Managing e-mail disk usage in cPanel

Over time, e‑mail accounts can consume significant disk space, especially if large attachments or old messages are stored. cPanel provides an Email Disk Usage tool to help you monitor and clean up mailboxes efficiently.

Accessing the Email Disk Usage Tool

1. Log in to cPanel.
2. On the Tools page, in the Email section, click Email Disk Usage.
3. From the Account dropdown, select the e‑mail account you want to review.

Viewing Usage

For each folder (Inbox, Sent, Junk, Trash, custom folders), you’ll see:

• Number of messages

• Disk space used

This helps identify which folders are consuming the most space.

Deleting Messages to Free Space

1. In the Actions column, click Manage next to the folder you want to clean.

2. Under Messages to delete, choose a filter:

   • 1 year old or more → Deletes messages older than 12 months.
   • 30 MB in size or more → Deletes very large messages.
   • Previously viewed → Deletes messages that have already been opened.
   • All messages → Deletes everything in the folder.
   • Custom query → Use advanced Dovecot search queries to target specific messages (e.g., by subject, size, or age).

3. Click Delete Permanently.

Warning: Deleted messages cannot be recovered. Always double‑check before confirming.

Note

• Use Custom query for precise control (e.g., delete messages larger than 100 KB: Larger 100k).
• To prevent hitting storage quotas, regularly review and clean up large or old messages.
• Consider setting up mail client rules (e.g., in Outlook or Thunderbird) to auto‑archive or delete old mail.