Junk remove from server inconsistent

[Anonymosity]

I have noticed that Thunderbird 2 is inconsistent with removing junk mail off the server. The other day I had 8 junk emails arrive. 5 were transferred to the Junk folder and I had to mark the other 3 as junk, and they disappeared. After deleting the Junk folder contents, emptying the delete, and compacting the account, I checked the server with another application and found that all 8 were still there. On other occasions, I have found that junk is sometimes removed if I mark it manually. Why is this so inconsistent?

The fact that I have Thunderbird on 2 different platforms makes this a bit more confusing because I do not remember which one refused to remove anything off the server. The accounts are the same for both, and so are the settings for those accounts.

[alanrf]

Is this a POP account? If so what retain/delete settings do you have set for the account (and are they the same on both platforms)?

Which version of Thunderbird are you using?

[Anonymosity]

Is this a POP account? If so what retain/delete settings do you have set for the account (and are they the same on both platforms)?

Which version of Thunderbird are you using?

Yes, it is a POP3 account. I fetch headers only, do not leave messages on server, and empty Deleted folder on exit. I also move new junk to Junk folder. The settings are exactly the same on both platforms.
For Windows, I have TB 2.0.0.0pre, and for Mac, TB 2.0.0.0.

It does not really cause a lot of hassle because I have applications on both platforms that can remove mail directly from the server, but I am curious.

[alanrf]

You may have noticed in other threads in the forum that the Thunderbird developers have made a change to the "Keep copy of the message on the server" and its related options in the TB2 release.

One of the subordinate options used to be (effectively) "Until I delete from the Inbox or move to another folder". This has now been changed to "Until I delete the message from Thunderbird". I confess I have not done enough testing to determine if this means "When the message is moved to the trash folder" or "When the message is finally deleted from the trash folder" (but I suspect the latter would be a logically more consistent position).

You can still have the option to delete messages from the server when moved from the Inbox to another folder, but it is not an option in the user interface anymore.

To select this option in Thunderbird 2:

Use the Config Editor (Tools > Options > Advanced (General tab) Config Editor) and locate the line:

mail.pop3.deleteFromServerOnMove

double click on the line to change the value to "True"

If you wish to reset it just double click the line again to set it to "False".

After making the change restart Thunderbird.

Does this help with the inconsistency concerns?

[Anonymosity]

You can still have the option to delete messages from the server when moved from the Inbox to another folder, but it is not an option in the user interface anymore.

To select this option in Thunderbird 2:

Use the Config Editor (Tools > Options > Advanced (General tab) Config Editor) and locate the line:

mail.pop3.deleteFromServerOnMove

double click on the line to change the value to "True"

If you wish to reset it just double click the line again to set it to "False".

After making the change restart Thunderbird.

Does this help with the inconsistency concerns?

Will that still enable me to move messages that were moved to Junk incorrectly back to the Inbox? They will not just disappear? Thanks for the tip, anyway. I added it to my tips file.

[jrf]

Thank you Alanrf !!!

Two problems down, two more to go.... (after upgrading to TB2.0....)

[Anonymosity]

Just to update this further: I discovered that the overriding criterion Thunderbird is checking is whether the message body was retrieved or not. If the message body was not loaded, the mail is left on the server. If the body was fetched, the mail is removed.

[lifefun]

Although this is an old thread, it is still an issue:
Thunderbird 3 does not delete messages from the server although "told" to do so.

I am downloading the entire messages, not just the headers, and I would expect messages to be deleted from the server at least when they are deleted from the trash folder (and from Thunderbird). But they are NOT. Actually, already moving those messages from the inbox should cause them to be deleted.

I have not yet tried the workaround with the config editor.

[Anonymosity]

Deleting messages from the server when the trash is emptied would be a great idea (but unlikely to happen). Deleting from the server just because the message was moved is not a great idea, because Tbird sometimes makes mistakes when labelling things as junk and moving them.

[makaiguy]

When are you looking at the server for these message? TBird won't tell the server to delete those messages until the next time it checks mail.

[Lifefun]

When are you looking at the server for these message? TBird won't tell the server to delete those messages until the next time it checks mail.

Yes of course. I find messages on the server which ought to be deleted DAYS ago. (TB checks my mail every 15 mins.)