DigitalChick Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Hi all! Once I download my emails, I would like them kept on the server for maybe a month. But then have them automatically deleted (i.e., I don't want them deleted right away... but after a period of time). How do I do this? I am using Mail on an iMac. Periodically, my email just stops working. In the past, I've found it's easiest to just delete the account in Mail and recreate it. I just did that... and now I'm getting over 69,000 emails downloading... from all the way back to January 2014. I don't need them saved that far back, but I can't see in my cpanel where to change this. Thanks! julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Thomas Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Can this be of any help? cnet.com/how-to/how-to-delete-and-manage-old-messages-in-os-x-mail/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DigitalChick Posted November 21, 2014 Author Share Posted November 21, 2014 (edited) Ideally, I'd like to be able to have them automatically deleted without having to download them to the computer again. If that makes sense. I don't want to have to manage them... again. I've already downloaded all of these. I'm just deleting them at this point. Edited November 21, 2014 by DigitalChick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Bruce Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Not knowing what email program you are using to read your message there should be some option to leave email on the server for x number of days. Turn the option on and tell it how many days you wish to keep messages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Thomas Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 Bruce, I thinks it´s Apple mail. DigitalChick, I googled some more and I don´t think this can be done in Apple mail. Hopefully I am wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accidntltourist Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 (edited) I have a similar question. A few months ago my OS was Windows XP with Thunderbird. My email was using POP3 I had been setting my POP3 to save a copy to server and delete after 180 days. I was very happy with this. I've long heard that IMAP was the preferred email setup, but it seems to me that my old POP3 setup was actually better - gave me more control. Currently: My current OS = linux Email client = Thunderbird (IMAP) What seems to happen: 1) I download email on Thunderbird and move that mail to a custom folder and then it is gone from server (so I can't access via webmail). 2) Or, I download email via webmail and delete it - thinking I'll read it later on Thunderbird - but it's gone from server so I can't download to Thunderbird. If I go into Thunderbird's server settings I don't see an option to "save copy to server" or switch to pop3 (maybe I'm wrong? maybe I need to delete account from Thunderbird and add it back in as POP3? possible? and why not?). So, if I'm using IMAP - is there a way to set up (either in Thunderbird or on the mail server) to have it save a copy to server (and auto delete after a specified amount of time)? Given the POP3 ability to "save copy to server" and configure email client to delete - when I want -- what's the advantage of IMAP? thanks Also, thinking about webmail - using RoundCube - still - if I download that mail first to RoundCube using POP3, maybe it will remove it from mail server - even if I don't delete the mail sitting on Rouncube? If that's true - then I guess that's the advantage of IMAP over POP3? Edited November 25, 2014 by accidntltourist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accidntltourist Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Also, thinking about webmail - using RoundCube - still - if I download that mail first to RoundCube using POP3, maybe it will remove it from mail server - even if I don't delete the mail sitting on Rouncube? If that's true - then I guess that's the advantage of IMAP over POP3? Sorry, meant: using POP3 ... if I download that mail first to RoundCube, maybe it will remove it from mail server - even though I don't delete that mail sitting on Roundcube? If that's true - then I guess that's the advantage of IMAP over POP3? With IMAP - a copy will remain on the server - until I move or delete from either mail client? So, I must be careful not to move or delete mail on any client until I've downloaded and saved it in the manner I ulitimately want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Bala Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 If you use webmail (roundcube, horde, squirrelmail), the emails will not be deleted just by reading it. It will be deleted only if you delete it via the webmail interface. Thunderbird help site shows that IMAP can be configured like the way you need. Please check out the link :: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/imap-synchronization 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accidntltourist Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 (edited) Thank you Balakrishnan, The link was very helpful. As a former POP3 user and occasional dabler in RoundCube – I didn't understand why my messages were disappearing from the server (My old POP3 was set to save copy to server). Lately I've been fairly fastidious about managing my inboxes on Thunderbird – attending to messages and keeping my inboxes empty. And, I guess I was taken off guard when I happened to log onto the C-panel and look at mail server usage and see the servers were 0% full; alarmed that the server was not backing up my mail. What have I learned about Message Synchronizing from my testing: - “Message Synchronizing” is the default setup configuration in Thunderbird (with IMAP). - IMAP downloads the entire message – not just the header - If I delete a message in Roundcube before it is received in another email client – it will no longer be available on the server. - I can configure Roundcube to keep the messages I delete (they remain in inbox – greyed out). - If I delete a message via Thunderbird (and Roundcube is not running) – the message is no longer on the server (thanks to synchronizing). - In Thunderbird - if I drag a message out of the inbox to another folder – it is deleted from the server. I am aware that saving mail to the server can cause problems too – server can fill up with mostly junk then you've got other problems (years of old mail – mostly garbage - filling up the server). I have a fairly robust backup process, so I will trust to that for now. So, for now I will leave Thunderbird's default message synchronizing in place and be very careful about deleting messages in Roundcube – knowing that doing so means I won't be able to download them via my primary email client – Thunderbird. At least now I better understand why copies of the messages were not being saved to the server and why they seemed to just be disappearing from my inboxes. thanks again Edited November 26, 2014 by accidntltourist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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