Tidy Your Inbox

Tidy Your Inbox | Presentation Outline

Tidy Your Inbox Together

• Welcome! We'll start shortly

Garbage or Gold?

• We're going to show you some sample emails

• For each email, imagine YOU are the recipient, even if it's not your typical role

• Put yourself in their shoes and decide: does records management require you to keep it (Gold) or can you delete it (Garbage)?

Garbage or Gold? Draft Agenda - Leadership Committee Meeting

Email content: Hi, Please review the draft agenda shared at the link below for next week's meeting and send any additions by EOD Thursday. Thanks! [Link to the draft agenda]

• Email: GARBAGE - It's a transactional coordination message (GRS 500). Delete after you've reviewed the agenda

• Document: GARBAGE - Draft agendas are non-records (GRS 800). Only approved meeting minutes are kept (GRS 615) for up to 5 years, then consult Archives

The General Retention Schedule (GRS)

• An excerpt (Meeting Minutes) from the GRS, which has many sections that address records generally found across all campus offices and departments

• Reference: http://dartgo.org/rmgrs

Garbage or Gold? Signed MOU - University Partnership Program

Email content: Since you're the project manager on this, I wanted to let you know the Memorandum of Understanding with State University for the joint digitalization project has been fully executed by both parties. Project runs 2025-2028. [Link to Memorandum of Understanding]

• Email: GARBAGE - This is just a notification (transactional per GRS 500). Once you've accessed the document, delete the email

• Document: Contracts are housed in Agiloft and do not need to be stored elsewhere. Do not keep copies of contracts outside of Agiloft. Check with Records Management for the specific retention period for your contract type (http://dartgo.org/rmgrs )

Garbage or Gold? You’ve been CC’d on the following email.

Email content: Below is the signed subscription agreement between BookSource LLC and Dartmouth Library for access to the digital archives. Library staff are CC'd to keep them informed. This document serves as official evidence of the agreed terms and obligations. [Link to subscription agreement]. Best regards, Client Relations Manager | BookSource LLC

• Email: GARBAGE - You were CC'd on this FYI (transactional per GRS 500). Delete the email

• Document: Contracts are housed in Agiloft and do not need to be stored elsewhere. Do not keep copies of contracts outside of Agiloft. Since you were only CC'd on this email, you are not responsible for managing this contract

Garbage or Gold? Approved: Your vacation request

Email content: Hi, Your vacation request for June 15-19 has been approved. Have a great time!

• (Non-Exempt Employees) GARBAGE - This is managed in Kronos; do not keep redundant info outside of Kronos

• (Exempt Employees) GOLD - Keep this until the end of the fiscal year for your records, then delete

Garbage or Gold? FW: Invoice #4521 - Office Supplies

Email content: FYI - sharing the office supply invoice for your records. [Link to office supply invoice]. Thanks

• Email: This is a transactional FYI email (GRS 500)

• Documents: GARBAGE - OnBase holds the official invoice for 7 years (GRS 310 Accounts Payable). As staff, you can only keep administrative copies up to 1 year and only if needed. If you don't need it now, delete it

Garbage or Gold? Quick question about the copier

Email content: Hey, do you know the code for the color copier on the 2nd floor? Mine's not working. Thanks.

• GARBAGE - Transactional message (GRS 500). Delete as soon as you reply or no longer need it.

• PS: Messages like this should be sent in Slack

Agenda

• Strategies for newsletters, shared document notifications, task emails, event emails, and personal email

• Bulk delete for overgrown inboxes

• The Dr. Jay Approach for Inbox Zero

• Questions (Answered)

• Upcoming Workshops

• Questions (Open)

But First . . . | Share (& Find) Your Inbox Size

• If you're comfortable, please share your mailbox size at dartgo.org/before

• Windows Web (New Outlook): File → Settings → Account → Storage

• Mac Web (New Outlook): File → Settings → Account → Storage

• Windows (Classic Outlook) Desktop: File → Info

• Mac (New Outlook) Desktop: Tools → Manage Storage

Newsletters & Listservs

Poll Questions

• How often do you save back issues because you plan to read them later?

• How often do you actually read saved newsletters?

• How relevant is the material by the time you get around to reading the saved newsletters?

Strategies: Just Delete It!

• Try committing to deleting newsletters older than one week, one month... whatever you can challenge yourself to. You can't prioritize everything

• Many newsletters and listserv archives (e.g., Dartmouth Wellness, Child Care Center, NY Times) are available online for on-demand viewing

Additional Strategies

• Create "Newsletter Hub": Set up a browser bookmark folder with newsletter links

• Unsubscribe: Many sign-ups automatically add you to newsletters. Make it a habit to unsubscribe as soon as you receive the first issue

Alternative: Newsletter Folder

• Alternatively, create a newsletter folder

• However, to avoid "out of sight, out of mind," set a folder-level retention policy

• I recommend doing this in Desktop

Setting Retention Policies

• Windows (Classic Outlook) Desktop:

  • Create a retention policy for a folder: Right-click folder → Properties → Policy tab → Apply

