Max Number Of Messages In InBox?

What's the max number of messages that can sit in the InBox? I know there's
a size issue as well, but is there an upper limit danger to too many
messages? Is there a safe area?

Stu
(who says please and thank you)


NP: Valley by The Orb

matt
Mon Sep 26 11:50:27 CDT 2005

Stu Mark <stumark@earthlink.net> wrote:

> What's the max number of messages that can sit in the InBox? I know there's
> a size issue as well, but is there an upper limit danger to too many
> messages? Is there a safe area?

I don't know if there's a real limit, but I find that Entourage gets
really slow if you let the number get above a couple hundred. :) m.

--
matt neuburg, phd = matt@tidbits.com, http://www.tidbits.com/matt/
Tiger - http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/tiger-customizing.html
AppleScript - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596005571
Read TidBITS! It's free and smart. http://www.tidbits.com

Barry
Mon Sep 26 13:57:41 CDT 2005

On 26/9/05 17:50, in article 1h3hpyr.12gxe12qq956oN%matt@tidbits.com, "matt
neuburg" <matt@tidbits.com> wrote:

> Stu Mark <stumark@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>> What's the max number of messages that can sit in the InBox? I know there's
>> a size issue as well, but is there an upper limit danger to too many
>> messages? Is there a safe area?
>
> I don't know if there's a real limit, but I find that Entourage gets
> really slow if you let the number get above a couple hundred. :) m.

More like a couple of thousand. I have never noticed any slow down with only
a few hundred messages.

I have some mail folders with 30,000+ messages in them. Apart from a couple
of seconds delay when I switch sort order they are still quite useable.

--
Barry Wainwright
Microsoft MVP (see http://mvp.support.microsoft.com for details)
Seen the All-New Entourage Help Pages? - Check them out:
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>

Paul
Tue Sep 27 01:10:33 CDT 2005

On 9/26/05 11:57 AM, in article BF5E0335.73094%barry@mvps.org.INVALID,
"Barry Wainwright" <barry@mvps.org.INVALID> wrote:

> On 26/9/05 17:50, in article 1h3hpyr.12gxe12qq956oN%matt@tidbits.com, "matt
> neuburg" <matt@tidbits.com> wrote:
>
>> Stu Mark <stumark@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>
>>> What's the max number of messages that can sit in the InBox? I know there's
>>> a size issue as well, but is there an upper limit danger to too many
>>> messages? Is there a safe area?
>>
>> I don't know if there's a real limit, but I find that Entourage gets
>> really slow if you let the number get above a couple hundred. :) m.
>
> More like a couple of thousand. I have never noticed any slow down with only
> a few hundred messages.
>
> I have some mail folders with 30,000+ messages in them. Apart from a couple
> of seconds delay when I switch sort order they are still quite useable.

Agreed, Back in Entourage X 1500 was the "magic" number for me. (Obviously
it also depends on your computer's CPU and the amount of RAM you have.) I
used to have to delete most messages in my most-used folder (mailing lists)
every week. In Entourage 2004, I still haven't got to that point after about
3 months! Currently 6380 messages - still very fast. The only thing that's
slower is switching to "View All" form "Unread Only" with a custom
"groupings" arrangement in place.

--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.

Paul
Tue Sep 27 04:37:18 CDT 2005

Hmmm, after a year of suffering the "spinning beachball" on numerous E2004
clients, we were told by a US-based engineer that Entourage would sometimes
exhibit this behaviour if any folder contained MORE THAN 500 messages.

Cue: Me chopping my thousands of Inbox messages and Sent Items into chunks
of less than 500 (which was extremely tedious). It stopped the beachballing.

We tried this on other Macs that had the problem and it worked in all cases.

I am now adding these messages BACK to my Inbox and Sent Items to see what
happens. Would be good if SR2 has smashed this glass ceiling.

P.


On 27/9/05 7:10 am, in article BF5E3069.B0AC8%berkowit@spoof_silcom.com,
"Paul Berkowitz" <berkowit@spoof_silcom.com> wrote:

> On 9/26/05 11:57 AM, in article BF5E0335.73094%barry@mvps.org.INVALID,
> "Barry Wainwright" <barry@mvps.org.INVALID> wrote:
>
>> On 26/9/05 17:50, in article 1h3hpyr.12gxe12qq956oN%matt@tidbits.com, "matt
>> neuburg" <matt@tidbits.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Stu Mark <stumark@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> What's the max number of messages that can sit in the InBox? I know
>>>> there's
>>>> a size issue as well, but is there an upper limit danger to too many
>>>> messages? Is there a safe area?
>>>
>>> I don't know if there's a real limit, but I find that Entourage gets
>>> really slow if you let the number get above a couple hundred. :) m.
>>
>> More like a couple of thousand. I have never noticed any slow down with only
>> a few hundred messages.
>>
>> I have some mail folders with 30,000+ messages in them. Apart from a couple
>> of seconds delay when I switch sort order they are still quite useable.
>
> Agreed, Back in Entourage X 1500 was the "magic" number for me. (Obviously
> it also depends on your computer's CPU and the amount of RAM you have.) I
> used to have to delete most messages in my most-used folder (mailing lists)
> every week. In Entourage 2004, I still haven't got to that point after about
> 3 months! Currently 6380 messages - still very fast. The only thing that's
> slower is switching to "View All" form "Unread Only" with a custom
> "groupings" arrangement in place.

aRKay
Wed Sep 28 10:58:50 CDT 2005

In article <BF5ED15E.5323%paul.williams@condenast.co.uk>,
Paul Williams <paul.williams@condenast.co.uk> wrote:

> Hmmm, after a year of suffering the "spinning beachball" on numerous E2004
> clients, we were told by a US-based engineer that Entourage would sometimes
> exhibit this behaviour if any folder contained MORE THAN 500 messages.


This is why I archive my mail at the start of each new year. I created
an archive folder and in it have sub folders for each year. My Inbox
and Sent Item are only for the current year.