Community Knowledge Base

Deleting Email Messages

SmarterMail offers a few different methods for deleting messages:

  • You can delete them using the Delete button in the webmail interface,
  • You can right-click on the message(s) and select "Delete" from the context menu that appears, or
  • You can use the Delete key on your keyboard. (Not the Backspace key, but the Delete -- or Del -- key.)

The action SmarterMail takes when you delete a message depends on the option you choose for the Delete Action on the Webmail card for your Account. (NOTE: Messages deleted from the Junk Email folder are always permanently deleted and do not follow the Delete Actions that are set.) These options include:

  • Move to Deleted Items Folder - When items are deleted they are moved to the Deleted Items folder. If the Deleted Items folder does not exist, it will be created automatically the first time you delete a message.
  • Permanently Delete - This option will permanently purge the messages after deleting them. Note: When permanently deleting messages, the action is final. You will not be able to retrieve these messages later.
  • Mark as Deleted - When the message is deleted with this option, the message remains in the current folder, but will be crossed out and marked as deleted. Once the Purge Marked as Deleted option is chosen from the Delete button dropdown in your inbox, all items marked for deletion will be permanently removed.

It is important to note that the action taken for deleted items will ONLY be taken when deleting items through webmail. Deleting an item from Outlook or another email client will NOT use the setting that you choose. Note: When your email client connects to SmarterMail via POP3, any emails that are marked as deleted are automatically purged. To prevent this from happening, select the Move to Deleted Items folder option to avoid accidentally purging deleted items.

Undeleting Messages

Didn't mean to delete a message? You can retrieve deleted messages from your Deleted Items folder as long as the system hasn't been purged yet. Just open the Deleted Items folder and select the desired message(s). Then, simply click the arrow next to the Delete button in the webmail interface and select Undelete from the dropdown. You can also right-click on one of the selected messages and choose "Undelete" from the contextual menu that appears. Note: Your system administrator can permanently remove the messages in your Deleted Items folder at any time without warning, so don't delete messages if you might want them later. After the system purges any items marked for deletion, you can't retrieve the deleted messages.

Effects of Folder Auto-clean

Your system administrator may have established auto-clean policies that may delete older junk email, deleted items, and/or sent items when these folders get too large. However, they may have left the option available for you to override auto-clean settings. For more information, see Folder Auto-clean.