Gmail doesn’t delete mails from other account's server after importing

Question

I import mail from another mail account/server into my Gmail.

I do not want to save a copy on this other server. I went into Gmail settings → Accounts and clicked edit info next to my external account and made sure that the box was unticked.

It still saves a copy on the other server and now it's dangerously filling up that mailbox. Do you have any ideas on how to truly delete that other copy on the other server?

Answer 1

Gmail imports emails from other accounts via POP, which doesn't sync email states. Though Gmail asks the other domain not to retain the copy, ultimately, it's up to the other domain:

Gmail will instruct the other domain to leave the messages in place, though the final behavior is up to the other domain.

Your options include:

• Manually delete the emails from the other server.
• As JMax mentions, some servers have the option of "Autodelete after x days", worth investigating that.

^{Although I should point out that Gmail itself doesn't seem respond to the "delete from this server" option.}

Answer 2

There's an option in Gmail settings that let you decide what you want to do with emails accessed via POP.

Answer 3

1. Open Gmail web interface.
2. Go to Settings (the "cog" icon).
3. Click on "See all settings" button.
4. Go to "Accounts and Import" tab.
5. Click on "edit info" next to your linked e-mail address in "Check email from other accounts" section (where the POP3 settings are listed).
6. The option is called "Leave a copy of retrieved message on the server."