Mail app question

[M. Malone]

hey everyone, I really need help from someone who can explain this whole IMAP e-mail thing...

I have .Mac which is IMAP, I don't want to ever delete my e-mails, I want every single e-mail I ever receive to stay in my Mail app, so I can get back to it, for example five years from now I wanna be able to see my e-mails that I get today, but at the same time I want them to get cleared off of the .Mac server, so how in the world can I do that, cause it seems if I get it off of the server, it get deleted off of the Mail app, right?

if you have a solution can you please tell me what to do in preferences, what to check and uncheck?

thanks

 

[mad jew]

IMAP basically means that the emails are kept on a server elsewhere and your email client (Mail) accesses this server to let you read your emails. Deleting or changing any of the emails on the server will change them in Mail. However, there is a method for keeping emails on your computer and not on the .Mac servers.

When you make a new folder in Mail, it gives you the option of where to store it. You can either store it on the IMAP server or on your hard drive. If you create a new folder using the plus sign in the bottom left corner and then select On My Mac, the emails you drag to this folder/mailbox will be kept locally on the Mac but not on your iDisk (.Mac).

 

[M. Malone]

thank you so much, one more question, now every e-mail I get I can just drag into the folder I have made and it will go off the server and into my hard drive, now what happens when I delete e-mails? where do they go?

 

[mad jew]

They'll go to the Trash can. The Trash is split in two if you delete an email from your IMAP server and also from your hard drive. I imagine most emails you delete will be from the server since there's rarely much point in downloading an email to your hard drive and then deleting it. Nevertheless, you can change some of the Trash's behaviour in the Maibox Behaviours section of the Accounts pane in Mail's Preferences. Here you can decide where to keep the deleted emails and for how long you will keep them. Does that make sense?

 

[M. Malone]

They'll go to the Trash can. The Trash is split in two if you delete an email from your IMAP server and also from your hard drive. I imagine most emails you delete will be from the server since there's rarely much point in downloading an email to your hard drive and then deleting it. Nevertheless, you can change some of the Trash's behaviour in the Maibox Behaviours section of the Accounts pane in Mail's Preferences. Here you can decide where to keep the deleted emails and for how long you will keep them. Does that make sense?

ok, under trash settings, I have "Move deleted messages to the Trash mailbox" checked, that's the only thing checked, "permanently erase deleted messages when" set on "never" so with this case, when I delete an e-mail, the e-mail is trashed on my hard drive? really appreciate your patience

 

[mad jew]

It normally depends where you delete it from as to where the deleted emails are stored. If you get a new email and delete it immediately, then it'll be stored on the server. Conversely, if you delete an email from one of those folders described above that resides on your hard drive, then the deleted message will be stored in a Trash folder on your hard drive.

However, since you don't have Store Deleted Messages On The Server checked, your trashed emails will all be stored offline (on your hard drive) until you empty the Trash in Mail.

 

[M. Malone]

EXCELLENT!

Mad Jew, thank you so much for taking the time, you have really helped me in organizing my e-mails, I cannot remember how many times you have helped me on this forum, but you always were helpful, thanks again for your patience and help

 

[mad jew]

No worries mate. Glad I could help.