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View helpful articles, tutorials and FAQs on the set-up and configuration

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How do I delete multiple emails at once?


There are two ways to delete multiple emails in FocalScope. The first method is by manually selecting multiple emails and deleting them in the workspace screen. The second method is by using the batch-delete function on a folder. Whenever an email is deleted in FocalScope (using one of these two methods) it is simply moved to the [Deleted] tab of the corresponding folder and can later be restored. This article details how emails are deleted as well as how they can permanently be purged from the FocalScope database.

Please note, only users with administrator privileges can configure and execute the data purging function to permanently delete emails from the FocalScope database. Once deleted emails have been purged, they can no longer be restored.

Manually deleting multiple emails

To select and delete multiple emails, use one of the following two methods:

  1. Emails can be selected in the workspace by holding down the Ctrl key while single clicking on emails meant for deletion. Press the Delete key to delete the selected emails
  2. If a list of emails is to be deleted, the first email in the list can be selected by left clicking it, then the last email in the list can be selected by holding down the Shift key while left clicking the email. This will also select all of the emails in between the first and last email in the list. Press the Delete key to delete the selected emails

Please note, deleted emails will be moved to the [Deleted] tab inside the folder (indicated by the red arrow). Emails in the deleted tab can be restored if required.


Figure 1 - Multiple emails selected for deletion

Deleting emails en masse from a folder

To delete multiple emails based on their age, do the following:

  1. Right click the folder where you want to delete emails based on their age
  2. Select the [Delete emails] option
  3. Set a deletion range using the date and time controls (highlighted). Caution, all emails that are date and time stamped within the specified range, for the selected folder, will be marked for deletion
  4. Click the [Delete] button to initiate the deletion process. Deleted emails will be moved to the [Deleted] tab inside the folder. Emails in the deleted tab can be restored by right-clicking them and selecting [Restore], if required.

Please note, thus far, all the deletion methods covered in this article can be undone.


Figure 2 - Batch-deleting emails from folders

Permanently purging emails from the database

Warning, once emails have been purged, they can no longer be restored as they have completely been deleted from the database. To permanently remove deleted email messages from FocalScope's database, the administrator purge function has to be used:

  1. In the [Main menu], select [Screen > Administration]
  2. Click on the [Advanced Properties] tab (highlighted)
  3. Navigate to the [Maintenance > Data purging] folder
  4. In the right-hand pane, in the [Purge deleted e-mails older than] field, enter the age deleted emails much reach before they are automatically purged from the system. Please note, you can speed up reaction of the system to bulk delete operations by decreasing the value in the [Purge deleted e-mails older than] field. It is, however, not recommended that specify a value less than 2, as it may affect general performance of the system. If the ability to recover deleted emails is not required, specify a value of 2. If the number of emails users delete from the system is equal to the number of incoming emails, then, if automatic data purging is switched on, the database size on the hard disk will not grow
  5. Tick the [automatically purge deleted emails] flag to enable automatic purging
  6. Under the [Schedule] section, click [New]
    1. In the [Schedule] window, set the start and end time in the [Time from] and [Time to] fields. Please note, it is recommended that you set the purging schedule to operate outside office hours, as it can affect system performance when many users are logged into and using the system
    2. Specify the frequency at which the purging cycle will run in the [Frequency (min.)] field
    3. Set the amount of emails that will be purged per purge cycle in the [Items per batch] field
    4. Click [Ok] to save the purge schedule parameters
  7. If you need to make any changes to the purge schedule in future, simply click the [Edit] button
  8. Click [Save] to save the configuration

Emails will automatically be deleted (permanently) from the FocalScope database as per the data purging schedule.



Figure 3 - Purging emails form the FocalScope database


Additional Information

Why is email data purging not freeing up any disk space?





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