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I cannot delete junk mail. It keeps coming back. I am not happy with Mail.

I use Mail on my Macbook Pro with Maverick. I also have my Gmail set up through Mail. I spend hours every day trying to delete emails that just wont go away. I send them to the trash. I even tell it to empty all deleted emails from every account. I even close Mail because I have it set up to delete the emails upon closing. I open it and they are all still there. Then mail goes to folders all over the place. I hate the Junk, Trash and Archive combo. I have set up rules for the emails I want to have go to specific folders for specific reasons. But now I have those same emails showing up in three or four other folders. If I delete them from the other folders it also takes them out of the folders with the rules. I am really getting to the point where I hate even looking at my email anymore. Why can't we have the nice simple Inbox, Junk, Trash and rules boxes and forget the other stuff?? I am not running a business. I am not running an organization. I am a simple every day person who wants to do simple every day things when it comes to email.

iPhone 4, iOS 7.0.4

Posted on Feb 23, 2014 9:43 AM

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Posted on Feb 23, 2014 10:46 AM

I have the same issue with my Mac mini. I've sent my junk mail to the trash but it refuses to go away. My junk mail contains messages going back to day one even though I've sent everyone of them to the trash numerous times!

30 replies

Feb 23, 2014 11:15 AM in response to patwick49

Gmail is an intentionally broken implementation of IMAP that often causes problems with Mail. The problem seems to have gotten worse in Mavericks. My recommendation is either not to use Gmail at all, or to access it through the website. You may also get better results from another email client.

If you insist on trying to make Gmail work with Mail, the following links may help:

Configuring OS X Mail For Gmail Without Duplicates

Mail in Mavericks Changes the Gmail Equation

Gmail ... IMAP ... Mac Mail ... Mavericks ... SOLUTION

Feb 23, 2014 11:31 AM in response to patwick49

I found this person's guide pretty useful. Read the older version to get an idea of how Gmail works.


I primarily wanted Gmail to delete the items I deleted instead of just leaving them in All Mail. If I wanted them left on the server, I wouldn't have deleted them. Jeff's guide helped me, and I also cleaned up all the stupid "labels" that Gmail uses.


http://jeffschuette.com/2012/03/07/setting-up-apple-mail-to-rock-and-roll-with-g mail/

Feb 23, 2014 6:47 PM in response to Sungroupie

I know Sungroupie. It is very frustrating. My BF is going to look at the other two replies and study them for me. Linc has some good links there (pardon the pun). If I can't get it to work with my Mail then I will have to resort to using the web interface. I use my gmail address for way to much in my life to eliminate it now. I use gmail, the email from my website and my me.com email. Each serves a purpose.

Feb 23, 2014 8:42 PM in response to Linc Davis

Hi Linc. No, I cannot give up the gmail. Because of the work I do and things I am involved in it would be a horrible nightmare to try to give it up. If I can't get it worked out with yours and Barney's suggestions I will disconnect it from Mail and just use the web based. I use three emails and each has its own purpose. The one I am guaranteed will always be there is my gmail so all my most important emails go through there. Yes, I do insist on keeping gmail. Thank you very much for your response and I am going to study the links you sent me.

Pat

Mar 16, 2014 8:38 AM in response to Linc Davis

I've had the same problem with Gmail and Exchange accounts in Mail 7.2. I've rebuilt the envelope index and have deleted all email folders and started from scratch, all to no avail. Mail also uses cpu like a madman. It also fails to move all new emails to the unified Inbox.


I've tried several other email clients. All delete emails properly from Gmail and Exchange. They all have other problems, so I keep trying Mail.

Mar 16, 2014 9:12 AM in response to patwick49

Yes, I've tried Outlook. It does not have the problems I've encountered with Mail.


Searching for a folder using the Search tab often results in an empty window, even if that folder has been synchronized. Speaking of which, you have to manually synchronize each folder by selecting the folder and choosing "synchronize now;" otherwise, any search results will be questionable.


If you love tooltips, you'll love Outlook. It gives you the largest tooltip you've ever seen when you hover over a listing in the inbox. And it places it Right Over What You're Trying To Read. I searched Google for ways to turn them off in Outlook 2011. Results are difficult to find because there are so many Windows users asking the same thing for various versions of Outlook. (It's good to know MS isn't just playing a prank on Mac users.) They can't be turned off. Microsoft has decided that you don't really need to read what's hidden under the tooltips. Dealing with spam is less annoying than dealing with Outlook's tooltips.

Apr 23, 2014 2:03 AM in response to Linc Davis

Linc. What do you recommend to use instead?


I currently have a my domain names in gmail attached to a company profile.


I have two email addresses I want to use with two different domain names. Sometimes these two emails are used interchangably. So I need to see them in the same inbox and to be able to use smart filters and delete them efficiently.


The current gmail - apple mail setup is a nightmare.


I have ended up with 15,000 emails in my inbox.


Before I started with this gmail setup I was able to empty my inbox regularly.

Jun 4, 2014 7:54 AM in response to Linc Davis

Linc Davis wrote:


Gmail is an intentionally broken implementation of IMAP that often causes problems with Mail. The problem seems to have gotten worse in Mavericks. My recommendation is either not to use Gmail at all, or to access it through the website. You may also get better results from another email client.

If you insist on trying to make Gmail work with Mail, the following links may help:

Configuring OS X Mail For Gmail Without Duplicates

Mail in Mavericks Changes the Gmail Equation

Gmail ... IMAP ... Mac Mail ... Mavericks ... SOLUTION


the last link in this note made all the difference in using Mail for gmail. (im on Mavericks 10.9.3). following the guide it fixed the key issues.


one key was changing settings on gmail.com for iMAP.

- particulary move deleted items to trash.

I cannot delete junk mail. It keeps coming back. I am not happy with Mail.

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