Email storage limits
The 50 GB combined mailbox limit on shared and reseller hosting, why it exists, and what happens if you exceed it.
There is no hard per-mailbox quota on shared and reseller hosting, but the fair usage policy sets a ceiling. Applies to shared and reseller plans on cPanel and DirectAdmin.
The limits
- A combined maximum of 50 GB per cPanel or DirectAdmin user, across every mailbox on that account.
- The email service must not be used for archiving. Historical mail that you keep but do not use belongs in an archive, not in a live mailbox.
Why
WebGee runs NVMe storage, which is what makes sites fast, but mailboxes sit on the same volume — the control panel cannot separate them onto slower storage.
The real cost is backups. Very large mailboxes contain enormous numbers of small files, and that is the worst case for backup software: a 50 GB mailbox takes far longer to back up and restore than a 50 GB database. Accounts with oversized mailboxes are the ones whose restores fail or run past their window, which affects everyone on the server.
What happens if you exceed them
WebGee will normally open an abuse case and contact you first. If the account remains over the limit, email data may be removed.
Do not rely on that warning arriving in time to save data you cannot lose. Keep your own copy of anything important — see Download a backup of your account.
Staying under the limit
- Empty the Trash, Junk and Spam folders. These are cleared automatically at 30 days, but they still count until then — see Files WebGee automatically removes.
- Delete large attachments rather than whole messages. Most mailbox size is a small number of large files.
- Archive old mail locally. Most desktop clients can move mail older than a set date into a local folder, off the server.
- Use POP3 for a genuine archive account, so mail is downloaded and removed from the server rather than accumulating.
Related
Add an email signature in webmail
Create a signature in WebGee webmail, set up multiple identities for different addresses, and switch between them when composing.
Maximum email attachment size
WebGee accepts messages up to 50 MB in total, and what to use instead when you need to send something larger.