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Remove/delete messages from server after moving messages to local folders

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  • Last reply by david

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When I move messages from All Mail to a local folder the messages temporarily disappear from All Mail, but are then re-populated in All Mail. I assume that is because Thunderbird is synching with the server and the messages on the server. Is there a way to have messages deleted from the server after they are moved to local folders in Thunderbird without having to carry out two operations (move to local folder, then delete from All Mail). I tried setting the synch parameter to 1 year, but all messages from the past 10 years are still re-populated in All Mail after they are moved to a local folder. Have also tried Archiving, but the messages are still in All Mail.

When I move messages from All Mail to a local folder the messages temporarily disappear from All Mail, but are then re-populated in All Mail. I assume that is because Thunderbird is synching with the server and the messages on the server. Is there a way to have messages deleted from the server after they are moved to local folders in Thunderbird without having to carry out two operations (move to local folder, then delete from All Mail). I tried setting the synch parameter to 1 year, but all messages from the past 10 years are still re-populated in All Mail after they are moved to a local folder. Have also tried Archiving, but the messages are still in All Mail.

All Replies (3)

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yeah, change your account setting to not move deleted messages to the trash/deleted folder.

You delete from Gmail, which places a copy in trash which then repopulates via synchronization.

I really wonder why you are using IMAP though and not pop if you are saving all your mail to local folders. Seems that using IMAP is sort of a contradiction (synchronization) as you are deleting stuff.

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Thanks for the suggestions! Gives me some useful homework assignments as I learn more and stumble toward a solution.

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As @matt indicated, with IMAP, the 'home' for the messages is the server, not the PC.