Under Squirrelmail's default setting, when you delete a message, it goes to your Trash folder. This folder uses up part of your storage space (quota), as do all your other folders. The same may be true for another program that you are using for your campus email. Consequently, when you exceed your email quota, you cannot send items to the Trash folder, even if it is empty. You can remedy this in one of two ways:

Allot more space to email

Use the Quota Allocation tool to reserve more your total file storage space for email.   You may need to allocate less for your other files. Your new email space should be available within 24 hours.

Permanently delete some email messages

Free up part of your existing email space immediately by temporarily changing your Trash folder options and permanently deleting some messages. Here's the procedure:

1. Log in to Squirrelmail (http://webmail.ncsu.edu).
2. In your Folders list (to the left or right of the main window), click on "(Check mail)."
3. If you then see the word "(Purge)" next to the name of the Trash folder, click on "(Purge)." This will recover some of your email storage, but it may not be enough to allow you to delete more messages. Check to see how your email space is distributed by doing this:
   1. Go to http://sysnews.ncsu.edu/
   2. On the right hand side of the page, under "System Tools," select "login now."
   3. Enter your Unity ID and password when prompted.
   4. From the System Tools menu on the right, select "Email Tools."
   5. Choose "IMAP Usage Query."
   6. You will see a table entitled "IMAP Quota Check" showing the number of messages, mailbox size, and percent of space used by each of your email folders. This will help you decide which folders to select for message removal.
4. If you don't see "(Purge)" next to the name of the Trash folder, or if purging the Trash did not free up enough space, you'll need to permanently delete some messages from other folders. To do this, you'll need to change your Trash folder preferences temporarily as follows:
   1. At the top of the SquirrelMail screen, select "Options."
   2. Choose "Folder Preferences."
   3. In the Special Folder Options section, you will see a Trash Folder option.
   4. From the drop-down menu next to "Trash Folder," select "[Do not use Trash]."
   5. Scroll to the bottom of the window and click on the Submit button in the lower right corner. This will save the change you just made.
   6. Return to your Inbox by clicking on its link in your Folders list.
   7. Open one or more of your folders and delete enough messages to free up part of your email storage space. Your recovered space will be available immediately.
      NOTE:These messages will be permanently deleted, not transferred to the Trash folder.
   8. Reload the page and check the "current usage" bar (at the top of the frame that contains your Folders list) to see how much of your email storage you're now using. It may take a while for the changes to show up there.
5. Restore your Trash folder preferences by going back into Special Folder Options as described in Step 4 above and selecting "INBOX.Trash" instead of "[Do not use Trash]." If you prefer, you can select a different folder for storing deleted messages.
   CAUTION: If you skip Step 5 and keep the "Do not use Trash" option, Squirrelmail will permanently delete any messages as soon as you delete them from a folder. You won't be able to review them later in the Trash folder.