Imac & other devices Mail Account Mailbox Behaviors for erasing items have "no" effect

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Level 1

18 points

Imac & other devices Mail Account Mailbox Behaviors for erasing items have "no" effect

I am on and iMac running 13.6. (I also have an MacBook Pro and iPhone. All are running current updated OS. For as long as I can remember, the Mail - Account settings - Mailbox Settings for when to erase messages have had more or less no impact. If I set it to erase upon closing Mail, it will erase all messages in that mailbox. Otherwise nothing happens an they remain indefinitely. I want to erase the messages at different times by type.

Has anyone had this problem and found a way to fix it? Honestly Apple hasn't been helpful.

iMac 21.5″ 4K, macOS 13.6

Posted on Sep 23, 2023 8:41 AM

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Answer 1

Dorain1

Community Specialist

Sep 27, 2023 10:59 AM in response to Adams261

Hi Adams261,

Thanks for reaching out and posting in Apple Support Communities.

If we understand correctly, you are wanting to be able to set the option for when emails are trashed by type, not by account.

We're not seeing an option for type when we go to Change Mailbox Behaviors settings in Mail on Mac - Apple Support. You may want to look in the Mac App Store to see if something there may fit your needs.

We recommend leaving feedback for Apple as a suggestion of what you would like to see added. You can do that by going to Product Feedback - Apple.

Take care!

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Answer 2

Adams261 Author

Level 1

18 points

Sep 27, 2023 12:11 PM in response to Grace2211

Thank you for responding. Your response is thorough and hits all the apple notes. Unfortunately, however your response is in fact non responsive. I have done all the things you mentioned. Including contact apple several times at virtually all customer facing technical levels. I have searched the apps and found nothing that seemed to deal with this issue. There has been no effective response or action from apple.I believe I may have found my answer. It appears that apple mail now sets a 30 days hold on eraseing the contents on iCloud mail and that this probably overides the setting on my Mac. Out of frustration, I came here.

As I understand it, this is an apple user community, I was wondering if any user had this issue and found a work around or had any other thoughts.

Again out of frustration, while we all are "enjoying" many amazing new Sonoma features, I suggest that apple should focus on cleaning up the basic functionalities or remove them.

I appreiate your effort but am hoping some high level Mac user has an idea. macro, shortcut idea

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Answer 3

Adams261 Author

Level 1

18 points

Sep 27, 2023 11:27 AM in response to Dorain1

Sorry, my questions may not be clear. In the attached image you can see the arrow pointing at the setting to erase junk email "After one day". There are several options for the length. I currently have a number of junk emails in my junk folder up to 14 days old. (The last time I manually deleted them. In my experience these setting are useless an have been for years. I am wondering if anyone has had this issue and found a way to fix it.

Sorry, but apple shouldn't be introducing new features if it can't fix OR at least remove ones that do nothing!

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Answer 4

Grace2211

Community Specialist

Sep 27, 2023 11:44 AM in response to Adams261

Adams261,

The following options are available when it comes to dealing your emails:

"Permanently delete emails

In the Mail app on your Mac, do one of the following:

Choose Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items, then choose an account.
In the Mail sidebar, Control-click a Trash mailbox, then choose Erase Deleted Items.

You can set the “Erase deleted messages” option in Mail settings to have Mail permanently erase deleted messages for you at a specified time. See Change Mailbox Behaviors settings."

More details here: Mail User Guide - Delete emails in Mail on Mac

If the Mail app is not working as expected, you can reach out to Apple directly by following this link: Get Support

All the best.

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Imac & other devices Mail Account Mailbox Behaviors for erasing items have "no" effect

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