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mail.app, is there a way to delete mail from server

T

tivoboy

macrumors 601
Original poster
May 15, 2005
4,094
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So, similar to use on a PC, I have my POP3 accounts setup so that any computer that I download mail to, and then DELETE this mail from the deleted items folder, it will update the server and not show it for download to OTHER computers or clients that I use to access the POP3 account.

but, on the mail.app program, I cannot seem to find this very common setting. Is it somewhere that I am missing?
 
i think you'll find something like this in the advanced settings
i think it's "synchronize with server" or something like that
 
hmm

hmm, with a pop account?
I didn't know there was a syncronization.
 
Maybe what you're looking for is in the Accounts section in Mail's preferences.

Once you have pulled up accounts, select the account you want to edit, then select the Advanced tab. Check "Remove copy from server" and in the popup just below it, select when mail will actually delete the copy.
 
so

so, I have in accounts, advanced
remove copy from server

when moved from inbox,
right away
in a day
in a week
in a month

should there be one there that says, when deleted from inbox?
 
You can also type CMD-I, which brings up a list of the contents of the mail server, and allows the deletion of selected e-mails from the server.
 
so

is what you are all telling me is that there is technically no DELETE from Server if deleted from inbox? That seems to be a pretty standard POP3 server protocol. I wonder why apple wouldn't have it
 
tivoboy said:
is what you are all telling me is that there is technically no DELETE from Server if deleted from inbox? That seems to be a pretty standard POP3 server protocol. I wonder why apple wouldn't have it
Click to expand...

I'm not entirely certain; in fact, I asked a similar question myself only about a week ago, and nobody seemed to know. If you'd like to perform a little experiment in the interests of science, you should try setting up your mailbox with "delete from server when removed from inbox" selected. One would think that deleting an e-mail is regarded by Mail as one method of removing it from the inbox. You can verify the behavior using the CMD-I server query I suggested earlier.

Then you'll have the answer, and can tell all of us! :)
 
tivoboy said:
is what you are all telling me is that there is technically no DELETE from Server if deleted from inbox? That seems to be a pretty standard POP3 server protocol. I wonder why apple wouldn't have it
Click to expand...
No, it's not part of the POP3 protocol. There is no way for a protocol to know whether or not you've deleted a file on your system. Many apps provide the service of deleting the message - via use of the POP3 protocol - when you delete it on your system (and, here, I mean of course mail you've downloaded and then are using an app to browse locally, as opposed to apps that merely show you what's on the server, in which case deleting it always deletes it on the server, because that's where you're looking). However, this is a feature, not part of the POP3 implementation.
 
Deleting an email removes it from your inbox. So if you have the option selected in preferences to remove mail from the server when it's moved from your inbox, then that will have the desired effect.
 
so,

so, setting the advance setting in the mail.app program to
Remove from Server, AFTER MOVING FROM INBOX and then trying has no impact on the messages on the server.

I tried sending an email, confirming it with webmail, deleting in, ala moving it from inbox, still showed up in webmail and therefore would be accessed by other clients accessing the same mail - pop3 server.

Tried deleting from the TRASH in mail.app, then re GET MAIL, still showed up in webmail, and as well in other clients.

Tried actually just MOVING from inbox, to another folder, had no impact at all, mail was still there on the server. Tried DELETING from a second folder and then emptying the trash, still on the mail server.

Anyone know how to make SOMETHING work?
 
Is this what you want? Once you download your message to your inbox it will delete it from the server, if it doesn't contact your ISP it's a problem on their end. These are my settings and it works well for me.
 

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tivoboy said:
Anyone know how to make SOMETHING work?
Click to expand...

I've already told you how delete mail from the server in Mail, with or without downloading it beforehand. This works. I am also doubtful that the advanced settings do nothing, as I know they will delete mail after downloading it if it's set this way. Perhaps you should leave the other application out of the mix. Keep the settings as you previously described and check using Mail (cmd-I) to see if the e-mail you deleted in Mail is removed from the server. You might have to go through another mail pickup cycle for it to take effect.
 
sure,

that is where I have been working on, but selecting one of the options in the associated drop down box, for example, AFTER MOVING FROM INBOX, which deleting should in some way or another affect,

but that doesn't happen, moving it out, sennding and resending mail and it still sits there.

