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jenrm23
Level 1 (3 points)

Q: iCloud Storage - deleted email but still having issues

After receiving notices that my iCloud storage was full (and according to the settings, it was all used up by email), I deleted most of my inbox and trash 3 days ago. Today, I still am not receiving any new email so I completely deleted my inbox and trash folders with still no luck. How can my storage still be full after deleting over 118,000 messages? Please help.

Posted on Jan 26, 2015 11:42 AM

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jenrm23

Q: iCloud Storage - deleted email but still having issues

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  • by alex_h1,

    alex_h1 alex_h1 Jan 27, 2015 12:12 PM in response to jenrm23
    Community Specialists
    Jan 27, 2015 12:12 PM in response to jenrm23

    Hello jenrm23,

     

    Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.

     

    If your iCloud storage is full due to email usage, and trashing the items has not helped clear the space, please follow the directions below to clear that data from the iCloud server.

     

     

    Mail

    You can free up iCloud storage space by deleting email messages from your iCloud email account. You can also move email messages from your iOS device to your Mac or PC, where they no longer count against your iCloud storage.

    Use the steps below to delete messages from your account. Remember that messages with large attachments take up more space than simple text emails.

    iOS

    If your iOS device is configured to access iCloud email, you can delete messages from any mailbox, then empty the Trash to free up space:

    1. Swipe left across any message to delete it.
    2. Tap your Trash folder.
    3. Delete messages one at a time or delete all of them by tapping Edit, then tapping Delete All.

    OS X or Windows

    If you're using iCloud Mail with a desktop email app, such as OS X Mail or Microsoft Outlook, use these steps:

    • OS X Mail: Delete the messages that you no longer want, then choose Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items and select your iCloud email account from the menu.
    • Microsoft Outlook 2007 (Windows): Delete the messages that you no longer want, then choose Edit > Purge and select your iCloud account from the menu.
    • Microsoft Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2013 (Windows): Delete the messages that you no longer want. Outlook will permanently delete your messages the next time you close and restart the app.

    iCloud.com

    1. From your computer, sign in to iCloud.com.
    2. Click Mail.
    3. Delete the messages that you no longer want, then click the gear icon and select Empty Trash.

     

     

    Manage your iCloud storage - Apple Support

     

    Take care,

    Alex H.

  • by jenrm23,

    jenrm23 jenrm23 Jan 27, 2015 12:47 PM in response to alex_h1
    Level 1 (3 points)
    Jan 27, 2015 12:47 PM in response to alex_h1

    Thank you for your reply Alex, however, these are the steps I've already taken to clear out my Inbox and Trash folders. It was all done by logging on to iCloud.com. Both folders are still completely empty, but I'm still receiving the alert that my storage is full at the top of the screen.

     

    If I go to Settings>iCloud>Storage & Backup>Manage Storage on my iPhone, it still says Mail is using 5.1 GB (all of my storage). I have nothing left to delete except for some in my Archive folder - but I've deleted 118,000 messages already.

  • by alex_h1,

    alex_h1 alex_h1 Jan 27, 2015 2:08 PM in response to jenrm23
    Community Specialists
    Jan 27, 2015 2:08 PM in response to jenrm23

    Hi jenrm23,

     

    Thank you for using the Apple Support Community. Due to the nature of your issue or question you may find more information by using another one of Apple's support resources - https://getsupport.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action

     

    Take care,

    Alex H.

  • by Tim Francis,

    Tim Francis Tim Francis Jul 13, 2015 12:10 PM in response to jenrm23
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 13, 2015 12:10 PM in response to jenrm23

    Did you ever find a solution for this? I am having exactly the same issue.

  • by Bobjlandsea,

    Bobjlandsea Bobjlandsea Jul 13, 2015 1:03 PM in response to Tim Francis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 13, 2015 1:03 PM in response to Tim Francis

    I had been having the same issue  of email taking-up 4.8GB space of 5 GB limit even after I had deleted all iCloud mail or moved it to my Mac  (all iCloud mail including inbox, send and trash). I decide to Quit Mail (option in the Mail tab) and reopen.  When I re-openned Mail, storage dropped from 4.8 GB to .67 GB.  Hopefully this is the fix and will work for others.

