I have my MBP set to delete trash after a week. I usually do it myself everyday, but lately I've noticed that there is never anything in the trash after I delete! Any ideas?

I'm also getting email I send ending up in my draft folder. It's also in my sent folder so I assume it's been sent. I've looked it up, but I don't see any viable solutions to this. There is no longer an option to leave or not leave it on the server in Sierra, so how can I avoid this? And no, I don't use Gmail.

Huh? Why would there be anything in the trash AFTER you delete?

Did you mean to say that there's nothing to be deleted, i.e. that your trash is being emptied with no action on your part?


I've got the same Draft/Sent thing happening, and yeah, the mail has actually been sent. (Sometimes the draft item disappears if I click away from "Drafts" and then back.) I'm just biting the bullet waiting for Apple to fix it.

Is your missing option Mail > Prefs > Account Information > Remove copy...? And if so, what does it have to do with the Draft/Sent issue?

I'm still El Capitan but your experience seems much the same as mine and depends on how one gets rid of mail. If I use the "Delete" key, it's gone. If I click on the "Trash Icon", it's in the trash.

I suspect that you read Rita's post as it was intended to be read, not as I apparently misinterpreted it.

I haven't had my Starbucks yet so I may not be clearly understanding your questions. I assume (at my peril) that both questions refer to actions taken in Mail. When you delete a message in Apple Mail whether its by selecting it and clicking on the Trash Can icon or swiping to the left and selecting Trash what happens to the message depends on what Mailbox the message is in when you delete it and the Mailbox behaviors setting for the specific account. Assuming the normal default settings…

• If it is in the Inbox, Archives, or Drafts/Sent it goes to the Trash.
• If it is in Trash or Junk it goes into the great bit-bucket in the sky (i.e.. it is erased)
• Note: you can change the target mail box for almost every action in Mail > Preferences > Accounts > Mailbox Behaviors to suit your personal desires.

I have observed that although deleted messages disappear almost instantly from the Mail mailbox there is often a lag between its disappearance there and the files actual deletion on the IMAP server which can make it appear a message somehow undeleted itself. It should eventually disappear from the IMAP serve but that may take anywhere from a few seconds to even a few hours.

As to not leaving sent mail on the server in Mail > Settings > Mailbox Behaviors you can set the target mailbox for sent messages and one of the options is Trash. I haven't tried it, but you might be able to create a Sent mailbox "On My Mac" and choose that as the target for sent messages. Remember those settings are on an account by account basis so you have to set it for each account individually.

I hope this gets to everyone that answered me. To clarify, when I click on an email to delete it, whether it's in the junk (goes straight to cyber space- I didn't know that) or from the inbox, it never ends up in the trash like it used to. Why else would there be a trashcan if I can't use it? It just disappears. It still ends up in Trash on Mavericks and then I just delete it from there.

Also, the fact that some of my drafts disappear and reappear after deleting them several times I consider a bug. I used Apple feedback to report it though it's been happening for years as I look at forums. If you don't give them feedback, they seem oblivious to the problems or just don't care. I don't think they fix anything until a vast amount of people complain via feedback. I would be embarrassed if I sent my product out to the public (assuming I had a product) and had to continually patch it up b/c I didn't test it thoroughly.

I also used to be able to delete mail from the trash by choosing Command-Shift-Delete in Mavericks and a few times in Sierra. That doesn't work anymore in Sierra (except now nothing ends up in trash in Sierra) but still works in Mavericks.

And while I'm on my rant, when reading posts here I have to scroll back and forth to see the whole line. Making text smaller doesn't fix it. This happened before but finally stopped. It's starting up again and is aggravating. I guess I need to take a chill pill. It's all these little things that add up and make me cranky!

Is the Mail > Prefs > Accounts > Mailbox Behaviors > Move deleted messages to the Trash mailbox check-box checked for each of your mail accounts?

command-shift-D has never failed to empty my trash mailbox in Sierra.

I've only had to scroll to read FTM posts that included line-stretching links, but I can't recall more than one or two such posts in years.

