Mail auto-deleting messages?!

[macmama]

Hi friends,

I've had a mostly-smooth transition from my second gen iMac to a sparkly new MacBook, save for one thing: Mail is nuking messages in my inbox after a week. Gah! I need those!

One might think that these settings would be in Preferences>Mailbox Behaviors, but I'm at a loss. Virtual baked goods and eternal gratitude to anyone who can help.

TIA,
Lisa

 

[JAT]

In Prefs:Accounts:Mailbox Behaviors are deletion settings for me. This is with the latest version of Mail, 2.1.1.

Are yours just not there at all?

 

[JAT]

Wait a sec, I see you mean from Inbox. What server do you use? Perhaps it has settings separate from Mail. I had to adjust Gmail online a couple times to get everything working the way I want it with Mail.

 

[macmama]

Hi JAT,

It's mac.com mail. I know there are settings on webmail for how frequently to delete mail, but on my old iMac, the messages stayed in the application Mail until I tossed them, even if they were long gone from webmail. I would usually start purging through them when it got up to 400 messages or so, but I can't get more than a week's worth of mail accrued now on the new Book...

 

[JAT]

Well, I'm stumped. If you've checked all the server settings, Mail settings and Rules, maybe deleting Mail prefs would fix it.

 

[macmama]

Thanks, JAT. Here's a pic of my mailbox behaviors in Preferences. Don't see anything about deleting messages in the Inbox... just from the trash, sent, etc.

 

[WildCowboy]

Interesting...I'm stumped too. Can you also post a screenshot of the "Advanced" pane there?

 

[macmama]

Can you also post a screenshot of the "Advanced" pane there?

Sure, here you go.

 

[macmama]

Okay, so to rephrase: are there any controls where you can set your inbox to automatically delete mail after a certain period of time (since I want to set that to "never")? Thanks!

 

[mad jew]

.Mac accounts are IMAP-based, meaning they synchronise with the server and can be modified from any internet-enabled computer. Do you have another machine that is accessing this same email account?

 

[macmama]

Indeed I do, Mad Jew. At the risk of sounding thick, what do you suggest I try? The desktop that's also gathering my mail is keeping all the messages indefinately, while the macbook is purging them after a week...

THANKS!!

 

[mad jew]

Well, check that the desktop is leaving the messages on the server. Your desktop may be downloading the emails to a local folder (on your desktop) and then taking them off the server which will then sync with .Mac and remove them from your MacBook too. Can we assume the desktop is a Mac running Mail? Maybe show us some of its settings.

 

[macmama]

Hey Mad Jew... I went to the old iMac and changed mail's settings to not erase messages from the server after a week. I'm still running Mail 1.3.11 on that machine, so the preferences looked really different. Thanks for the tip; I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[mad jew]

I reckon that coulda been your problem. Fingers crossed.