What is ROT?

ROT is the acronym for Redundant, Obsolete, and Transitory. At the University, ROT consists of any records that legally can and should be destroyed. ROT accumulates over time, in paper and electronic form, and inherited ROT is a common challenge for many employees. It's easy for an office to fall into the trap of holding onto ROT, but it can represent a serious legal, privacy, and security risk to the University as well as being a significant drain on efficiency.

Transitory vs. Substantive Records

How to use this guide 

The following is a selection of search terms and techniques mentioned in the Email Deleting Party recorded training. Please contact us at rotsquad@uw.edu if you have questions, suggestions, or corrections--we're all ears! 

All of the below items and more can be found in the Email ROT Deleting Guide, including tips on tackling Sent mail and using conversation view in Outlook. 

    How to select all results

    Outlook desktop

    1. Click on the first email in your list.
    2. Push and hold Ctrl + A on your keyboard.
    3. Scroll to the bottom of the results, and click the last email.
    4. Right-click in your now-highlighted list, and select Delete, or use the Delete key on your keyboard.

    Outlook online

    1. Click the top email in the results list.
    2. Hold down the shift key.
    3. Scroll to the bottom of the results, and click the last email.
    4. Right-click in your now-highlighted list, and select Delete, or use the Delete key on your keyboard.

    Gmail

    Use the “select all” checkboxes in the upper left.

    Mac mail

    Cmd + A on your keyboard

    Newsletters and listservs

    Search “unsubscribe”, including UW-related newsletters (UW Today, UW Insider, POD, Procurement News, Meany Center, e-outages, etc.)

    • unsubscribe

    To exclude a certain name or other word from your search results, type "NOT" then your desired term:

    • unsubscribe NOT POD

    Automatic Notifications

    How to disable your Zoom meeting attendee notifications:

    1. Open Zoom in an Internet browser.
    2. Log in with your UW NetID credentials
    3. Click Settings on the left.
    4. Ensure Meeting is highlighted on the tabs at the top. Click Email Notification to jump to that section.
    5. Adjust the settings to your preferences. Settings are saved as soon as you change them, noted by the green box at the top of the screen.

    Meeting Items

    Sort by Type or enter the search operator below:

    Outlook desktop

    • messageclass:IPM.Schedule.Meeting

    Outlook on the web / O365

    • Accepted:
    • Maybe:
    • Declined:

    Gmail

    • “Calendar Invitation”

    Mac mail

    • Accepted:
    • Maybe:
    • Declined:

    Drafts, Junk, and Clutter

    Delete emails from your Drafts folder older than 1 year. Don’t have many drafts? Empty your Junk and Clutter folders. (Clutter folder is optional and may not be enabled for all users)

    Search for draft files attached to emails:

    Outlook desktop & Outlook O365

    Click on the Search tab > More > Attachment contains then type draft

    • attachment:draft

    Gmail

    • filename:draft

    Mac mail

    Type draft into the search bar, then from the drop-down suggestions list, click on Attachment name contains: draft

    Voicemails in your Inbox

    Pro tip: you can sign into the UW voicemail system online to tweak the settings so that you still receive an email notification, but do not receive the attached .wav file.

    Friendly emails

    To learn more about de minimus use of University resources, we highly recommend Internal Audit’s Ethics Training: https://fa.uw.edu/audit/ethics-training

    Search for:

    • your partner/spouse’s name
    • your family members’ names
    • “this weekend”
    • tonight
    • after work

    More on searching in Outlook

    Visit the Microsoft guide to searching

    More on searching in Gmail

    Visit the Gmail guide to searching

    Our favorite example searches

    Outlook & Outlook O365

    Emails from before 1/1/2016 but NOT emails from the ROT Squad:

    Emails from the ROT Squad with “bagel break” in the subject line, body, or attachment contents:

    • from:rotsquad about:”bagel break”

    Emails containing the word “ROT”, but not “rotisserie” or “rotation”:

    • “ROT”

    Emails that have attachments named draft.xlsx or an attachment that contains draft.xlsx within its contents:

    • attachments:draft.xlsx