I dunno... You've got an awful lot of issues for a pretty much pristine installation; I wonder if it would be worth your while to d/l and run the macOS Sierra 10.12.5 Combo Update.

I wish it wasn't so hard to transfer a screen shot here. I tried the other day but it gave me a pain. Anyway, I did upgrade to 10.12.5 the other day.

As far as following your instructions to move deleted messages to the trash, I don't have that option under mail behaviors. Next to the Trash Mailbox there, there is a dropdown box that says Trash. Under that it says "erase deleted messages:" Then there is another drop down box offering me a choice of erasing deleted messages after one day, one week or one month. But they are already gone so I never had to delete. I'll just live with it.


As far as the having to scroll side to side, I found it was because I had it in full screen (which hides the tool bar and I hate that) and made it too wide. I resized the window and it fits now. I'm just not used to that.

Imgur is awfully easy to use; I'm surprised that you had a problem with it.

If you don't see this, it's probably because you're using IMAP, not POP.

In that case, click on the ? in the lower right hand corner, and you'll see a bunch of IMAP options, one of which may be the answer for which you're looking.

Assuming you are using Mail 10.3 (3273) that ships with Sierra (MacOS 10.12.5) — when you go to Mail > Preferences > Accounts > Mailbox behaviors the window would look something like this. If you click on the Trash drop down you should get a list of all the mailboxes available to that account. That includes mailboxes on the IMAP server as well as mailboxes On My Mac. (Okay so I overdo it on mailboxes but it helps keep me organized and that is no small task so no snide comments please.) You can then set the automatic deletion/erase here.

NOTES:

1. Since you have multiple accounts, you will have to do this for each account individually.
2. If you want an option other than Trash, then go to the account and create additional mailboxes and name them what you will.
3. If you do not want the trash stored on the IMAP server, you can create a Trash folder On My Mac and point the accounts there.

I followed your instructions as far as putting trash into the dropdown box and then tested it by sending emails to all my accounts and then deleting them. Nothing went into trash. I also don't have anything that says "deleted files" in the drop down box. I think I am really going to have to call AppleCare as it would be a lot easier if I had someone go into my computer and see what I'm talking about. Thanks for your help. Your instructions a very clear but it's I'm just not seeing the same thing.

You don't have Teamviewer or some other way of seeing what I am talking about, do you? Otherwise, AppleCare can get into my computer with me and see what I am talking about.

See my response to JoeMike. .

I hate to bring this up, but remember the last time you used TeamViewer?

Yeah, yeah. You're right. There is a way for friends to see what's on each other's Macs, though, right?

I've used Citrix with Verizon, but it and TV are enterprise (right word?) apps, and a quick look didn't turn up any similar peer to peer options.

You can share screenshots, but that's insufficient in this instance.

I had a friend (don't know where he is anymore) that I let get into my Mac from his house to he could help me. He had a Mac, too. Isn't something screen sharing or something?

I was looking at the App Store while you were posting, and ScreenSharingMenulet ($1.99) and Easy Remote Desktop ($0.99) sound like they'll work. (There's always AppleRemoteDesktop, but it's $79.99.)

And yeah, you're right, there's /Apps/System Prefs > Sharing > Screen Sharing, but I don't know if it works for what you want to do.

Maybe we could set up a time. I wonder how it works exactly. If it's like AppleCare, they point with a red arrow and I click where they point so they can see what's going on.

I'd be happy to try, but It'd be a waste of time, because the only thing I know about IMSP is how to spell it ; joemikeb's your go-to guy.

(With Citrix, the person on the other end can work my MBP if needed.)

Here is what it can do. Screen Sharing

OK, if he's a mind to.

I think Screen Sharing works only locally, not over the internet; additional input needed here.

I think your best bet is AppleCare.

You're probably right. I might as well get my money's worth. Well, it's free for a year, but I paid for two more years. I can talk to them about other little things I need to figure out and not bother you guys so much. I'm sure after I get this all settled, I won't have to get on FTM for several months as usual.