How to stop iOS Mail syncing account with IMAP deleting all Mail

Question

How to stop iOS Mail syncing account with IMAP deleting all Mail

Whenever I go to use Apple's Mail, syncing automatically begins and ALL Mail sitting to be read is immediately deleted before I am able to read any. The inbox then only has the just downloaded ones, and if a another sync starts it immediately deletes these also before reading them.

Maybe it is a coincidence that this started about 3 days ago when I updated my iPhone iOS to 10.3, but it is continuing with 10.3.1

Of course I always have the account's Messages set to "Ask Before Deleting" which has no asking effect now.

How can I stop iOS Mail syncing my account with IMAP from deleting all Mail until I control the deleting?

Device: iPhone 6s+

iOs Version: 10.3.1

iPhone 6s Plus, iOS 10.3.1

Posted on Apr 4, 2017 4:10 PM

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Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

279,299 points

Apr 4, 2017 7:07 PM in response to jumperpainter

See this thread: iPhone deleting emails in front of my eyes before I can select them. Do you by any chance have rules that automatically delete or move any of your incoming mail to local folders that aren't perhaps optimised to work as you need them to?

tt2

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Answer 2

Apr 5, 2017 7:59 PM in response to turingtest2

No rules are set at all.

I don't use apple Mail on my iMac, thus no settings are set there.

Since upgrading to iOS 10.3 I can only read the last email received, and if a sync occurs they are deleted instantly.

My wife's iPhone & iPad with separate account have all settings identical to mine, but at v 10.2.1, and her Mail is normal.

I read the other post/thread like mine, but found no help there.

Thanks for your idea.

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Answer 3

Apr 6, 2017 7:49 AM in response to KiltedTim

On our iMac's using OS X, we use Thunderbird and it is using a POP mail server.

Still, on iOS, my wife's Mail with a different account is still working with IMAP, and our 4 devices have identical settings.

Thanks for your ideas.

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Answer 4

turingtest2

Level 10

279,299 points

Apr 6, 2017 8:29 AM in response to jumperpainter

If multiple clients are connecting to a POP3 mailbox you typically want each of them set up to leave messages on the server except one which should be set to delete after a reasonable interval, say two weeks. This ensures that all clients get an opportunity to read each message, while making sure that the mailbox doesn't overflow any limit imposed by the host. However if the server supports IMAP then that is usually the way you want to configure every client. With IMAP read status is held at the server, as are any folders that you might use to organize messages after they have arrived, so each client gets the same view of the state of the account.

tt2

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Answer 5

Apr 6, 2017 3:31 PM in response to jumperpainter

Update:

I had 2 hours this afternoon that Mail did not delete on sync's, I thought because

I got the idea from the replies above to reluctantly update my iPad to the same level, 10.3.1, as my iPhone, and all worked normal; Mail had no conflict between 2 levels on 2 devices.

However, back to abnormal now, system deleting not by my choice, before I can read them.

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Answer 6

Apr 5, 2017 8:05 PM in response to jumperpainter

This is not Windows software as listed above. It is iOS.

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Answer 7

turingtest2

Level 10

279,299 points

Apr 6, 2017 5:35 AM in response to jumperpainter

Perhaps you should remove the account in iOS and then recreate it. If it still won't behave properly can you switch to using webmail for that account?

tt2

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Answer 8

KiltedTim

Level 10

234,174 points

Apr 6, 2017 5:39 AM in response to jumperpainter

Sounds to me like you have another mail client set up to access your account that is using POP3 instead of IMAP. Don't mix the 2. All clients should be set up to use IMAP.

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