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How to stop iPhone mail app from deleting messages on the server

patent10021

patent10021

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 23, 2004
3,563
842
How do I stop iPhone mail app from deleting messages on the server? If I delete a message in my inbox say when I'm checking my gmail mail or native iPhone mail the messages disappear when I view them online.

Thanks
 
Everything is syncd together. If you don't want them to go away you can't delete them.
 
set up gmail as exchange (settings here) then when you 'delete' an email from your inbox in the mail.app it will disappear from the inbox but will still be in 'all mail' both online and in the mail.app
 
I want to delete them from my iPhone ONLY not from the server. This way they stay viewable in all other mail clients EXCEPT my iPhone. I don't need thousands of already read emails on my iPhone BUT I would like them to stay on the mail server incase I need them in the future.

This is a simple feature that other clients can do. The iPhone can't do this?
 
patent10021 said:
I want to delete them from my iPhone ONLY not from the server. This way they stay viewable in all other mail clients EXCEPT my iPhone. I don't need thousands of already read emails on my iPhone BUT I would like them to stay on the mail server incase I need them in the future.

This is a simple feature that other clients can do. The iPhone can't do this?
Click to expand...

Mail Settings > Select account> you will see a bunch of things right at the top: account etc etc followd by mail, calendars, notes.. select the first thing.. > advanced > deleted mailbox > and instead of choosing on server.. choose on iphone.

That should prevent your messages from being deleted on server.. send an email to yourself from another account and test it out. Should fix your problem.
 
jdaniel said:
Mail Settings > Select account> you will see a bunch of things right at the top: account etc etc followd by mail, calendars, notes.. select the first thing.. > advanced > deleted mailbox > and instead of choosing on server.. choose on iphone.

That should prevent your messages from being deleted on server.. send an email to yourself from another account and test it out. Should fix your problem.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that won't work. I think that just tells it where to store the message it deleted. I have it set to 'On my iPhone' and it still erases the copy on the server which is what he doesn't want.

OP - You need to re-setup your mail. It's probably set up as an IMAP or Exchange account right now. Erase that and re-set-up your mail as a POP3 account.

POP3 is unable to erase messages on the server. It's its biggest drawback, but since it's what you want I'd suggest just doing that.

Search google for how to set up your particular mail service using POP3.
 
patent10021 said:
I want to delete them from my iPhone ONLY not from the server. This way they stay viewable in all other mail clients EXCEPT my iPhone. I don't need thousands of already read emails on my iPhone BUT I would like them to stay on the mail server incase I need them in the future.

This is a simple feature that other clients can do. The iPhone can't do this?
Click to expand...

The iPhone only stores 200 messages. You will never have thousands of messages on your phone.
 
This can easily be done with a pop3 connection. Just tell it to leave the mail on the server.

You are probably using an exchange connection to sync the inbox. That's why when you delete your mail it's also removed from the server. :cool:
 
patent10021 said:
How do I stop iPhone mail app from deleting messages on the server? If I delete a message in my inbox say when I'm checking my gmail mail or native iPhone mail the messages disappear when I view them online.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Why would you want to read the email on your phone and then read it again on your computer. Seems stupid to me. Just don't read the emails on your phone and problem is solved.
 
xAnthony said:
Why would you want to read the email on your phone and then read it again on your computer. Seems stupid to me. Just don't read the emails on your phone and problem is solved.
Click to expand...

He, he.... how do you know where you want to answer it from until you read it?? It's not a matter of where you read it from. It's normally where you want to answer it from. Think about it. You may need attachments, resources etc. :cool:
 
Thanks guys

Actually I think it is the IMAP settings with gmail/iPhone/Exchange that's the problem because I 'think' I remember the email with my carrier (IMAP but not Exchange) not getting deleted in my Macbook's Mail.app, but my gmail getting deleted permanently in Google online. I'll experiment.

