# Message Purge - Overview

A message purge clears the hard disk of unplayed, urgent, and played messages; it frees disk space for other tasks. Purging can be done in one of two ways: automatically or manually.

Automatic purges run daily at the default time of midnight. Deletion is controlled by the message retention settings in the LCOS of each mailbox.

Manual purges do not rely on LCOS settings but on parameters entered by the administrator at the time of the purge. Deletion can be limited by settings like mailbox number, class of service, or age of message. Manual purges must be done using the Text Console.