Picture of mobile phone showing an email icon

Microsoft 365 Mailbox Quota – Check Your Usage

What is the Quota?

When we sign-up and first use Office 365, Exchange Online, and other MS Office 365 products we get in, start working and are usually unaware that there is a limited amount of storage. That’s because these services are cloud-based and Microsoft limits the maximum amount of storage based on the type of license you have.

You can refer to the below image to know the storage limit based on the mailbox type and license. 

MS-Office 365 Limit chart

Shared mailboxes do not require licenses until their mailbox size exceeds 50 GB. To increase the mailbox size from 50 GB to 100 GB, you must assign an Exchange Online Plan 2 license. 

So, how do I check how much space I have, and make more available space?

Besides upgrading your MS Office 365 plan (which can get costly), you can use the guides below based on the ways you use Outlook for your email.

If you use Microsoft Outlook online you can follow this guide

If you use the Microsoft Outlook desktop application use this guide

Using Outlook Desktop to check and clear free space

With Outlook desktop open, select the file menu:

Outlook Desktop Menu

Next, locate this area on the ‘File’ page:

Outlook desktop File page

This will show you how much free space you have, using the “Tools” button will give you options on freeing up space.

Using Outlook online to check and free up space

After you’ve logged in to your Exchange Online account and have it open, select the gear icon in the upper right corner:

Exchange Online Snip Showing Gear Icon

After you have selected the “Gear” icon a fly-out menu will be displayed, select “View All Outlook Settings”:

Exchange online showing settings menu

That will open the complete page of settings, select the “General” link:

Outlook online Settings Menu

When the General settings are shown, select “Storage”:

General Settings Menu

On the “Storage” page you will see your storage usage and have selections to free up available storage:

Exchange online showing the storage settings

Last word about quota and storage

Quota and checking free storage space is not a daily task, but knowing about it and knowing ways to manage it will prevent you from receiving errors and being unable to send and receive until you clear some space.

If you need help with your IT needs or have a question drop me a line, or hire me. Call 972.571.4808 I’m happy to help.

Edge Logo

It’s No Internet Explorer! 7 Features of Microsoft Edge That Make the App a Productivity Powerhouse

Many business owners shy away from Microsoft Edge, thinking it’ll slow down their operations. However, the browser has been massively upgraded and can help boost productivity.

Microsoft has made great strides since the introduction of Internet Explorer. The company now offers Microsoft Edge, a refined version that arguably provides the best web experience for business users.

Unlike the old Internet Explorer, this browser now relies on Google’s Chromium engine to provide faster loading, better compatibility, and enhanced support. Plus, Microsoft releases regular updates to tweak various features of the browser.

With Microsoft Edge, you can now surf the internet more privately, optimize performance, enable cross-device support, and enjoy many other neat functions.

Best of all, these features have been introduced conveniently. They don’t clutter the interface and are easy to find. They’re also user-friendly, which means your team won’t have to rely on your IT service provider for help with simple tasks involving the browser.

Overall, Microsoft Edge has come a long way since its release and boasts several features you can use to boost productivity. This article will list the seven main ones.

THE FEATURES
Picture of a mail slot in a door with the words private above it.

FEATURE #1 WIRELESS SHARING

One of the most attractive features of Edge is Share. It allows you to transfer browser content to nearby devices without leaving the website you’re viewing.

The Share feature is simple and clean. It works like social-sharing buttons but contains more customization options and controls.

Wi-Fi sharing might be the most practical option, but you can also choose between other services, such as OneNote and Mail.

FEATURE #2 MULTIPLE PROFILES

Microsoft Edge provides another convenient feature – setting up multiple profiles.

This well-designed function lets you share your browser with other team members without disclosing your preferences or information. Such a feature makes the browser a practical tool for separating your work and personal stuff.

To make this work, you won’t even have to ask your IT service provider to do the task.

When adding a new profile to Edge, you do it by simply linking to a different Microsoft account. This newly-linked account has a unique history, favorites, and other relevant settings compared to other profiles on the same browser.

There’s also the option to switch between connected profiles automatically. To do that, the browser will prompt you to use the correct profile when launching a page.

Users save time and increase productivity as a result.

FEATURE #3 WEBSITE PINNING

Most browsers have the Pin feature to help users access their favorite websites quickly. They need only to launch the program to load the pages automatically.

However, this function can be problematic.

