Storing E-mails...how long?

[farmboygraphics]

How long do you save past emails?

[Frog]

I just checked, and my business emails are archived back to 2007.
They are compacted and even with graphics files, don't seem to be presenting a storage space issue.
More than once I have referenced emails from three or four years ago relating to present orders.

[aauusa]

i am an email hoarder so I have them going back 14 years.

not a big space issue,  I do have them in separate pst files,  so my main pst file does not get to large.

[GoWestRob]

As long as possible. I  keep them around until the mailbox starts to get full, then I sort by size and delete old attachments after confirming I have them backed up to our art files.  The contact list alone is worth it.  As long as you've got a clean way to keep your inbox current and organized so the 2007 emails don't keep popping up, i'd say keep emails around until you've got no choice but to delete.

[GoWestRob]

No one has made a Hillary joke yet?

[tpitman]

No one has made a Hillary joke yet?

Okay. I was gonna say "ask Hillary" . . .

[GaryG]

How long has someone needed an email from back then?

Ahh, yes some hoarders in here.
Haven't needed one past 6 months in 15 years.
Saving a few important ones, but wow.

[3Deep]

We keep emails for that year and start removing them once the new year is in, old emails have saved our bacon from time to time

[Maxie]

Do you store them in your outlook?

[GraphicDisorder]

Got mine back to 2001. Each year I archive out email from 2 years ago. So I have current year and previous year in outlook. I find its rare I need quick access to something older than that.

[Doug B]

I  keep them around until the mailbox starts to get full, then I sort by size and delete old attachments after confirming I have them backed up to our art files.

 - To the contrary, I keep all I can with attachments. Our art department is in a different city
and artists have turned over a bit in the last few years. New guys "can't find one that old".

[aauusa]

i use outlook and keep all emails with attachments.   emails from customer have there own folders ,   emails I send are stored in a yearly folder. 

i try to keep the inbox empty but filing new emails and making rules for new customer is a big issue alot of work.  I currently have close to 1000 emails in the inbox which need filing.    but then i send close to 5000 emails a year,  receive many more than that.

[Dottonedan]

I keep all emails, but to this day, I've only had to reference something older than a year, maybe 1-2 times.

So the real questions is,  Is it really that beneficial?  Probably not but we all think there will be that one time.

[Sbrem]

Almost everything, sorted in folders by years...

Steve

[Prince Art]

We store almost everything, and very rarely need it beyond a year or so. But I have had a few times when I've had to dig back several years for something - contact info, art, etc.  But some of that is due to the fact that we used to keep bad notes for the orders, and we've gotten a lot better about that. Now almost everything that's in an email is in the customer order notes, so that we can see the entire conversation in one document, even if it took weeks from first contact to delivered order.