Can't delete emails in large mailbox

[#1]

My wife's mailbox is large and has just been un-archived after exceeding the size limit, but we're finding we can't delete from it - in fact emails have reappeared that we deleted when this happened on a previous occasion. Webmail doesn't work at all ("Failed to send FETCH command") and I have laboriously deleted thousands of emails using Windows Mail (IMAP) only to find that although they disappeared from the Inbox, they did not go to Deleted Items/Trash but just reappeared in the Inbox a while later - so it does not seem that the server is syncing with the delete commands in the client.

Any help appreciated, Chris

[#2]

I feel your pain - I'm in the same position, again.  In the past I've managed to delete emails through Webmail by working overnight, presumably as there's less call on Plusnet server bandwidth, but someone on here suggested I could use Thunderbird to do the same thing with more ease.  I deleted loads of emails this week using Thunderbird and, I thought, emptied the Deleted Items folder. However, I got a message from Plusnet the day after saying my mailboxes still totalled over 900Mb.  I'm checking my Thunderbird folders again this morning, and will report back.

Dave

[#3]

Thunderbird turned out to be useless: emails deleted from inbox kept on returning.  I did manage to load the inbox in  Webmail over the weekend, so I was able to delete some emails and get our total down to below 700Mb after spending all morning at it.

So it can be done using webmail but jeez, you've got to have a lot of perseverance.

[#4]

Slow webmail

There is a known gremlin in the third party Round Cube webmail program which can cause delays in listing emails - see the end user mitigation post at the top of the Email board here. It somewhat appears that any sorting or filtering on a large mailbox cripples the performance of RC webmail, where as the 'basic' webmail program (Squirrel Mail) is not affected. Using Squirrel Mail can be an effective way of accessing a mail box which is running slow with RC.

There is no necessity to restrict your access to your Plusnet email via the Plusnet Webmail interface. Virtually every IT device comes with an in-built email program which can be configured to access your Plusnet email service. See the setting up an email client guide.

Some have found logging into their mailbox using this third party webmail client - https://mail2web.com helpful in clearing out clutter from their mailboxes.

There can be problems dealing with emails having large attachments (for example photographs).  A "delete" is generally a two stage process (a) MOVE the items to the deleted items folder and (b) later empty the trash folder.

From an email client perspective, the pointers might well be removed from the inbox, but they then need to sync with the server - connection time outs can result in the move action being abandoned.  This can be mitigated by increasing the server time out duration, or by doing a 'firm' delete from the inbox in the PC email client.  In Outlook pressing SHIFT+DELETE (permanently) deletes mail items omitting the MOVE to the trash folder.