The reason I chose IMAP with Google is because if you want to use Japanese in gmail it has to be IMAP. That may have changed but...
 
just set your account as POP3 on your iPhone to get it to work like you want IMAP or Exchange will delete from server :cool:
 
Givmeabrek said:
He, he.... how do you know where you want to answer it from until you read it?? It's not a matter of where you read it from. It's normally where you want to answer it from. Think about it. You may need attachments, resources etc. :cool:
Click to expand...

It's just a waste of time to read every email twice. I don't get why you would want to do that. If you need attachments/resources you could always mark the email as unread and then reply later on your computer. I don't understand why you would want to re-read every email twice.
 
Wow - some insensitive and unthinking responses here.

I scan through my emails on the phone when away from the desk/pc,etc. Those that need a longer response, or more indepth reading will be handled later when at my PC. So, some (not all) emails do get read twice. Waste of time? In some cases, probably. Not reading my email for a day can also be a problem. To each their own.

If somebody wants to do that, why not?

Meanwhile, along with lots of other solutions, why bother to delete it. You can set the iphone to only store a certain number of messages, and it will NOT store thousands. Just one solution.
 
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nostresshere said:
Wow - some insensitive and unthinking responses here.

I scan through my emails on the phone when away from the desk/pc,etc. Those that need a longer response, or more indepth reading will be handled later when at my PC. So, some (not all) emails do get read twice. Waste of time? In some cases, probably. Not reading my email for a day can also be a problem. To each their own.
Click to expand...
This reason here. The LAST thing I want to do is finger type a 300 word email on my iPhone. I read emails on my iPhone and reply to them maybe on the spot and maybe later on. I might reply to them using my iPhone or I might reply to them from my PC if special information or attachments are required.

I may not realize that I need to keep a particular email until later. Therefore I would like to have the option of deleting the email on my iPhone while still keeping it on the server (which means keeping it in my OSX Mail.app inbox).

For me it's also good to keep a backup of every email for a few weeks or months someplace that is accessible. I don't want to keep archives on my iPhone.
 
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thank you

Thank you danielj. You answered the question and solved the problem instead of editorializing or asking WHY the user wants to delete from her iPhone and not her computer. This is an ongoing problem with integrated devices and your advice is as correct 4/30/13 as it was in 2011.
lindag
 
Last edited:
proble solved

I had so any issues with apple and mail servers,

I sold the phone and went android,, all my problems and everyone's else problems were solved.. apple just ****
 
smurf69 said:
I had so any issues with apple and mail servers,

I sold the phone and went android,, all my problems and everyone's else problems were solved.. apple just ****
Click to expand...

Give this man a cookie!! Not only did he switch from Apple because they are ****. He keeps posting on an Apple forum.

----------

As other have already stated. It's a email issue. Not an iPhone issue.

On the side note. The way people use email is curious to me. I can not stand my inbox being full of mail. I want everything in sync, from the iPhone to iPad to my Mac to the web. If it need following up on I mark it flagged. If not, it gets a reply and deleted or just deleted. That me. I can't see why anyone wouldn't want their devices in sync.
 
smurf69 said:
I had so any issues with apple and mail servers,

I sold the phone and went android,, all my problems and everyone's else problems were solved.. apple just ****
Click to expand...

Troll and/or justify them purchases son!!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This is a very old thread. Now in 2013 don't you just set "delete from server" in the mail settings to "never"?

Or am I misreading something?

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Again Thanks.

+1 "Thank you danielj. You answered the question and solved the problem instead of editorializing or asking WHY the user wants to delete from her iPhone and not her computer."

99% of email done on computer using Thunderbird and gmail accounts. When traveling, in town, will use one of many iOS devices to check mail for many email accounts. Don't want bits and pieces of emails left of various machines but want all to eventually end up on computer.

Several years ago on iPhone 4, an earlier iPod Touch and original iPad found instructions that worked. In various device/iOS upgrades lost the bubble. With this info should finally be able to again read and answer email on any iOS device and still control, have a history, and do longer answers from the computer.

Thanks for a clear answer and not a bunch of crud.
Happy Holidays.
 
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