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Removing deleted items

Mac OS X Mail has two methods of handling deleted messages: it can either mark them and hide them in the message index, or it can move them to a designated deleted items folder. By default, Mail uses the latter method, but it doesn't work correctly unless you have a folder called Deleted Items. To correctly configure this setting, see the instructions below:

Hiding deleted messages within the same mailbox

To configure OS X Mail to hide deleted messages within the same mailbox, follow the appropriate steps below:

OS X 10.2.x and later

  1. From the Mail menu, select Preferences....

  2. In the Mail preferences window, click Accounts.

  3. Select the account you wish to modify. In OS X 10.2.x, then click Edit.

  4. Click the Mailbox Behaviors or Special Mailboxes tab, and uncheck the box next to Move deleted messages to the Trash mailbox.

OS X 10.1.x and earlier

  1. From the Mail menu, select Preferences....

  2. In the Mail preferences window, click Viewing.

  3. Uncheck the checkbox next to Move deleted mail to a folder named:.

Once you have made these changes, when you delete a message, Mail assigns a flag that removes it from the message index. It's still there, just not visible. If you press Cmd-l (the letter l), Mail will show all the messages you have deleted since the last time you compacted your mailbox. To hide the deleted messages again, press Cmd-l.

Removing deleted messages

To completely remove those messages you have deleted, press Cmd-k or, from the Mailbox menu, select Erase Deleted Messages (10.2.x and later) or Compact Mailbox (10.1.x and earlier). You can configure Mail to automatically compact your IMAP mailboxes when you exit the program by making the following configuration change:

OS X 10.2.x and later

  1. From the Mail menu, select Preferences....

  2. In the Mail preferences window, select Accounts.

  3. Select the account you want to modify. In 10.2.x, then click Edit.

    Note: If you have multiple accounts, you will need to make these changes for each one.

  4. Click the Advanced tab, and check the box next to Compact mailboxes automatically or Compact messages automatically.

  5. In 10.3 and later, close the Mail preferences window, and when prompted, click OK. In 10.2.x, click OK, then close the Mail preferences window.

OS X 10.1.x

  1. From the Mail menu, select Preferences....

  2. In the Mail Preferences window, click Accounts.

  3. Under "Description", click the account you want to modify, and then click Edit.

    Note: If you have multiple accounts, you will need to make these changes for each one.

  4. In the sheet that appears, click the Account Options tab.

  5. Check the checkbox next to Compact mailboxes when closing.

  6. Click OK, then close the Mail Preferences window.

Moving deleted messages to a folder

To configure OS X Mail to move deleted messages to a folder, follow the appropriate steps below:

OS X 10.2 and later

  1. From the Mail menu, select Preferences....

  2. In the preferences window, click Accounts.

  3. Click the name of the account for which you want to set a deleted messages folder. In 10.2.x, then click Edit.

  4. Click the Mailbox Behaviors or Special Mailboxes tab, and in the Trash section, make sure that Move deleted messages to the Trash mailbox and Store deleted messages on the server are checked.

  5. In the pop-up menu underneath "Permanently erase deleted messages when:", select how often Mail will empty your deleted mail folder.

  6. In 10.3 and later, close the preferences window and click Save if prompted. In 10.2.x, click OK, then close the preferences window.

  7. Click the folder you want to use as a deleted messages folder. From the Mailbox menu, select Use This Mailbox For or Use Selected Mailbox For and then choose Trash.

OS X 10.1.x

  1. From the Mail menu, select Preferences....

  2. In the Mail Preferences window, click Viewing.

  3. Check the checkbox next to Move deleted mail to a folder named:.

  4. In the pop-up menu to the right of "Move deleted mail to a folder named:", select the name of the folder to which you want Mail to move deleted messages.

  5. In the pop-up menu underneath "Move deleted mail to a folder named:", select how often Mail will empty your deleted mail folder.

  6. Close the Mail Preferences window.

If you want to manually empty your deleted mail folder, from the Mailbox menu, select Empty Trash, or press Cmd-k.