Apple Mail Drone not deleting Spam from Server

[damfino]

I’ve created a new SpamSieve drone using Apple Mail (10.3) and macOS 10.12.5, with IMAP connections to all of my email accounts. It is catching spam and moving them to the spam folder on the drone, but when I get my mail from my iPhone or other computers, I am still seeing the spam.
My old SpamSieve drone was using Entourage 2008 and they were POP accounts, and the spam was being deleted from the server with no problem. I read that Outlook 2011 and 2016 had issues with SpamSieve using them this way, which is why I created a new drone using Apple Mail and only using IMAP. Is there something special I need to add to get the spam messages deleted from the server? It seems the rule Move Message to the Spam Folder only effects the local Apple Mail on the drone machine, and doesn’t delete the spam from the inbox up on the server.

-Rodney

[Michael_Tsai]

I’ve created a new SpamSieve drone using Apple Mail (10.3) and macOS 10.12.5, with IMAP connections to all of my email accounts. It is catching spam and moving them to the spam folder on the drone, but when I get my mail from my iPhone or other computers, I am still seeing the spam.
My old SpamSieve drone was using Entourage 2008 and they were POP accounts, and the spam was being deleted from the server with no problem. I read that Outlook 2011 and 2016 had issues with SpamSieve using them this way, which is why I created a new drone using Apple Mail and only using IMAP.

To be clear, the drone setup never worked with Entourage or POP, and it does work with Outlook 2011. However, I think you are right that Outlook does not have the same ability to remove select (i.e. spammy) POP messages from the server.

Is there something special I need to add to get the spam messages deleted from the server? It seems the rule Move Message to the Spam Folder only effects the local Apple Mail on the drone machine, and doesn’t delete the spam from the inbox up on the server.

If you are using IMAP, it should automatically affect the server. However, depending on the Mail and server settings the messages may be marked for deletion but not immediately expunged. This is usually only an issue if you are running out space, though. Other devices will still see the messages as deleted, although it may take a while for them to notice unless you pull to refresh. If you set Mail to use a server Spam mailbox, then the messages will actually be moved out of the inbox (to the other server mailbox).

[damfino]

To be clear, the drone setup never worked with Entourage or POP, and it does work with Outlook 2011. However, I think you are right that Outlook does not have the same ability to remove select (i.e. spammy) POP messages from the server.

You are right, I was using the term drone, but it actually is just a machine that has all my email accounts on them. I have used it for years, but it is running Snow Leopard and Office 2008, which is why I wanted to upgrade.

If you are using IMAP, it should automatically affect the server. However, depending on the Mail and server settings the messages may be marked for deletion but not immediately expunged. This is usually only an issue if you are running out space, though. Other devices will still see the messages as deleted, although it may take a while for them to notice unless you pull to refresh. If you set Mail to use a server Spam mailbox, then the messages will actually be moved out of the inbox (to the other server mailbox).

So I thought the same thing about the spam messages being expunged, but it doesn’t appear to be the case. I use pair.com for my email with multiple domains, and not sure why the spam messages are not being taken off.
If I were to use the server spam mailbox, would I need to make a rule for each and every account?

[Michael_Tsai]

So I thought the same thing about the spam messages being expunged, but it doesn’t appear to be the case. I use pair.com for my email with multiple domains, and not sure why the spam messages are not being taken off.

This seems like a good question to ask Pair. They have good support in my experience. Also, I would see whether you have a discrepancy between Mail on your Mac and Pair’s Webmail.

If I were to use the server spam mailbox, would I need to make a rule for each and every account?

You could pick one server mailbox to get all the spam, but in this case I think you’d want separate ones so that Mail tells the server to move the messages rather than delete them.

[damfino]

It’s more than a year later, and i really need to replace my aging Mac Spam filter machine running 10.6.8 and Entourage. So I thought I would finally setup the Apple Mail Drone again, this time using the latest Mojave OS. I still have the same problem where for some reason the mail that gets moved to the Spam folder isn’t being deleted on the server side. I do see when I log into the webmail, that the email is marked for deletion in the inbox as well as a copy in the Spam folder, but the deletion only take place if I shut down Apple Mail, or if I use the erase deleted messages.
I don’t have this problem with the same accounts under my old system, but the old system is using POP instead of IMAP.

Is this a known issue? Should I setup an Outlook client and just forget about using Apple Mail? Or am I missing something?

[Michael_Tsai]

I still have the same problem where for some reason the mail that gets moved to the Spam folder isn’t being deleted on the server side. I do see when I log into the webmail, that the email is marked for deletion in the inbox as well as a copy in the Spam folder, but the deletion only take place if I shut down Apple Mail, or if I use the erase deleted messages.
I don’t have this problem with the same accounts under my old system, but the old system is using POP instead of IMAP.

Is this a known issue?

It’s known that there are some cases where Mail will not expunge the messages right away. However, (a) this usually doesn’t happen if you have it set to move the messages to a server Spam mailbox rather than a local one, and (b) this shouldn’t affect you because mail clients should be hiding messages marked for deletion. I have never seen iOS Mail show deleted messages. On Macs, there is a setting for this in Mail’s View menu (Hide/Show Deleted Messages). In Pair’s Web mail, you can go to Preferences > Server Settings > Do not show deleted messages.

Are you sure that all your devices are using IMAP rather than POP?

[damfino]

It’s known that there are some cases where Mail will not expunge the messages right away. However, (a) this usually doesn’t happen if you have it set to move the messages to a server Spam mailbox rather than a local one, and (b) this shouldn’t affect you because mail clients should be hiding messages marked for deletion. I have never seen iOS Mail show deleted messages. On Macs, there is a setting for this in Mail’s View menu (Hide/Show Deleted Messages). In Pair’s Web mail, you can go to Preferences > Server Settings > Do not show deleted messages.

Are you sure that all your devices are using IMAP rather than POP?

Thanks for the reply. I am using server Spam mailboxes. The question around IMAP/POP; I am only using IMAP on the Drone and mobile devices.
I am using POP on my main computer. This is deliberate to take the email off the server on my hosting provider and have it only available locally.

[Michael_Tsai]

I am using server Spam mailboxes. The question around IMAP/POP; I am only using IMAP on the Drone and mobile devices.

So, to clarify, one your drone Mac you see the spam messages in the IMAP Spam mailbox, but on the iPhone you see them in both the Inbox and the Spam mailbox? Is this with the built-in iPhone Mail app? Does this happen even after you pull to refresh?

[damfino]

So, to clarify, one your drone Mac you see the spam messages in the IMAP Spam mailbox, but on the iPhone you see them in both the Inbox and the Spam mailbox? Is this with the built-in iPhone Mail app? Does this happen even after you pull to refresh?

Michael,

I’m traveling for work this week, so last night I put the old Spam Server back on and turned off the new one. I’ll mess with it more this weekend, and update you on the status. I appreciate all your assistance. You have a great product, as well as wonderful support.

[damfino]

I had time over the Thanksgiving holiday to go over my existing setup, and see what I could do to make the new one work as effectively. You put me on the right track, Michael, when you talked about not using both POP and IMAP on these accounts. I changed my setup on the new system to use only POP accounts. So this isn’t truly a drone setup at all, but more like what someone else wrote about in another thread:

Email-in-local-Spam-folder-(Apple-Mail)-is-being-delivered-to-POP-clients

This now works as expected. While it is unorthodox, it allows me to use IMAP on my iPhone and laptop, and use POP on my main computer, where I store all my email. With this new machine checking mail every minute, I rarely (if ever) get any SPAM on my other devices, so I don’t need to setup and run SpamSieve on each one.