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In general, Outlook should not be your long-term storage location. Instead, save important information in an approved system where it can easily be managed moving forward.
With BYUI's email retention policy, you can refer to this Help Guide on which emails to save.
Email vs. Attachment
Not every email needs to be saved in its entirety.
Before saving anything, ask yourself:
- Is the email message itself important?
- Is the attachment the important record?
- Do I need to keep both?
Save the email when:
The email documents:
- An important decision or approval
- Key project discussions
- Instructions or context not captured elsewhere
- Information that explains why something happened
Save only the attachment when:
The attachment is the record, and the email simply delivered it.
Examples include:
- Final reports
- Policies
- Meeting minutes
- Signed agreements
- Completed forms
Save both when:
The email provides important context for understanding the attachment.
For example, an attached report may be accompanied by an approval or explanation that should be retained with it.
| Tip: Avoid saving duplicate copies whenever possible. If the information already exists in an official university system, you may not need another copy. |
Information to Save to Sharepoint
SharePoint is generally the best place for information that belongs to a department, office, committee, or project team.
Consider SharePoint if the information should be:
- Available to multiple employees (Example: Committee records)
- Shared across a department (Example: Department procedures)
- Preserved after someone changes roles or leaves the university (Example: Project documentation)
- Managed as part of an ongoing project (Example: Team correspondence)
What to Save to OneDrive
Some information is intended primarily for your own work rather than your department. In these situations, OneDrive is often the better choice.
Consider OneDrive if the information is:
- Personal reference material (Example: Personal project notes)
- Individual work files (Reference emails)
- Draft documents (Example: Individual planning documents)
- Research you've collected
Save Information in Other University Systems
If another university system has been designated to manage the information, use that system whenever possible.
Examples include:
- Workday
- Student Information System (SIS)
- Financial Aid systems
- Other approved university applications
These systems are often the official location for university records and provide better access, security, and management than storing copies elsewhere.
How to Save to OneDrive/SharePoint
OneDrive/SharePoint Online
- Open a browser window and navigate to the OneDrive or SharePoint folder you want to save the email to.
- In Outlook, drag the email you want to save into the open folder in the browser window.
| You can copy multiple email messages at once by selecting multiple emails before dragging (control + click to select individual emails, shift + click to select a range of emails). You can also save just the attachment in a similar manner. |
File Explorer
- Open a File Explorer window and navigate to the OneDrive or SharePoint folder you want to save the email to.
- In Outlook, drag the email you want to save into the open folder in File Explorer.
Alternatively, you can right-click the email in Outlook and select ‘copy’, then open the File Explorer window, right-click within the folder and then select ‘paste.’
Additionally, you can open the email message, select File->Save As, and then navigate to the desired OneDrive/SharePoint folder and click ‘Save.’
Best Practices
- Save information where you (and others) will expect to find it.
- Avoid keeping multiple copies of the same record.
- Use clear, descriptive file names.
- Organize files into folders or document libraries.
- Save important information on a regular basis rather than waiting until the last minute.
- If saving on a weekly/monthly cadence, consider immediately moving needed emails into a temporary folder in Outlook to avoid having to search for them later.
Contact Us
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(excluding weekly devotional, forum hour, and University Recognized holidays)