Aside from blocking the download of large messages, Outlook has another way to reduce its downloads.
On the Send/Receive tab there’s the Download Preferences options.
Download Full Items – the default, the entire message is downloaded immediately.
Download Headers and then Full Items – first Outlook grabs all the message headers, then it downloads the rest of the content in each message. Depending on the speed of the connection, this gives you a chance to delete any messages (as headers) before the entire message is downloaded.
Download Headers – only the message headers are downloaded. You choose which messages you want.
Plus
On Slow Connections Download Only Headers – it’s unclear what Outlook considers a ‘slow connection’. We’ve been on some damn slow links and this option hasn’t kicked in. Better for you to choose what’s suitable.
Downloading Entire Message
There’s a few options for downloading the rest of a message.
Download immediately by choosing ‘Download the rest of this message now’ from the body of the message.
Or you can mark messages for download when you’re next connected to the mail server.
On the Send/Receive tab there are choices to:
Mark for Download
Unmark for Download (to change your mind)
Process Marked Headers – means to connect with the server and download marked messages. This can be done for the current folder only or all folders.
Or you can right-click on a message and choose ‘Mark to Download’.
You can start marking to download, deleting etc. while more headers are arriving – there’s no need to wait for Outlook to finish getting all the headers.
Work Offline
Another useful tool in slow connection situations is ‘Work Offline’.
This will totally disconnect Outlook from the mail connections. Handy if you want to browse or do other things on the Internet without Outlook using up limited bandwidth.
