Need to reduce inbox size, but webmail wont load my inbox

[#1]

I have been receiving emails from Plusnet telling me to reduce the size of my inboxes. I've been trying to do so on webmail  for months but it wont download emails ( it's a force 9 email address if that makes a difference) - it just hang or says issues with FETCH command. Are there any other ways to access my webmail to delete batches of older mail?  Thanks

[#2 · Accepted solution]

Hey there @LemonP although it doesn't work all of the time, please can you try the below.

Log into webmail
On the inbox list screen select LIST OPTIONS which is the little grid icon on the left of the column title bar
Set sorting column to NONE
Click save

[#3]

Thank you! That definitely helped load the inbox - still having a few server errors and messages about UIDs when i'm trying to delete big batches, but i'll persevere. 

[#4]

Yeah it's a bit of an archaic system and needs the patience of a saint but at least it has loaded up for you Let me know if you need me to do anything else

[#5]

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.

[#6]

@willcutforth I have this issue at present. I need to get in to delete some emails. I set the sorting to none some time ago and it still set to that (I managed to access the options at one point to check). At present when I log in, it says refreshing and the only folder visible on the left is inbox (I have a lot of folders) but the inbox contents never display.

The same thing is happening with my husband's mailbox too and he needs to clear out emails too.

[#7]

@cassuki there's currently a problem with the mail servers see https://community.plus.net/t5/Email/Email-system-failing-today/m-p/1933754#M44238

[#8]

@cassuki - The trouble with Webmail is that it doesn't keep trying to access emails and eventually times out and doesn't load. I'd try to set up IMAP on a client and if that fails to verify, just keep trying to setup and add it until it verifies. That way eventually the email will come through so you can clear some out.

[#9]

@James30 With respect, you (Plusnet) have an acknowledged problem with your mail servers at the moment, which is preventing the vast majority of customers from accessing them at all.

[#10]

I would suspect that one of the data centres is impacted.

Mail storage is split across data centres alphabetically, delivering near at hand and remote fall-back - thus it is possible that only part of the user base is suffering at the moment.  I saw nothing unusual during August, though I have been busy on other projects.