227371 - Deleted messages in IMAP-folder remain on server (but marked as deleted)

Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME

(Thunderbird :: Mail Window Front End, defect)

Description

[Thomas Delrue]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/4.8 [en] (Windows NT 5.1; U)
Build Identifier: Mozilla Thunderbird 0.3 (20031013)

When deleting messages from an IMAP-folder, the messages disappear from the
thunderBird application, the message is removed from the displayed list,
however, the message is still available on the server, but marked as 'deleted'.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Send an e-mail-message to an IMAP-account which also offers webmail-support.
sign in into this imap-account using the WebMail option. verify that the message
has arrived and that it is not marked as 'deleted'
2. Open thunderbird and configure it to use the IMAP-account you just sent a
message to
3. get all the messages from the IMAP-account.
4. Delete the recently sent message from the folder on the imap-account
5. Verify that the message has been removed from firebird.
6. Click 'Get Mail' to verify that you do _not_ get this recently removed
message back from the server (which would indicate that the message was not deleted)
7. Close Thunderbird and sign in into the webmail-interface of the IMAP-account
8. Observe that although the message was deleted from Thunderbird, the message
is still available on the server (but with a 'deleted'-flag)

Actual Results:  
My IMAP-account got full. Although Thunderbird told me there were only 5
messages in my IMAP-folder, I still went over my mailbox quota.  This in not
being able to receive messages. (Err...  sorry, message bounced due to full
e-mail account. Message could not be delived!)

Expected Results:  
Thunderbird should either do one of these when a message is deleted in an
IMAP-folder:

option 1. The message remains in the Thunderbird view but gets a 'marked for
delete' flag (both in thunderbird as on the server). Thunderbird allows the user
to 'expunge' the messages that are 'marked for delete' from the server through
some kind of button or whatever.  When the user clicks this button, the messages
that are 'marked for delete' get removed from Thunderbird, as well as from the
server. Thunderbird also offers a second functionality: unmarking a message.
(changing the state from 'marked for delete' back to unmarked)

option 2. The message is removed from the IMAP-account immediately. Leaving no
room for an 'undelete' action on a previously 'marked for delete' message.

This behaviour (option 1 in 'What should Thunderbird have done instead') is also
available in MS Outlook (and in MS Outlook Express)...  just for referencing's sake.

Comment 1

[Phil Endecott]

Thomas,

What you're asking for is IMAP "Expunge".  Search Bugzilla for "expunge" and
you'll find other people asking for similar things.

In "mozilla-speak", "Expunge" is called "Compact Folders".  You'll find it in
the File menu.  "Compact Folders" will/should permanently delete the messages
marked for deletion from the server.

N.B. I am not a Mozilla developer.  I found your bug while searching for
something else and decided to post this note in the hope that it would help.

Comment 2

[L A Walsh]

This isn't a bug.  
It is documented behavior for IMAP folders.

If you want to delete a message on the server, you need to "compact" the 
folder.  You can "somewhat" automate this process via the following:
1) On Account Settings on Server Setting page, be sure to have "Clean up 
("Expunge") Inbox on Exit".  This will make sure that your Inbox physically 
deletes the messages in the Inbox when you exit T-bird.

2) If you have it set to move deleted items to "Trash", make sure "Empty Trash 
on  Exit" is marked to ensure that deleted messages don't "hang around" in 
your Trash file after you have quit the program.

3) Under the "Tools" Menu, choose "Options", then "Advanced".  On that page 
scroll down to "Offline and Connection Settings".  Expand that section.  Next 
to "Manage offline settings", and click on "Offline Settings".  The last 
option under "Disk Space", check the option to Compact folders.  If you want it
to delete messages "semi-automatically", set that number to 1 (0 "should" work 
but may inadvertantly have some special meaning).  Then whenever you leave a 
subfolder *and* re-open it, it will automatically "Compact" the folder, but I 
believe you have to re-enter(re-open) the folder for the Compaction to occur.

Hopefully this will automate most of your deletions automatically, but if you 
want to ensure deletion, manually "compact" a folder by doing a "right 
click/menu" over the folder and choose the "Compact this Folder" option.

linda

Comment 3

[Adam Guthrie]

*** Bug 306888 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 4

[Jim Strickland]

Actually, to my knowledge, the Compact folders feature does not work properly for IMAP. I can use that feature. Sure enough, the emails no longer show up in Thunderbird. However, access the same IMAP account from Outlook and the messages still show up, but marked for deletion. The problem is that Outlook can't delete them. Access this account from Apple's Mail. The emails don't actually show up, but you can tell that they are being processed by reading the number of messages Mail is having to process before the Account window is populated. The same can be said for other email programs as well. When you go into the actual folder on the mail server, for that particular account, you will see that it still contains all of the messages that Thunderbird "supposedly" expunged.

Comment 5

[Magnus Melin [:mkmelin]]

This works fine for me... does anyone still say expunge does not delete messages marked as deleted? (If that's what this bug is about, it looks like that - or just a misunderstanding.) 

If so, provide your settings and attach an imap log 
http://www.mozilla.org/quality/mailnews/mail-troubleshoot.html#imap

Comment 6

[Magnus Melin [:mkmelin]]

->WFM, feel free to reopen (with log as in previous comment) if compact isn't deleting the messages for you

Comment 7

[Derek Williams]

Why should we have to Compact to Delete Deleted messages?  If I move a message to the Trash, and then Empty the Trash, it is counter-intuitive to expect the average punter to know that the messages they carefully selected, put in the Trash, and then Emptied are not deleted at all!

If people like this behaviour, then why not let them select it as a preference?  The instinctive expectation should be that if you Empty the Trash, it's really emptied, not simply full of messages "marked for deletion".  They were already marked for deletion by being put in the Trash. Emptying the Trash should be the end of it, but as I say, if people are comfortable with a behaviour that doesn't empty the Trash when they empty it, why not let them choose this with a check box "Purge Trash On Empty" that they can leave blank?