Purging the Junk E-mail folder in Exchange 2003

If you are using the Outlook 2003 Junk E-mail feature or the Exchange 2003 Intelligent Message Filter (IMF), you may have noticed the spam piling up in user's Junk E-mail folders. I'm kind of weird about this folder; I purge it mine every day. Well mostly because if the mail piles up, it synchronizes to my Motorola MPx200 SmartPhone and drives me nuts. But, on to the big picture, you can't expect your user community to purge this folder.

The Exchange 2003 Mailbox Manager will allow you to purge this folder just like you can the standard folders. What you need to do is click the Add button on the Mailbox Manager Recipient Policy.



I like to purge anything older than 7 days in both the Deleted Items and the Junk E-mail folders. However, notify your user community that you are putting this policy in place. I have heard tales of many users using their Deleted Items folder as a CYA folder or an alternate filing system. I'll bet they use their trash can as a filing cabinet, too.

Make sure you clear the checkboxes for the default folders if you don't want to delete anything in those folders. Otherwise, your user community may be burning you in effigy.