Messages being removed from Trash after 1 week; configured for more

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Level 1

54 points

Messages being removed from Trash after 1 week; configured for more

I'm running Mail 3.6 and I'm working with an IMAP account provided by 1&1. I have the account configured to permanently delete mail from Trash after 1 month (and I also tried "Never") but the messages are being removed after 1 week. I contacted 1&1 who claim that their server is not removing the mail and they have no setting to do so; it's the IMAP client. Could Mail have somehow gotten 'stuck' on 1 week for this account no matter what I set it to? Ideas to resolve?

BTW, I have 3 other accounts, 2 IMAP and 1 POP and those messages are being removed properly; after 1 month.

Thanks.

MacBook 13" (unibody), Mac OS X (10.5.7), iPhone 3G

Posted on May 19, 2009 5:27 AM

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Answer 1

May 19, 2009 7:50 AM in response to bediddleby

Is the Trash for this account stored on the server?

Ernie

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Answer 2

bediddleby Author

Level 1

54 points

May 19, 2009 4:06 PM in response to Ernie Stamper

Yes, and it matches Mail.app; only 1 week's worth of email is kept.

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Answer 3

May 19, 2009 6:58 PM in response to bediddleby

If I read the support document for Mail at the link below, I would easily conclude that your settings about Trash don't matter at all -- they are in control:

http://faq.1and1.com/email/setting_up_email_clients_like_ms_outlook_outlook_express_and_netscape_mail/30.html

Ernie

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Answer 4

bediddleby Author

Level 1

54 points

May 20, 2009 3:48 AM in response to Ernie Stamper

I didn't read it that way at all. I believe they're showing "how" to set it up and in the example they explain how "we" have "our" mail set up (as an example.)

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Answer 5

bediddleby Author

Level 1

54 points

May 20, 2009 3:56 AM in response to Ernie Stamper

Oh, and here is something interesting... I also have Sent Mail configured the same way; to store the messages on the server and delete after one month. That folder is working correctly; I have all my Sent items from one month ago.

I'm going to a little experiment; I'm not going to use Mail for 2 or 3 days. I'll only use webmail and see what happens to the Deleted Messages folder. This ought to at least tell me which entity is at fault.

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Answer 6

May 20, 2009 5:15 AM in response to bediddleby

How to read is certainly open to interpretation, but I found the following to be confusing, taking reference to approach to Junk into account as well:

* We keep a copy of every message we send from Mail.
* We never erase messages in the junk mailbox, because we don't use Mail's built-in junk filtering.
* We keep our deleted messages in a separate folder, but we remove them from Mail each time we quit the program, so we save hard drive space on our computer.

Perhaps it is only the way the personal pronouns are being used, but I find it a bit confusing, and inconsistent. For example, if "we remove them from Mail each time we quit the program" then what does the example setting of One Week mean?

Ernie

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Answer 7

bediddleby Author

Level 1

54 points

May 20, 2009 5:31 AM in response to Ernie Stamper

Yeah, it's poorly written for sure.

Another interesting note... if I use their webmail, deleted items are sent to a folder called "Trash" - whereas there's another folder called "Deleted Messages" that Apple Mail must've created and moves deleted items to. That causes me to lean back to Mail being the problem (or at least a configuration issue) since 1&1 uses "Trash" and is (or should be) ambivalent about "Deleted Messages".

I will monitor "Trash" as well and see if those messages ever get permanently deleted.

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Answer 8

May 20, 2009 5:48 AM in response to bediddleby

This is interesting, and certainly must relate to 1&1 in some particular way. With On My Mac mailboxes, when you delete a message, Mail automatically creates a separate Trash mailbox for On My Mac. The cycle for that one trash is set for one week and is not under user control.

However, if you see both the Trash folder and Deleted Messages folder when using Webmail access, then On My Mac should NOT be involved.

In the Finder, please open Home/Library/Mail, and first open the IMAP account folder for 1&1 to observe whether there is a Deleted Messages.imapmbox folder somewhere within this account folder? Next open the Mailboxes folder within the Mail folder, and see what, if any, mailboxes are there (in the form xxxx.mbox) related to this account?

Ernie

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Answer 9

bediddleby Author

Level 1

54 points

May 23, 2009 5:28 AM in response to bediddleby

Ok... it would be easy to not post a final time and forever hide my stupidity, but there might be someone else, someday, as knuckleheaded as me, so I'll post the solution.

I recently changed from POP to IMAP, and had to recreate the email accounts on my iPhone in order to change protocols. Guess what... iPhone defaults to "delete the Deleted Messages items after one week."

I had quit using Apple Mail for 3 days to prove whether it was the client or the server, and of course, the messages kept getting deleted. Finally, the idea to check my iPhone settings found a path through my thick skull.

Thanks for the help.

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