Confused about Deleted and Trash Options

[Kenneth Evans]

I use Gmail.  I currently have almost 7000 items in my folder that is labeled Trash (not [Gmail Trash).  I cannot easily delete them. If I do "Select All", it only checks the few that are visible, so it would take a very long time to delete them all.

I assume Trash is my Gmail Trash folder.  It is currently empty on GMail.  So I am confused.

In trying to do this, I have switched sync settings, and I am now not sure what they "should" be are when initially set up.  What is the suggested sync settings for Trash and [Gmail]Trash.

Currently [Gmail] Drafts syncs with [Drafts]
Currently [Gmail] Sent syncs with [Sent]
Currently [Gmail] Trash syncs with [Deleted]
Trash syncs as plain folder

[Deleted] is currently empty.  It has a "Delete All" option.  Things like Trash do not.

I am confused about what [Deleted] and the others with square brackets mean.

I have searched quite a bit and not found the answer to my questions, so I am posting it.  Sorry if I have missed something.

Thanks in advance.

[Kostya Vasilyev]

Gmail puts its special folders into a folder called [Gmail], this is how things are on their server, and their names depend on your language settings (on Gmail web site).

Aqua Mail uses "Deleted" in the phone's language, and it's directly "inside the account".

But the app knows that the "Deleted" folder's counterpart on the mail server (inside Gmail) is really "Trash" inside "[Gmail]". That's the "mapping" you described above:

Currently [Gmail] Drafts syncs with [Drafts]
Currently [Gmail] Sent syncs with [Sent]
Currently [Gmail] Trash syncs with [Deleted]

Now, Trash -- just Trash, not inside [Gmail] -- is just some folder which has no special meaning to Gmail, and (the way you have it set up) has no special meaning to Aqua Mail (sync as plain folder).

I would guess it was created by some mail app that cannot "map" its special folders to server folders automatically (K9 Mail perhaps?).

It's important for Gmail accounts to use Gmail's "special" [Gmail] -> Trash. I would just get rid of the "just" Trash folder (using Gmail web mail -> settings -> labels) and reconfigure the other mail app if you still use it.

[Kenneth Evans]

Thanks for the reply. I didn't get a notification and just read it today.  I spent some time figuring out what it does a few days ago:

With AquaMail set to:

• Drafts: Sync with Drafts
• Sent Mail: Sync with Sent
• Trash: Sync with Deleted

GMail	AquaMail
Inbox	Inbox
Drafts	Drafts (Special one at bottom, apparently [Drafts])
Sent Mail	Sent (Special one at bottom, apparently [Sent])
Trash	Deleted (Special one at bottom, apparently [Deleted])
[Imap]/Trash	Trash
[Imap]/Sent	Sent
[Imap]/Drafts	Drafts

If you have the latter three set to not sync, you won't see them in AquaMail.  If you have them set to Sync (plain folder), you will see the same as you see on Gmail.  I also am not sure what they are for, but I do seem to get items in them from somewhere.

My Gmail Drafts folder is not emptying (I have some 7000 items in it, going back to 2010).  From reading the documentation, I see it is supposed to delete them after 30 days.  Not sure why, but it isn't happening for me.  In AquaMail, the same ones appear in the special Drafts folder.

As mentioned, if I try to delete them manually, Check All only checks the visible few.  It would seem better to have it select all of them, as it is difficult to delete 7000 emails using this method.  (I do see there is a Delete All option if I long hold Drafts, and a similar option in GMail.)  I'll get rid of them when I'm sure I have it figured out right.

[Kostya Vasilyev]

[Imap]/Trash   Trash
[Imap]/Sent   Sent
[Imap]/Drafts   Drafts

Those are not Gmail's own folders, they were created by a mail app which connected over IMAP (as the prefix says, Gmail automatically adds this if a folder is created by a mail app, e.g. not from web mail).

My Gmail Drafts folder is not emptying (I have some 7000 items in it, going back to 2010).  From reading the documentation, I see it is supposed to delete them after 30 days.

Did you really mean the Deleted (Trash) folder?

As mentioned, if I try to delete them manually, Check All only checks the visible few.

The best way to delete those "stuck" old messages is to use Gmail web mail (web site), and then, to select "truly all messages" please see:

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/gmail/51q9azlV0EA

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/gmail/98nB0r6LRHA

( the first few answers are wrong, it's the "click select all conversations" that's right )