I have to say it, but all the pc's that I use using outlook, or outlook express have the setting, DELETE From server AFTER deleting from inbox, for example, which is GREAT since all the mail that I have read in one place that doesn't warrant any saving, I just delete and it doesn't show up on any of the other clients that I use.

which is great, but on the mac client, when I delete stuff, like mailing list emails or whatever, it shows up still on ALL the other clients that I access such and such account with, which is just whacked!
 
hi,

IJ Reilly said:
I've already told you how delete mail from the server in Mail, with or without downloading it beforehand. This works. I am also doubtful that the advanced settings do nothing, as I know they will delete mail after downloading it if it's set this way. Perhaps you should leave the other application out of the mix. Keep the settings as you previously described and check using Mail (cmd-I) to see if the e-mail you deleted in Mail is removed from the server. You might have to go through another mail pickup cycle for it to take effect.
Click to expand...

hi, i hate to be a pain, but I was just saying up above that it doesn't work for some reason. Setting it to DELETE from SERVER with the drop down for example, AFTER MOVING FROM INBOX, does not delete it from the server from any of the pop3 account that I am accessing. When I do the CMD I, I still see all the mail ON the server. Maybe, does one need to close and open Mail.app to make this work?

I didn't try that.
does anyone else here use the drop downs to remove mail. Maybe it is a function of the variable. For those of you that are using this, are you using ALWAYS REMOVE AFTER DOWNLOADING?

THAT might work
 
tivoboy said:
hi, i hate to be a pain, but I was just saying up above that it doesn't work for some reason. Setting it to DELETE from SERVER with the drop down for example, AFTER MOVING FROM INBOX, does not delete it from the server from any of the pop3 account that I am accessing. When I do the CMD I, I still see all the mail ON the server. Maybe, does one need to close and open Mail.app to make this work?

I didn't try that.
does anyone else here use the drop downs to remove mail. Maybe it is a function of the variable. For those of you that are using this, are you using ALWAYS REMOVE AFTER DOWNLOADING?

THAT might work
Click to expand...

I have mine set to "remove from server after downloading right away" and it works as advertised. No, you should not have to restart Mail to make this work. I was only suggesting that perhaps Mail would need to reinitiate a contact with the server after the e-mail is deleted in Mail to tell it what happened locally.
 
doesn't seem so

so, it doesn't seem so, at least with the AFTER MOVING FROM INBOX setting selected. I have hit send and receive, close and open mail, send and receive and yet all the mail that is deleted is still on the server
 
will do

will do, but I wouldn't leave it that way as I would need mail on other systems.
Wierd that this, what I thought was an available protocol on the pop3 platform, doesn't appear to be on macs. I might have to script something CRAZY to make a work around.
 
I just tried setting one of my mail accounts to delete from server "when removed from Inbox" and it works as expected. Did you save the preference changes after you made them?
 
tivoboy said:
will do, but I wouldn't leave it that way as I would need mail on other systems.
Wierd that this, what I thought was an available protocol on the pop3 platform, doesn't appear to be on macs. I might have to script something CRAZY to make a work around.
Click to expand...

It appears to be very much available, as I've just proven for myself.
 
alrighty!

well, I changed the settings to REMOVE from SERVER IMMEDIATLY when DOWNLOADEd and ran the test.

First, I closed the application though and then reopoened. Had sent some email to myself, and then downloaded it after opening the program again.

And what did it do, left the mail on the server for all other clients to download.

Which they download, and then the one setup to download and remove from server after deleting, DELETED it just fine.

I don't know what gives with this mail.app.
 
tivoboy said:
I don't know what gives with this mail.app.
Click to expand...
As none of us (or at least few of us) have this problem, perhaps it's an issue with how Mail interacts with your ISP in particular, or some issue with you Mail preferences. But it is not a general problem with Mail.
 
i'll try that

jsw said:
As none of us (or at least few of us) have this problem, perhaps it's an issue with how Mail interacts with your ISP in particular, or some issue with you Mail preferences. But it is not a general problem with Mail.
Click to expand...

although, it does seem a bit odd that it doesn't work with.

yahoo.com pop accounts
sbcglobal.net pop accounts,
comcast.net pop accounts
gmail.com pop accounts
earthlink.com pop accounts
mindspring.com pop accounts,

at least not the ones I have.
 
One thing that it might be good to bear in mind is that it doesn't seem to do things instantly when you have it set to "right away" or "When moved from Inbox", at least not for me. It seems to take 5 to 10 minutes to complete its process. Again, this is my observation. Your mailage may vary...
 
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