Can You Download Plusnet Emails from Webmail?

[#1]

Hi,

Just got the message my plusnet email folder will soon be archived.  I have too many pages to delete individually and I seem unable to delete a whole page - Can I download all to an external hard drive to be dealt with later?

Any help gratefully received

[#2]

@LizMac42 As I use a mail client, I'm not 100% sure of this, but from what I remember, there is the possibility in webmail to select individual messages by ticking the box to the left. If you want to delete a page at a time, you can select all the messages on the current page by going to the 'selector' - right hand box on the title bar next to the 'Subject' header, left click it, and then it will give you options for selection ('All' 'current page'...). If you are certain you wish to delete everything on that page, select that option, then hit the 'delete button' - the red circle. That will move them to deleted folder, where you do exactly the same to permanently remove them.

NOTE, however, that this can be an extremely slow process.

Sorry, but I don't THINK there is an option to 'download all to an external hard drive to be dealt with later'

[#3]

jab 1  Thank you for this reply especially for advice on how to delete a page or many together - so useful.

[#4]

I do have the PLUSNET  emails through Outlook too - so maybe there is a way to export them through this

[#5]

No problem, Liz. Another suggestion which may help is to select 'basic webmail on the 'home' page.

[#6]

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@LizMac42 wrote:

I do have the PLUSNET  emails through Outlook too - so maybe there is a way to export them through this

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This raises another question - is your OUTLOOK client set up as a 'POP' or 'IMAP' client?

[#7]

The most pragmatic solution is to stop using webmail and use a device based email application in IMAP mode.  There are lots out there, done free, some paid for, some excellent and some utterly useless.

The crown free and most utterly useless is the email application which ships with windows.  The email application on iDevices is fairly good.  Outlook 2019 is really decent but costs money.

Thunderbird is OK and free.

IMAP email clients sync the content of a mail server with the device it is running in.  Therein you can create LOCAL folders and move mail (received and sent) to those local folders, which will remove them from the server.  Remember to regularly back up those local folders.

Remember to empty the deleted items folder.

Some might suggest using a POP3 client … which is fine for the inbox, but does not include the content of the other folders.

Culling mailbox contents

If you need to clean out your mailbox, may be because it is over quota, then as well as tidying up the inbox, you need to also look at the SENT ITEMS folder and then afterwards clear out the TRASH folder. However some times webmail performance can make this process very tedious, particularly if the delete action (actually a move to the trash folder) fails.

If you primarily want to delete emails, you can mitigate delete performance issues by doing an "immediate" delete (rather than a move to trash for deletion later) by holding down the SHIFT key when pressing the DEL key. This works in both webmail and most PC based email clients. WARNING SHIFT+DEL is not recoverable so be certain absolutely, that you do not need the email before pressing the buttons!

Alternatively, in webmail (Round Cube) Settings -> Server Settings there are some options worth exploring controlling how deletes are performed...

1. Flag the message for deletion instead of delete
2. If moving messages to "Deleted Items" fails, permanently delete them
3. Compact Inbox on logout

Setting these options and using them together will avoid the over heads of moving items to the trash folder when you wish to delete them. They will simply be greyed out and remain in the inbox list. After logging out of webmail, they will then be removed from the mailbox.

Whilst this might be highly proficient, it needs to be used with care, for when they are gone, they are gone. Note also that Plusnet house-keeping clears out the trash folder weekly.

[#8]

Thanks, @Townman . As the OP has said she uses Outlook, I am wondering how that is set up, and why Webmail even comes into the equation. If used/set up correctly, surely webmail is redundant?

[#9]

Thanks John,

That will teach me answering questions whilst down at the pub - I missed the reference to “Outlook”.  Depending on which version, local folders are not so straight forward.

Indeed, if outlook is in use … why is there any discussion about webmail.

[#10]

Don't know the answer to your question, @Townman . With all due respect to the OP, I'm suspecting a lack of knowledge.

[#11]

I use Outlook all the time but I sometimes have to go to webmail as the Plusnet flow of new mail into my Outlook is so slow.  If I am waiting for a code to be sent, logging onto the webmail is sometimes quicker.

I used to use Thunderbird and really liked it however when I had to have a new hard drive I couldn't get Thunderbird back up to working again.  Nobody at Plusnet Technical managed to help either, despite several phone calls - nothing worked -  so I had to resort to the free Outlook app which I hate as it has no ribbon.  Gmail allows you to make folders but you can't do this with Plusnet emails.

As you must have noticed I am an 80+ technology moron so am grateful for forums like this and thank you for all your replies.

[#12]

Thank you Townman for so much useful advice.  I used to use Thunderbird but couldn't get it working on my new computer despite Plusnet Technical trying to help.  I tried all ways but then gave up and resorted to free Outlook which is VERY basic and new Plusnet emails take ages to come through.

[#13]

@LizMac42 Have you been able to reduce your mailbox following previous suggestions?

To be honest, I suspect your Outlook client has been set up as IMAP, which, if you only use one device/computer for collecting mail, is, IMHO, not the best option for an older person. Re-reading this topic, something doesn't seem right, as Outlook should retrieve mail as quick as webmail, but it is difficult to determine what the issue is without either (a) very clear explanation of the issues or (b) actually seeing the setup.

With regards to the problem setting up Thunderbird on the 'new' machine, I suspect that is due to the attempt by that client (and many others) to try and be 'helpful' in guessing setup details - and getting them wrong  - in 'non-standard' environments such as the Plusnet one.

[#14]

@jab1

It is not so much that Plusnet is “non-standard” as email clients making presumptive decisions about the right configuration. There are indeed often used conventions but those are not “standards” as such (no RFC).

Liz,

If you want to have another go at setting up Thunderbird, I’m sure there is enough skill around here to help you get it working.

[#15]

Fair enough, @Townman . How many ISPs use sub-domains for individual users though, as this seems to be where some email clients get their elastic in a twist?