-mail transactions daily. Now, the number is 9.3 million, a 300 percent increase. The increased volume has depleted e-mail storage and strained the entire system. A new management instruction (MI), AS-870-2007-1, Electronic Messaging, establishes retention periods for all files and folders in your Outlook mailbox and explains the new policy. The MI will be published before the end of this year.

The new retention periods will reduce e-mail storage by 75 percent, which will reduce storage costs, allow faster backups and restorations, improve performance for the entire e-mail system, and automate mailbox cleanup. Also, because of new "E-Discovery" rules which become effective December 1, the Postal Service must be able to index all of its e-mails and other electronic documents. This process is costly and time consuming. The more e-mails stored, the longer the process will take and the more it will cost.

Start now to delete unneeded messages, move those you must keep out of your Inbox, and develop a schedule for reviewing items in your Inbox. Information Technology will automatically enforce these retention periods beginning January 15, 2007.

The goal is to ELIMINATE - not move - unneeded files. If you must keep certain files, archive them to your hard drive, move them to My Documents, or move them to portable media such as CDs or flash drives. Be sure to secure information, particularly information stored on portable media. See the article "Notice: Data Protection Tips, Tools, and Requirements" in Postal Bulletin 22194 (11-23-06, pages 22-24 and 49).

Deleting E-mails

You can identify a block of e-mails to delete but first you will want to sort the messages. Here are some options:

• Select a column heading of your choice: From, Subject, Date, or Size. If you want to reverse the order, select the column heading again.

As an example, if you sort your messages using From, you can then choose a message from John Q. Doe by starting to type his last name, and all messages from him will come to the top of your Inbox screen. Type fast, or the process will begin without you.

If you haven't sorted by name but are looking at a message from John Q. Doe, highlight his message, select From at the top, and you will get all his messages.

• Sort your messages by selecting View, then Current View, then select a view option.

• Find e-mails using a name or a word in the subject or in the body of the message. Go to Tools and select Find. In the box that appears, type in your search term, choose where to search, and select Find Now. All related messages will appear.

Note: Select Options to the right of your screen to choose whether you want ALL text searched.

• Select Tools, then Mailbox Cleanup. Search for e-mails by size or age. Select either Edit or Select All, or select the items you want to delete. Select Edit again, then Delete.

To select and delete a block of e-mails:

1. Highlight the first item you want to delete.

2. Hold down the Shift key and highlight the last item in the block you want to delete.

3. Delete by pressing the Delete key on your keyboard, by selecting the Delete icon if it is displayed on your toolbar, or by selecting Edit, then Delete.

To select and delete specific e-mails:

1. Highlight the first item you want to delete.

2. Hold down the Ctrl key and highlight each item you want to delete.

3. Delete by pressing the Delete key on your keyboard, selecting the Delete icon if it is displayed on your toolbar, or by selecting Edit, then Delete.

You can combine these two options by selecting a block of items using the Shift key and using the Ctrl key to deselect items you don't want to delete.

Remember, nothing is REALLY deleted until it is removed from the Deleted Items folder. Remove deleted files by right clicking on Deleted Items, then Empty Deleted Items. Keep in mind that the Deleted Items folder is automatically purged after 30 days.

Saving e-mails

The goal of this new policy is to eliminate - not archive - Outlook files. If you must keep files beyond their retention period, you have some options:

Archive the files to your hard drive. You can save the messages you need to keep by creating and using archive folders. Here's how:

1. In Outlook, select File then Data File Management, then Add.

2. In the New Outlook Data File box, select OK. Create a file name and select OK again.

3. In Create Microsoft Personal Folders, enter the name (generally the same as your file name). Select OK. The new file will appear in the Outlook Data Files box. Select Close.

4. In Outlook, go to View and select Folder List. The file created will appear at the bottom.

5. Now you can create subfolders and move your messages to those folders.

These folders and files will be saved on your local (C:) drive, so you will need to back them up in case of problems with your hard disk. You should also review them regularly and delete any items you no longer need.

Remember that an archive .pst file will become corrupted when it reaches 1.8 gigabytes. You should check the archive. pst file regularly to see if you need to reduce the size by deleting or moving items. You can do this as follows:

1. Go to the Outlook folder list.

2. Right click on the PST file and select Properties.

3. Select the folder size.

Save the file(s) to My Documents. You can save e-mails just as you would Word, PowerPoint, or Excel files. With the message open, go to File and select Save As. Select My Documents, then the folder in which you would like to save the message. Hint: You can save the message using the same name as the subject line or rename it to your liking.

Save the file(s) to a disk or flash drive. To save Outlook files, you must first save them as personal folder (.pst) files:

1. Select File in the main menu, then Import and Export. The Import and Export Wizard opens to walk you through the process.

2. Select Export to a file from the option list and then click Next.

3. At Create a File of Type, select Personal Folder File (.pst) and click Next.

4. The next window is Export Personal Folders. You will get a prompt, Select the folder to export from:. If you have subfolders in your Personal Folders that you also want to copy, be sure to select the Include Subfolder checkbox. Click Next when you have completed your selections.

5. Select the destination for your exported file by selecting Browse. In order to write the file to a CD, you must first create the file in your file system, such as My Documents, and copy it to the CD.

6. Once you have selected the destination, click Finish.

Your personal folder is now ready to be copied to a CD or flash drive, just as you would copy a Word document or Excel file. Find the file in your system, right-click on the file, and select Send To. From the shortcut menu, choose the destination drive.

Note: These are Outlook Data Files and can only be opened using the Open, Outlook Data File option under File on Outlook's main screen.

Caution!

Saving files can be efficient and convenient but may pose a security risk and defeat the purpose of retention periods - eliminating unneeded information. Select carefully the e-mails you copy to disk. Remember, you must encrypt sensitive information and get approval from your functional area vice president and the Chief Technology Officer before removing Postal Service information from Postal Service premises. See the article "Notice: Data Protection Tips, Tools, and Requirements" in Postal Bulletin 22194 (11-23-06, pages 22-24 and 49).

Watch for more information in the coming weeks.

— Information Technology Service Center,
Information Technology, 12-21-06

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