My Outlook inbox is over storage capacity, but I cannot delete emails to free up space - HELP!!

Use Outlook on the web’s built‑in storage tools and make sure items are permanently deleted, not just moved, and that the correct mailbox is being cleaned up.

1. Check actual mailbox usage and clean via Storage
   1. In Outlook on the web, at the top of the page select Settings > Account > Storage.
   2. On the Storage page, review the breakdown of how much space each folder is using.
   3. Under the folder list, use the options to permanently delete all items, or items older than 3, 6, or 12 months, in selected folders. This deletes directly from those folders and frees quota.
2. Permanently delete instead of normal delete
   1. In the folder (for example, Inbox), select the messages to remove.
   2. Press Shift + DEL on the keyboard. This permanently deletes the messages instead of moving them to Deleted Items.
   3. If messages were already moved to Deleted Items, open Deleted Items, select all, and delete them again so the folder is emptied.
   Notes:
   • The Deleted Items folder counts against mailbox storage until it is emptied.
   • Items in Junk Email are also counted until they are removed; they are auto‑deleted after 30 days, but can be emptied manually.
3. Remove large messages and attachments
   1. In Outlook on the web, sort by size: at the top of the message list select Filter > Sort by > Size.
   2. Review the largest messages (especially those with attachments) and permanently delete them (Shift + DEL).
   3. For attachments that need to be kept, open the message, use Save to OneDrive (if available), then permanently delete the original email.
4. Delete messages that include files or photos
   1. For images/files in the mailbox, find the message they are attached to and delete that message.
   2. For sent images/files, go to Sent Items, delete the message, then go to Deleted Items and delete it again so it is removed permanently.
5. Confirm the correct account/mailbox
   • If storage warning emails are going to a different address than the one being cleaned, there may be another Outlook.com/Microsoft account or alias whose mailbox is full. Sign out, then sign in with the address that receives the quota warnings and repeat the steps above on that mailbox.

If, after these steps, the Storage page still shows the mailbox at or near quota, wait a short period and refresh the Storage page; quota updates are not always instantaneous.

References:

• Mailbox storage limits in Outlook
• What is Microsoft cloud storage?
• Manage my mailbox size in Outlook
• Microsoft storage limit exceeded - Microsoft Q&A