OL98: (CW) Messages Deleted Offline Appear in Server Folder (183879)

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Outlook 98, when you work offline and then synchronize, you may find that items you have read and deleted appear as unread in the Deleted Items folder of Microsoft Exchange Server. Because of this, you may find that you exceed the overall mailbox limit or take longer that normal to empty the Deleted Items folder.

CAUSE

This behavior is by design in Outlook. If you have the "Empty Deleted Items folder upon exiting" option selected, Outlook won't synchronize the Deleted Items folder during the standard synchronization.

Typical usage patterns show that people connect to their Exchange server on a regular basis, usually every one or two days. By emptying deleted items only when you exit from an online session, Outlook does not send a large number of delete requests to the server over a slow telecommunications link.

RESOLUTION

To avoid a large build up of messages in the Deleted Items folder, follow these steps:

On the Tools menu, click Options and then click the Other tab.
Click to clear the "Empty the Deleted Items folder upon exiting" check box.

Although this option requires that you empty the Deleted Items folder manually, you can delete the items by synchronizing the folder.

Deleting Items Using Synchronization

To delete items using synchronization on this Tools menu, point to Synchronize and click All Folders.

-or-

To synchronize the Deleted Items folder in a separate synchronization process, follow these steps:

On the Outlook Bar, click the Deleted Items folder
On the Tools menu, point to Synchronize, and then click This Folder.

This practice forces the deleted items to the server for purging.

REFERENCES

For more information on offline synchronization, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

182158 OL98: (CW) What Are Offline Folders and How Do You Use Them?