I've gone over my limit for my Downstate email account storage space, and I can't send or receive any new email until I free up some space.  I've deleted alot of my messages but it still says I am over my limit.

This is a known 'bug' in Lotus Notes.  The mail quota usage display is only updated once a week, after the mail server runs a 'file compaction' Saturday night. Although the display does not change, however, newly freed space is available to you immediately.

Here are some other tips to ensure that you can free up as much space as possible:

• Empty the Trash folder:  Even after you have deleted messages, they can be recovered from the Trash folder.  Deleted messages are held there for up to 48 hours before they are permanently deleted. (This is a safety feature so that you can recover email that you have accidentally deleted by mistake.)  To speed up the process, click on the "Trash" trash can icon at far left and then click on the "Empty Trash" link at the top of the Trash display.
• Trim your Sent and other mail folders:  Emails stored in any folders count toward your space allotment.  If you save copies of messages that you've sent, be sure to check and delete unneeded messages in your Sent and Sentmail folders as well as any other mail folders that you may have created for organizing your email.
• Save file attachments and then delete those emails:  File attachments count toward your total email storage limit. It can be easy for file attachments to send you over your mail storage limit if you are sending multiple versions of a file back and forth, or if you keep messages with attachments long after you are done as a method of online file storage.  Be sure to download and save any files you want, then delete old messages with file attachments.

rev 22 May 2009