A method of receiving and processing e-mail includes monitoring available space in an electronic mailbox and, upon predetermined space related parameters being met, applying compression and/or truncation rules to incoming e-mail. The rules are related to predetermined threshold levels such that different steps or levels of compression and/or truncation are applied to incoming e-mails and/or attachments as the predetermined threshold levels are reached or exceeded. The threshold levels are related to the amount free of storage capacity allocated to the mailbox, and as the free space is used up, the degrees of compression and truncation are progressively increased.