  • Create a rule to automatically send items to that folder: Right-click email → Rules → Create Rule

• Mac Desktop:

  • Create a retention policy for a folder: Right-click folder → Assign policy

  • Create a rule to automatically send items to that folder: Right-click email ⟶ Move Messages from ⟶ Run rule now

Creating Rules

• Windows Desktop: Right-click email → Rules → Create Rule → make "when/do" selections → Run this rule now

• Mac Desktop: Right-click email → Move Messages from → Run rule now

Activity

• Which newsletters or listservs are you tackling? Please share names and archive URLs

• Take two minutes to delete or organize newsletters and listservs

Shared Document Notifications

Introduction

• Some might save "Document shared with you" emails to find the document later

• These shared documents tend to be in spaces like Airtable, Dropbox, Google Drive, Spark, etcetera

How to Manage Them

• Saving Shared Documents in Their Spaces

Google Drive

• In Google Drive, there's Shared with me, Recent, and Starred

• You can remove items from Shared with me, too

• From Shared with me or Recent documents, hover the mouse for the option to star a document

  • (If you are in a minimized screen, you will have to right-click on the ellipses)

Spark

• Spark, too, has an option to star documents

  • Note Recent and Starred navigation to the left

  • From Recent documents, hover the mouse for the option to star a document

  • Viewing documents in their entirety, go to the upper right horizontal ellipsis to star them

Airtable

• You can view shared documents and star them from their tiles

• In Airtable, you can star any base, app, or workspace

Dropbox

• You can star documents in Dropbox

• Then access them from the lefthand menu

Alternative Strategy

• Alternatively, create a browser folder for shared documents

Activity

• Take 2 minutes to start tackling those shared document notification emails

Task & Event Emails

Task Emails: Are you saving emails because they remind you of a task?

Drag, Drop & Delete Strategies

• Windows (Classic Outlook) Desktop: Highlight text → Drag to task icon

• Mac (New Outlook for Desktop + Microsoft To Do): Flag email → Drag flagged email to tasks → Delete email → Uncheck Task

• Windows (New Outlook) Web: Right-click → Advanced actions → Create task

• Mac (New Outlook) Web: Copy text → Advanced actions → Create task → Paste text

Activity

• Take 2 minutes to drag, drop, and delete task emails

Event Emails: Are you saving emails to keep track of an event?

Drag, Drop & Delete Strategies

• Windows (Classic Outlook) Desktop: Highlight text → Drag to the calendar icon

• Mac (New Outlook) Desktop: Drag email to calendar

• Windows (New Outlook) Web: Copy text → Drag email to calendar → Paste text in calendar event

• Mac (New Outlook) Web: Copy text → Drag email to calendar → Paste text in calendar event

  • Mac Web (Safari): Pop-up Settings note (Make sure your settings aren’t blocking pop-ups from Outlook. In Safari go to Safari → Settings → Websites → Pop-up Windows)

Activity

• Take 2 minutes to drag, drop, and delete event emails

Managing Meeting Responses

Viewing Responses: Accepted/Declined/Tentative

• Windows (Classic Outlook) Desktop: Opened Meeting → Tracking tab

• Mac (New Outlook) Desktop: Open the event, note your RSVPs organized by response

• Windows (New Outlook) Web: Open the event, note your RSVPs organized by response

• Mac (New Outlook) Web: Open meeting; responses organized at right

Stop Receiving Notifications (Without Losing Response Tracking)

• You can stop receiving these notifications without losing response tracking

• Windows (Classic Outlook) Desktop: File → Options → Mail → Tracking

  • Check mark the following:

    • Automatically process meeting requests and responses to meeting requests and polls

    • Automatically update original sent item with receipt information

    • Update tracking information, and then delete responses that don’t contain comments (You will get RSVPs with comments).

    • After updating tracking information, move receipt to Deleted Items

• Mac (New Outlook) Desktop: Tools → Rules → Select a condition (Type) → Select an option (Event response) → Select an action (Delete)

  • You will not get RSVPs with comments (It is not an option for Mac.) Instead of selecting Delete as an option, consider selecting Move to, and reviewing RSVPs within a designated folder.

Activity

• Take 2 minutes to delete meeting responses now

Personal Email

Why Separate Personal Stuff?

• Personal emails clutter your inbox and contribute to storage costs

• Anything in your work email is subject to legal discovery

Dealing with Personal Stuff

• Dartmouth allows for incidental personal use of equipment if it's legal and follows College policies

• Consider setting up a separate personal email account that isn't your fully private personal space but feels comfortable to access at work and at home for material you need in both places

Strategies

• If comfortable, set up a separate account (e.g., Zoho, ProtonMail). Forward personal items

• Alternatively, for now, organize your personal emails folder in your Dartmouth account. Consider deleting some emails and please consider transferring soon

Important Note

• If you leave Dartmouth, you only have 30 days to access your email, making it difficult to recover personal items depending on how much email is personal

Activity

• Take 5 minutes to deal with personal emails

Bulk Delete

The Sort by Approach

• My University of North Texas email got out of control. I'm cleaning it up gradually

• How I use "Sort by" to chip away at the mess:

  • Note the location of your Message List. It should be between your Folder Pane and your Reading Pane.

