Each email account uses disk space on your hosting plan. When a mailbox reaches its quota, the server bounces incoming messages back to the sender. The Email Disk Usage tool in cPanel shows you which accounts and folders are using the most space and lets you delete messages in bulk.
Check disk usage
Open Email Disk Usage
Log in to cPanel through your client area or at yourdomain.com/cpanel. Go to Email and click Email Disk Usage. Select the account
Choose an email account from the Account menu.
Review the mailboxes
The table lists each mailbox folder (Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Trash, and any custom folders) along with the number of messages and the space used. Click a column heading to sort by name, message count, or size.
Delete messages to free space
Choose a mailbox
Click Manage next to the mailbox folder you want to clean up.
Pick a removal option
Select one of the built-in filters:
- 1 year old or more — removes messages older than a year
- 30MB in size or more — removes large messages (attachments are usually the cause)
- Previously viewed — removes messages you have already read
- All messages — removes everything in the folder
You can also choose Custom query and enter a Dovecot search query. For example:
LARGER 5M — messages larger than 5 MBBEFORE 01-Jan-2025 — messages received before 1 January 2025
Confirm the deletion
Click Delete Permanently.
Deleted messages cannot be recovered. Check that you have the right folder and filter selected before confirming.
Start with large messages and old trash. The Sent and Trash folders often hold a surprising amount of data that is safe to clear out.
Prevent disk usage problems
- Set a reasonable storage quota for each account so one mailbox cannot consume all your plan’s disk space
- Empty the Trash folder regularly — deleted messages stay in Trash until you purge them
- Download large attachments locally and delete the emails from the server
- If an account consistently runs out of space, consider increasing its quota or archiving old mail