  • by Tim Francis,

    Tim Francis Tim Francis Jul 13, 2015 1:13 PM in response to Bobjlandsea
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 13, 2015 1:13 PM in response to Bobjlandsea

    Thanks for the tip. I just found another way which worked for me. In Settings / iCloud I turned off email, and then restarted the phone. When the phone has rebooted and iCloud email had been enabled, all the old emails had gone.

  • by Hunter.Peck,

    Hunter.Peck Hunter.Peck Jul 15, 2015 8:53 AM in response to Tim Francis
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 15, 2015 8:53 AM in response to Tim Francis

    Caution: I would not suggest trying this unless you want to delete your account.

  • by B Rene,

    B Rene B Rene Sep 3, 2015 10:16 PM in response to Tim Francis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 3, 2015 10:16 PM in response to Tim Francis

    I was having the same issue and was deleting mail like crazy.  I closed out my browsers and restarted my MBP.  Still to no avail!  Then it hit me to sign out of mail on my iPad.  That did the trick!

  • by huntfor,

    huntfor huntfor Sep 25, 2015 6:57 PM in response to B Rene
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Sep 25, 2015 6:57 PM in response to B Rene

    Thank you, Rene! That's what did the trick for me, too!

  • by huntfor,

    huntfor huntfor Sep 28, 2015 7:21 AM in response to alex_h1
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Sep 28, 2015 7:21 AM in response to alex_h1

    How can I free up the storage taken by non-existent mail?


    I emptied all mail including trash and junk and turned off the iCloud mail account on both devices. I do not use any .me or .cloud or .mac email addresses.


    iCloud mail storage shows 19.88 MB is being used.

     

    Logging out and back in doesn't free up the mail storage space. Restarting (completely shutting down) the iPhone 6 and iPad mini 3 still doesn't clear it up. Along came iOS9, which I've upgraded to, but iCloud storage still shows 19.88 MB used for mail storage.

     

    Thanks!

     

    What I tried:

    From the support page of https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204247, I followed these instructions:

     

    If your iOS device is configured to access iCloud email, you can delete messages from any mailbox, then empty the Trash to free up space:

    Swipe left across any message to delete it.

    Tap your Trash folder.

    Delete messages one at a time or delete all of them by tapping Edit, then tapping Delete All.

  • by bendenison,

    bendenison bendenison Nov 4, 2015 11:19 AM in response to huntfor
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 4, 2015 11:19 AM in response to huntfor

    Im having a similar problem. I wonder if anyone can help me.

     

    I only use iCloud mail, and I dont have any other apple devices. I only use my email as forward. Its a legacy email address really.

     

    My icloud account is showing as full 5mb. Though I have deleted all emails in every folder.

     

    I have signed out of icloud. Closed all browsers.

     

    I have now activated "delete after forwarding".

     

    But still its showing as full 5mb. Any ideas would be greatly received.

  • by huntfor,

    huntfor huntfor Nov 4, 2015 2:52 PM in response to bendenison
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Nov 4, 2015 2:52 PM in response to bendenison

    I still have the same exact problem and have done everything that's been suggested.

  • by Swanage,

    Swanage Swanage Nov 4, 2015 5:10 PM in response to jenrm23
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 4, 2015 5:10 PM in response to jenrm23

    Having the same problem, am on Windows, have deleted a load of emails but my iCloud storage is at the max and wants me to 'buy more storage' lol!...

     

    Whats going on?

  • by harriettekd,

    harriettekd harriettekd Nov 28, 2015 9:23 AM in response to jenrm23
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 28, 2015 9:23 AM in response to jenrm23

    I'm also having this problem. I went through and deleted thousands of emails, including erasing them from the deleted folder, as Apple suggested in their tips for freeing up iCloud storage. Now my iCloud storage continues to tell me that I'm using the same amount of storage for mail as I was before. It's so irritating!

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