Mail going into [ARCHIVE] folder?

If you look at the "Rules" tab in Mail's preferences window, you will see that it is possible to set up a rule which archives some, or even all, of your messages which meet the criteria you have set. This rule can be set to send the mail to any one of your email accounts. For example, I use both Gmail and Yahoo. So, if I set up a rule which uses certain criteria, I can tell Mail to either archive it in my Gmail account, or in my Yahoo account.

My suspicion is that you -- or someone else possibly -- has set up a rule which is telling the Mail app to archive all incoming messages from Gmail to that particular archive folder.

In short, I would say to examine any rules you or anyone else may have set up, and determine if for some reason it is performing this action.

Oh, and by the way, I suspect that given that you have said that it is growing by the thousands, it may in fact be filtering spam to that folder.

If this is helpful or resolves your issue, please let me know. Thanks!

The reason why I asked you to select "Manage Labels" was so that it would reveal the various settings links near the top of the window, as you now do.

Okay, What I believe you need to do is to switch from "Auto-Expunge on" to "Auto-Expunge off".

The minute you do that, in the section right below it, you will be able to switch from "Archive the message (default)" to "Move the message to the Trash".

So, just do that, and then click on the "Save Changes" button.

Hopefully, that will stop all of your Gmail from automatically being archived, and send your deleted messages to the trash instead.

I hope that this will finally resolve your issue. Please let me know. Thanks!

Mail maps Gmail’s “All Mail” label to the Archive folder. It is not archiving the email messages, Goolag is. You can disable the “All Mail” label in IMAP in the gmail settings if you don’t want to see it, but that won’t stop Goolag from keeping them.

Let me add that I suspect that one of your settings is incorrect under the "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" section. You may have something set to archive all of your Gmail messages. In particular, look in the "IMAP access" section.

You may possibly also need to turn off "Auto-Expunge". Once you have done that, the option to move messages to the trash or delete them immediately when they are flagged as deleted will become available.

Addendum: In addition to your Mac, do you also use a mobile device such an iPad or an iPhone?

If my previous suggestion above doesn't work, let me know, and we will proceed from there.

Okay, in that case, you need to make certain that the Mail app in iOS is ALSO not archiving messages but allowing you to send them to the trash instead.

1. On your iPhone, open the "Settings" pane.

2. Scroll/swipe down and tap on the "Passwords & Accounts" option.

3. In the new pane, tap on your Gmail account under the "Accounts" heading.

4. Next, in the new pane, select your Gmail account under the "Gmail" heading.

5. Near the bottom of the screen, tap on the "Advanced" option.

6. In the "Move Discarded Messages Into" section, make sure that it is set to "Deleted Mailbox" and NOT to "Archive Mailbox".

7. That's it. You are done. Now, whenever you swipe left on a message in the Mail app, it should give you the option to move the message to the trash, and not just archive it.

Again, if this is helpful or even resolves your issue, please let me know, and mark it as such. This will help others to find a solution to their problem as well. Thanks!

Okay, before we proceed further, I suggest that you log out of your Gmail account, shut down the Mail app, and log out of your user account on your Mac, and then back in again. In fact, you may want to boot from a cold start. In other words, shut down all programs and your machine, wait about 15 seconds, and then boot it again.

Once you do that, then open the Mail app again, and see what is going on. See if the archive folder is still there, or if all of those messages have been sent to the trash.

If this still hasn't worked, then we will proceed from there.

First, have you tried right-clicking the archive folder to see if it can be deleted?

Second, do you use another device, such as an iPad or an iPhone, and is it synced with your Mac?

If so, we will proceed from there.

Yes, that should be set to "Hide". That is how I have mine set as well. The "Hide" option will hide any mailbox from appearing in Mail's "mailboxes" list. Those mailboxes still exist. It's just that you will only see them in your online Gmail account.

For example, click on the "Trash" link in the left column in your online Gmail account, and tell me what you see. Is it in the thousands?

Yes, I tried to explain to him that he is merely hiding the process from the window in Mail, but not actually eliminating it. That is why I want him to move on to his iPhone settings, because his settings in Gmail on his iPhone likewise need to be adjusted there, if they are wrong, which I suspect they are.

Okay, there is one more thing I think we should check. Because even though it may appear that the issue is now resolved, it may not be, at least not fully. So, let me ask you: Do you use any iOS devices such as an iPad or iPhone, and is that device synced with your Mac?

Number one, there is no need to be so rude.

Number two, he did not mention or change the "All Mail" preference until deep into our conversation.

Number three, aside from being rude and rather snide, your comment does not resolve anything.

Number four, if you read his comments more closely, you will see that he does not want to archive his messages, he wants them to be moved to the trash when he deletes them.

Number five, as you probably know, there are also settings in Mail on the iPhone which likewise control Gmail's behavior, which he and I have not covered yet.

Number six, to thoroughly and properly resolve an issue, one must proceed a step at a time, and analyze what occurs at each step.

BTW, what may have happened is that when you made the aforementioned changes I suggested, all of those 1000s of deleted messages which were caught up in the "Archive" folder may have been immediately zapped out of existence.

If I have helped you to resolve this issue, I'd appreciate it if you'd mark my comments as either helpful or resolved. Doing so will help others to find the answer they need as well. Thanks! :)

I’m currently on an iPhone and your first several posts were leading the OP down random, useless bunny trails. If you finally got around to what I stated in three sentences, that’s great. Good on you.