  • At the top of your Message List, to the right, you should find the Sort By icon: two vertical arrows facing different directions.

  • You have many sort options. From is a great option for identifying multiple emails from contacts or organizations you no longer need. Size is a great option for reducing storage size from the Sent folder.

The Dr. Jay Approach

Strategy

• Create many folders and subfolders for projects, job functions, etcetera

• You might be surprised how much mail you keep in your inbox that isn't actionable—most of it is just reference material

Key Principles

• Not sure if it's trash? Put it in a folder called Almost Trash. Apply a 1-month retention policy to Almost Trash

• When you come back from Vacation, put everything you got while out into a folder called Vacation and process it gradually after you return

• Inbox age limit: One week!

Questions (Answered)

What are the most effective uses of folders and inbox rules in Outlook?

• For shared inboxes: Depends! We're here for exactly this kind of consultation! We'll work with your group to develop folder structures and inbox rules that genuinely work for you

• For individual inboxes: I really think the Dr. Jay approach is great. But we have upcoming workshops on folder structure - though they're from a file management context, the principles are still helpful

Are there circumstances where backing up and exporting email is appropriate?

• Almost never. The gold is rarely in the email itself

• Exception: If you're leaving the organization, export critical emails to a shared space for continuity

Why should I set retention policies?

Cost Savings

• Reducing our digital footprint reduces digital storage costs; Dropbox, Microsoft, and Google are all on the pay-for-what-we-use model

• Deleting even 10% of ROT (Redundant, Obsolete, Trivial) could save thousands annually

• From ITC (December, 2025), “These numbers are best used as directional cost references to illustrate the financial and operational impact of data growth, rather than precise accounting figures.*”

  • *(Does NOT cover additional significant costs, such as backup, recovery infrastructure, and data protection services, or the employee staff costs to operate, secure, support, and govern these platforms.)

Reduced Legal Discovery Risks & Costs

• When discovery is requested, we're legally obligated to produce everything - even if it’s past its retention date

Productivity

• When digital spaces are overfilled, producing discovery becomes more difficult and expensive

  • Overfilled digital spaces give you more to wade through when searching for information, and increase the possibility that you're referencing outdated materials

What's the difference between archiving and deleting emails?

• Please avoid archiving unless it's your designated space for gold emails

• Gold emails have their own retention policies

• Delete them after the designated retention period (remember you can set retention policies to individual emails, as well as folders)

• Reach out to us, or refer to the General Retention Schedule (GRS) for the retention period

Do I need to tidy my email before leaving my role?

• Please reach out to Records Management! Contacting us early helps us assess what's needed for archival acquisition and business continuity

• Make sure critical emails are exported and added to a shared folder/space so your team can continue to access them for business continuity

• No other tidying required; Remove personal items so you can access them later (only if truly personal)

I have emails that are 20+ years old. I keep them for sentimental reasons. Can I forward them to my personal email account?

• Yes: Emails that are purely personal correspondence (birthday wishes, condolences, social messages) with no confidential or institutional information.

• No: Emails that contain student information, personnel matters, research data, financial information, legal matters, or others' personal information.

How do I auto-empty my trash folder?

• Windows (Classic Outlook) Desktop: File ⟶ Options⟶ Advanced (Outlook start and exit)⟶ Empty Deleted Items

• There is not an option to do this for Mac

How can I protect important emails from accidental deletion?

• Windows (Classic Outlook) Desktop: Select the Home tab from the menu ⟶ Go to the vertical ellipsis in the upper right-hand corner of the Outlook interface ⟶ Select Rules ⟶ Manage Rules & Alerts ⟶ Apply rule on Messages I receive ⟶ Select condition(s) ⟶ Select action(s) ⟶ Move a copy to the specified folder

• Mac (Classic Outlook) Desktop: Home ⟶ Rules ⟶ Edit rules ⟶ Received from ⟶ Copy to Folder

• Be highly selective - only for critical items

• Always apply a retention policy, especially in Mac Outlook since you cannot auto empty deleted items.

  • Mac (New Outlook) Desktop: Right click on folder ⟶ Properties⟶ Retention Labels

• Goal: Reduce digital footprint, not increase storage

Upcoming Workshops

2026 : Every 2nd Wed of the month 1:30 | April : Every Wed 1:30

• Tidy Your Files Together!

• What Does Records Management Actually Do?

• The Environmental Impact of Digital Storage

• Building a Practical File‑Management System

• Archive Our Material? Archival acquisition: who can access our material and when?

• RMS (OnBase) vs ArchivesSpace:  how to use & what’s the difference?

• Leverage Existing Systems: housing records in Agileloft, OnBase, etc

• Retention Rules & Compliance: how we determine retention periods, the policies behind them (FERPA, HIPAA, etc.)

Open Questions

Emptying Deleted Items

• 1‑2 GB – may take a few minutes; plan a short break

• > 2 GB – can cause Outlook to lag or crash

• If you're comfortable, please share your mailbox size at dartgo.org/after