If you close the window with pinned sites before closing the remaining windows, the pinned sites are lost. This can be a massive problem for your workers, especially when working on a critical project. Their productivity suffers since they often need to re-pin sites.

Microsoft Edge solves this issue with the Pin to Taskbar option.

As the name suggests, it lets you pin sites to your computer’s taskbar. Once you open the desired page, click this feature in the ‘More’ menu. So the next time you need to access the website, clicking the icon on the taskbar should do the trick.

FEATURE #4 PRIVACY CONTROL

Tracking Prevention is a Microsoft Edge feature that helps prevent social media, advertisers, and other trackers from tracking your online activity. It can protect your privacy and make your browsing less personalized, which is essential for any professional environment.

This feature consists of three privacy levels:

  • Basic – This level permits most trackers. Therefore, ads and content are personalized based on your team’s activity, but known harmful trackers are blocked.
  • Balanced – The second level blocks trackers from unopened websites, leading to fewer ads and less personalization. Like the first level, this one also blocks known trackers.
  • Strict – The final level promises the most privacy. There will be minimal personalization, with some parts of websites disabled to fend off threatening trackers.

FEATURE #5 READING LIST

Your team often marks articles for later revisiting but end up cluttering their bookmarks. Fortunately, Microsoft Edge has a powerful feature to overcome this obstacle:

The Reading List.

This feature allows you to save articles and synchronize the saved list with other devices. More importantly, it doesn’t mess up the Favourites or Bookmarks tab, allowing your team to get back to them in no time.

If they come across an interesting webpage, they need only strike the Star symbol in the address bar, choose the Reading List and press Add.

There’s also a convenient Reading Mode that helps remove any clutter to further improve workplace efficiency.

FEATURE #6 TAB PREVIEW

You and your team probably perform a lot of research daily. This means you often need to use a bunch of tabs, and the number can quickly get overwhelming. As a result, you get lost in all the clutter, hindering your progress.

Microsoft Edge lets you avoid this scenario through the Tab Preview feature. It shows a preview of any open tab through a panel located at the top of your screen.

Launched after the Creators Update, it can be activated by clicking the chevron icon. Once you locate your tab, tap on your chevron icon to make the panel disappear.

You’ll hardly find a simpler yet more effective tool.

FEATURE #7 MUTE TABS

You may enjoy listening to music to improve your focus. But as you’re invested in your work, a newly opened tab can start playing a high-pitched dialogue, breaking your concentration.

Luckily, you can get back on track by enabling the Mute Tabs feature on Microsoft Edge.

Just find and right-click the annoying tab to reveal the function. Activating it allows you to work without noisy distractions and maintain high productivity.

STICK TO MICROSOFT EDGE, AND YOU WON’T LOOK BACK

One of your primary duties as a business owner is to ensure productivity across the entire team. If your employees underperform, customer satisfaction may plummet, and the competition may grab your clients.

We’ve listed seven key Microsoft Edge features to help you boost productivity, but this browser has a lot more to offer.

And there’s no need to think you’ll face the same issue as Internet Explorer users. This program is a massive upgrade designed to streamline your experience and help your team conduct their duties more efficiently.

If you’re looking for more tips to take your productivity to the next level, give us a call today. We can arrange a 15-minute obligation-free chat to determine how to improve your business.

Article used with permission from The Technology Press.

Google Chrome Logo

Enhancing Office Productivity With Google Chrome: The 12 Best Extensions To Improve Your Workflow

Working from your computer or smartphone is convenient, but it can also be distracting. To maintain productivity, you should install effective Google Chrome Extensions. 

Google Chrome is arguably the most popular browser on the planet. It’s best known for allowing faster loading of websites, optimized performance, and an intuitive interface. As a result, it can help your team complete their daily duties much faster.

However, it raises the same concern as other browsers – ample room for distractions.

Your team members can easily switch to YouTube videos or social media, lowering their productivity. And it can often get out of hand, preventing your staff from meeting deadlines and reducing customer satisfaction.

That said, you can help your employees get back on track and maintain productivity. All you need to do is incorporate practical extensions into your browser.

This article will list the 12 best Google Chrome extensions that can help increase office productivity in your business.

THE 12 EXTENSIONS

EXTENSION #1 – BLOCKSITE

BlockSite can enable your team to stay focused by blocking harmful or distracting websites. This extension is perfect for team members who tend to drift away due to all the online activities that seek their attention.

Some of the web pages you can block access to with BlockSite include social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. But if you don’t wish to block them completely, you can limit access to them during breaks.

