Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Delete email on my iphone so it does not download to my Thunderbird POP account

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 13 views
  • Last reply by damurrs

more options

My Thunderbird account is setup as POP since I want to download my emails from Gmail to my computer. I read emails on my iPhone using the Mail app, which is IMAP. Is there a way to delete the emails on my iPhone so they do not download to my computer when I use my Thunderbird POP account on my computer?

Thanks! Art

My Thunderbird account is setup as POP since I want to download my emails from Gmail to my computer. I read emails on my iPhone using the Mail app, which is IMAP. Is there a way to delete the emails on my iPhone so they do not download to my computer when I use my Thunderbird POP account on my computer? Thanks! Art

All Replies (4)

more options

Pop can only get access to the server 'Inbox' and download whatever it contains.

So if emails have been deleted from Inbox or moved to another folder on server then Thunderbird pop account cannot download them. If you really are accessing using imap on phone then if you delete they should not be in server Inbox but in server 'Trash/Bin' folder. But if you are accessing via pop and have settings to leave message on server then emails are only being deleted from phone and not the server. Test: delete using phone and then check the webmail account via browser to see what has happened to email.

more options

Hi, I deleted an email from my iPhone but Thunderbird still finds it from Gmail and downloads it.

Maybe this information will help: I have a Gmail POP account setup. An image of the setup is attached. Thunderbird is setup as POP so I can store the emails on my windows 10 pc. This works fine. I use Apple's Mail app on my iPhone. It also works fine.

Thanks, Art

more options

Thunderbird downloads only what is on the server in the 'Inbox', so obviously that email is still on server in the Inbox. This is the correct behaviour and means there is nothing wrong with Thunderbird.

The email you deleted using phone is not deleting the email off the server. So, this is an issue with your phone. It is not deleting off the server.

If you delete email using phone and then access the webmail account via a browser, that email is still on server. I asked you to check whether deleted email was still on server by accessing the webmail account using a browser. It will be still on server. So this tells you there is something not correct with the phone mail app account.

It is likely that the phone using Apple's Mail app is also accessing via pop and it's account has settings to leave email on server. You need to do one of the following depending upon what result you want. Either: make the Mail app on phone an imap account. So you can see all of the server folders and this allows you to put deleted emails in the server Trash bin folder. So they get properly deleted by gmail when gmail periodically empties the trash. OR : see if the Mail app account has an option to 'leave message on server' and also 'delete off server' if you select 'delete'. This will then keep messages on the server so Thunderbird can download them, but it would remove anything you had deleted from the 'Inbox'.

Please note as this is a gmail account, emails deleted via pop account means the emails will still be in the 'All Mail' folder. Why ? Because the emails are not being deleted and put in the gmail trash folder, only the 'Inbox' label is being deleted and this results in the email being archived.

more options

Hello, Thanks for the information. Hopefully you did not think I was implying an issue with Thunderbird because I was not.

I did do the test you advised and the mail remained on the Gmail server although it indicates as read.

You are likely right, this is interaction between Apple's mail app and Gmail. I look further into it.

Much appreciated.

Art