View Full Version : Deleting mail from an iPad
parabellum
31st May 2019, 08:01
My iPad faithfully copies every inbound email that comes to my desk top PC, at times this is useful but generally I would like to delete them, I now have just over 800 emails on my iPad. Apart from going page by page is there a quick way to empty each folder, one at a time please?
YorkshireTyke
31st May 2019, 09:04
My iPad faithfully copies every inbound email that comes to my desk top PC, at times this is useful but generally I would like to delete them, I now have just over 800 emails on my iPad. Apart from going page by page is there a quick way to empty each folder, one at a time please?
I would like to know that too. In "Inbox" I have only found a way to "Edit" - a bluecommand at the top of the page - then tick the little circle to the left of each message one by one, which turns blue, then "delete" then "delete messages" which puts them in Trash. After that go to the Trash folder and again "Edit" and this time you delete the whole folder in one go.
Anyone get any better idea ?
For the life of me I can't see why one shouldn't be able to "select" a whole swathe of Inbox messages at one go. Only 800 ? How lucky ! I had 4,000 when I tried to give it a go. Eventually I achieved it by selecting about 100 messages at one sitting, three or four times a day, i.e. during the Ad. breaks whilst watching TV, and eventually did it, and gained about another 6 Gb of space back, Now I do it daily. One lives and learns, but Come On, Apple, get with it.
Anyone got any better idea ?
Jhieminga
31st May 2019, 11:42
Have a look at this option (haven't tried it myself): https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7552411
If you are using IMAP to access your email (you probably are as it is the default way that Apple mail sets up accounts) then you should be aware that if you delete any emails on your iPad they will also be deleted from the server and disappear from any other device that you use to access your email.
YorkshireTyke
31st May 2019, 20:56
Obviusly I'm not using IMAP, - thought I was using POP whatever. ... I don't lose them off the server.
YorkshireTyke
2nd Jun 2019, 00:47
Have a look at this option (haven't tried it myself): https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7552411
It works ! Many thanx. Note - you can only send the whole Inbox folder to Trash, you can't be selective and only send a block, if you need to keep any then you have to go to the Trash folder and individually Move them back to the Inbox, which takes as much time as individually deleting them in the first place, but .... better, I wish I'd know that a few months ago.
YorkshireTyke
3rd Jun 2019, 08:41
But ... after the above I updated to IOS 12 from my original IOS 8 and .... although the above system still works, it isn't as Userfriendly and causes one to say -- it wasn't broke so why fix it ?
Jhieminga
3rd Jun 2019, 12:44
As iOS 13 is about to be announced in a few hours, I would suggest a brief delay before registering your complaints, otherwise you'll have to start over again ;)
On a more serious note: keep in mind that a phone or tablet running iOS was never meant to be used in lieu of a desktop PC/Mac(book). That is one of the reasons that Apple will default to IMAP when setting up e-mail accounts, so that your tablet will mirror whatever you do with your main computer with regard to your e-mails. And batch deleting, or moving, e-mails is still easier done on a PC or Mac(book). I realise that there are more people every day who use tablets as a replacement for a larger computer, but this is one of the drawbacks. Whether Apple will address this issue in future iOS updates? Don't count on it, they'll want to continue selling Macs.
You could look into different e-mail apps with additional functionality, I'm sure they're out there but I haven't checked. The risks are that it may be something that you'll have to pay for, may not have the seamless integration with the other apps on your tablet, or may cease to function at some point due to discontinued development for some reason. Whereas the defailt Mail app will always work.... and if it ain't broke....
parabellum
7th Jun 2019, 06:46
Thanks to you all who offered suggestions. Much appreciated.
Jhieminga
7th Jun 2019, 10:49
Now that the big Apple event is over, iPads will switch to a different version of the operating system, iPadOS, and will no longer share the iPhone operating system. There is a chance (although slim) that this will let them make changes to the Mail app on iPads, making it more suitable for managing e-mails. Don't hold your breath though. This is just a guess from me right now.