EXTENSION #2 – ADBLOCK

AdBlock is one of the most widely used extensions for Google Chrome. More than 10 million users rely on it to remove most ads by preventing them from showing up on their screens.

It can also help your team avoid malware-ridden ads, improving their experience in turn by increasing browsing speed.

EXTENSION #3 – LASTPASS

Remembering your passwords can be extremely challenging. Thankfully, LastPass can provide an efficient solution.

LastPass is an effective alternative to your browser’s built-in password manager, generating new passphrases whenever you log into a web page.

In addition, the extension can synchronize passwords across various devices, providing easy access to accounts, credit cards, and form filling.

EXTENSION #4 – EVERNOTE WEB CLIPPER
EverNote Webpage Picture

Although Chrome has a convenient bookmark feature, Evernote might be even more powerful. You can use Evernote Web Clipper to save your internet content for later viewing.

This extension enables you to easily save your web content and transfer it to your account. With just a few clicks, you can obtain images from any website, create summary links, save a distraction-free version of web pages, and make annotations.

EXTENSION #5 – POCKET

Another effective way to track your online content is through Pocket. This extension can also let you save articles, web pages, and videos for later use.

Whenever you come across interesting content, hit your Pocket extension and you’ll automatically save it on all your devices. You’ll then be able to access it whenever you want, even if you’re offline.

EXTENSION #6 – MOMENTUM

Momentum isn’t a standard extension. Rather, it’s a custom-made page to replace your default landing page.

It has a robust, personalized dashboard with a beautiful scenic background, inspirational quotes, weather reports, widgets to favorite sites, and to-do lists. Therefore, it doesn’t just help enhance productivity – it can also motivate your team members to keep grinding.

EXTENSION #7 – GOOGLE KEEP

Google Keep is a powerful extension that can allow your team to organize their data neatly. Its primary purpose is to help users create to-do lists and take notes. It also works great for saving pages, images and adding notes to them. Plus, it can make voice memos to simplify notetaking.

To further improve note organization, users can market them with colors and labels. This way, there’s no time wasted when looking for crucial notes.

EXTENSION #8 – CLOCKIFY TIME TRACKER

Monitoring workplace performance is critical, and Clockify Time Tracker is the ideal extension for this.

As the name suggests, it tracks time spent on specific activities. Your staff can later use the results to analyze their productivity levels and determine their weaknesses.

The extension lets users schedule break intervals, operate in pre-set work periods, detect idle time, set reminders, and integrate with more than 50 business apps.

EXTENSION #9 – STAYFOCUSED

If you want your team to stay away from distracting websites but don’t want to remove them altogether, StayFocused may be the answer.

This extension can help your employees avoid distractions by limiting the time they can spend on them.

What’s more, StayFocusd comes with a handy Nuclear Option. It sets the time during which your team can’t access certain websites. Once you activate this option, there’s no way to deactivate it until the time expires.

EXTENSION #10 – NOISLI

The main purpose of Noisli is to enhance your team’s productivity. It allows you to select the sound combination your staff finds most inspiring. This can include falling rain, storms, wood noises, wind, crickets, fire crackling, and coffee shop chatter.

Noisli can be particularly useful if your team works in open offices where background noises often cause distractions.

EXTENSION #11 – HYPERCONTEXT

Hypercontext is an extension that can help teams maintain high performance by combining engagement measures, quarterly priorities, and weekly meetings.

The platform enables you to create collaborative, one-on-one meetings, access conversations starters, and elicit feedback from each team member. You also get a feature that can help limit social media distractions and encourage your staff to prepare for their meeting.

EXTENSION #12 – TODOIST

Todoist is a straightforward yet helpful task manager. It can help users monitor their projects and tasks by delegating or organizing them from your browser.

This extension is a terrific option for tracking multiple deadlines. After all, it can set due dates and help you prioritize specific tasks accordingly.

TAKE YOUR PRODUCTIVITY TO NEW HEIGHTS WITH GOOGLE CHROME

Streamlining office productivity isn’t just about providing your team with cutting-edge computers and advanced software. It also has to do with installing appropriate extensions on your web browser.

We’ve given you many options for Google Chrome with this article. It’s now up to you to decide which ones work best for your company. Remember that by incorporating them into your business, your workforce should become more efficient.

Give us a call if you want to find out other tips to help boost employee productivity. We can have a non-salesy chat about it.

Article used with permission from The Technology Press.