As I mentioned in my last blog post, I receive tons of email messages every day, many with attachments. Outlook is a hog anyway when it comes to taking up disk space and memory, but when you add a large number of attachments and gigantic attachment file sizes to the mix (keep in mind that I deal with graphic files every day!), you have an Outlook file that weighs more than 800MB―that’s a LOT! And that is not good. About a month ago, I neglected to perform my usual archiving and maintenance, which landed me a big fat scolding from Outlook. I couldn’t send, receive, change options―nothing!
EZDetach
Once I archived my files, everything was fine again, but I knew it was just a matter of time before it happened again. During my research to determine the initial problem, I came across several links to Outlook add-ons on the Microsoft website, which led me to EZDetach, my new best email buddy. EZDetach is offered by TechHit.com and allows you to save and categorize attachments with a click of the mouse, all without ever opening the message!
With EZDetach, you can extract, save, organize, delete, and print attachments directly from the email message. You can perform any of these functions on messages containing one attachment, multiple attachments, and even on multiple messages in seconds. So how does this reduce the size of your Outlook file? Well, unlike Outlook, which allows you to save attachments to your hard drive but keeps the original in the actual email message, EZDetach actually removes the file from the message and replaces it with a link to the removed attachment. Your email messages look the same, paper clip indicator and all, but the attachment is removed, thus saving space in your Outlook file. How cool is that?
EZDetach has other great features as well, but just the simple fact that you’re saving space and helping Outlook run faster means that you’ve taken a step in the right direction.
Again, EZDetach is not free, but you can sign up for a free trial by visiting http://www.techhit.com/ezdetach/. Some things are just worth paying for!
I hope these MS Outlook productivity tools will help others de-clutter their lives. I, for one, am happier, more organized, and well, a little lighter because of them.
