email oddity - I know I'm popular, but ...

[iBozz]

I'm using a 3rd generation iPad running under iOS8.1.3 (12B466) and iOS's default Mail app. All apps are up to date.

I have twelve email accounts, six with me ISP and six with gmail and all bar one are POP accounts.

When I awoke this morning, the accounts on my iMac showed a handful of unread overnight emails. The downloads must have happened between 02:00 and 07:00 GMT/UTC, the time I last checked my email and the time I woke this morning, although I doubt that those times are relevant.

The several gmail accounts on the iPad showed, quite correctly, one overnight email and my ISP's accounts showed ...

... wait for it ...

... you'd better sit down ...

... OK, here goes ...

... 12,489 unread emails!

This amounts, approximately, to 4,000, 4,000, 100, 500, 3,900 and 0 in each of my ISP's accounts.

As I said above, the same accounts on my iMac (Yosemite and Apple's Mail) were "correct".

Firstly, why might this have happened?

Secondly, how can I delete them all other than by doing it one by one thereby developing severe digital stress on my right index finger?

Thirdly, how can I stop this happening again?

Help, please!

 

[J. A.]

The only method I know to remove more than one email at once, would clear your Inbox completely. I don't know if it will help, but here goes:
Go to the Inbox of one of the accounts. At the top, select "Edit". Check mark the first email. At the bottom, tap "Move" and hold your finger on it. While holding, remove the checkmark from the email. Now lift your finger from "Move". You might have to wait for a few seconds. If your iPad is in landscape mode, you'll notice that the emails will gather at the right. At the left, you'll get the choice to move the messages to a different mailbox. Select "Trash", and they'll be moved to it.

In case there are a few emails that you need in your Inbox, you can go through Trash and get them back to the right mailbox.

Hope that helps.

 

[LannyC]

You might consider choosing one Gmail IMAP account to gather all your email, by setting all the others to forward into it, and then just checking that one IMAP inbox with your iPad and iMac. You'll gain the benefit of Gmail's best-in-class spam filtering for all your accounts, plus the IMAP benefit of not having to keep track of read/unread messages according to which device you're using.

POP is outdated and cranky. It's not well-suited for folks with more than one mail-capable device. IMHO, POP should only be used when there is no other choice.

 

[col.bris]

I totally agree -12 email accounts is a lot not sure why any one would need that many unless they have multiple business's. I have 3 email accounts which i forward to gmail. It just works though the count of urban emails is erratic

 

[iBozz]

col.bris: I do need them, several are for charities for which I volunteer, two are for my business and others for family.

LannyC: I have never really understood IMAP and as the POP accounts work the way I want I may as well stay with them.

J. A. : Many thanks, I've tried your method and it worked for the account with around 500 emails (but it took several minutes, not seconds, to complete the move) but when I try with those with 1,000+ emails it "hangs" for a while and then the Mail app quits. I've tried rebooting and resetting but, so far, with the same result. Any further suggestions as to how I can delete these "larger" mailboxes?



Thanks to all who have offered advice so far!

 

[twerppoet]

Do any of these problem email accounts have webmail, where you can access them via a web browser?

If they do, try going to the website and delete all your email there, included trashed emails. Then delete and re-add the account on the iPad in Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars.

Or if you get these same email accounts via a computer email client, go into settings for that account on the computer and set it to delete after downloading; then delete everything from there. Once you've set the computer up this way, make sure to visit your accounts regularly from the computer so that emails get deleted from the server.

(you can also set the iPad up to delete after downloading; but you need to hold in mind that whatever machine does this, once it has access the emails then those emails will not show up on other devices.

Again, delete and re-add the account on the iPad.


Seriously, the best thing about IMAP is that it does not need to be understood. Once set up everything is the same on all computers and devices. All emails, all folders, everywhere, the same. (as long as you set up the folders on the server and not the local computer)