Stop email copies from being saved on the server

[puffin]

Many of my clients overlook/ignore the setting in their POP email applications that allow message copies to be saved on the server.

Soon their mailbox fills up with old message copies, causing them to exceed mail quota, resulting in mail delivery cessation until the old copies are removed in order to free up space.

Requesting that they set their email apps to avoid storing copies doesn't always work--they ignore the request or often they simply don't know how to set this option.

Is there a server-side way to stop or limit copies from being saved on the server for individual mail accounts?

[fi77i]

I do not know a cpanel or server tool to do that.
This issue is an user issue. All the common mail clients have the option to remove the mails after download them using pop.
I think enable that configuration is the key to solve your issues. But as always it depends on the end user.

[puffin]

The problem is the damn mail apps--many default these days to keeping copies of messages on the server for one or two week or more. Most users are intimidated by anything other than setting up their basic settings, and can't figure out how to avoid retaining copies on the server. Often they don't even know copies are being kept on the server until their mail quota is suddenly exceeded and all mail stops. There ought to be some simple way to cancel that option from WHM or Cpanel...

[Infopro]

If I understand you correctly, sounds like you're speaking of IMAP which would leave a copy of email on the server so that it can be synced across email clients. If they setup a normal POP3 account in Outlook for example, the setting to leave a copy on server is an advanced setting that's not enabled by default.

There are settings for your mailserver via WHM > Service Configuration > Mailserver Configuration, that may or may not be helpful to you. For example you might be able to set IMAP to empty trash.

Delete and expunge messages from trash folder(s) automatically after the specified number of days.

If I have a 500MB account with you and I have an email account setup there and connect to that account at work, at home, and on my iPhone via IMAP so that I see the same email on every client (more than most do this these days, IMO) and I run out of space, you should sell me more space. Not ask me to keep my space cleaned up.

A normal default POP3 account (without setting that switch to keep a copy on server in advanced settings) will download all email to the client off the server.

[puffin]

My clients are using POP3, not IMAP. Whether their email clients are enabled by default, or they change their client options to save copies on the server, is rather beside my point: I'd like a way to either remove these extra copies on my server after a period of time or override the client setting that allows copies to be saved on the server in the first place.

With much respect, Infopro, suggesting that I simply charge my clients more isn't exactly the answer I was looking for.

[Infopro]

My apologies if that wasn't the answer you seek. If I was one of your accounts and you cleared out my mailbox without my consent I would no longer be one of your accounts. Now, if you told me I was running out of space, instead, I might do one of two things. 1) clean up my mailbox on my own 2) Ask to have my account upgraded so that I had more space to leave anything I want on my account.

I'm not aware of any setting to override what the user has configured in his mail client.

I actually have several clients like this myself. Two have upgraded to larger accounts, one never knew his email was being left on his server. When it was explained to him that he was running out of space, he cleaned up his email storage.

Clearing email from any of those accounts without telling them I would have lost the clients, I'm sure of it.

[cPanelTristan]

If you truly wish to take this route, you might run a search on this forum as well as in Google for how to auto delete mail that is older than a set number of days. You can do a find in /home/*/mail/*/*/cur, /home/*/mail/*/*/new, /home/*/mail/cur and /home/*/mail/new locations for the find commands, since those paths are usable with wildcards for finding mail and find does allow the use of checking file dates for age.

I will be unable to provide the exact commands to use due to the fact that I have the same stance as Infopro on deleting customer data without explicit consent.

[puffin]

I think I'm being misunderstood here; my apologies for not being clearer, and thank you for your answers.

I am not deleting my clients' mail, nor would I ever do so without their explicit consent. These are copies of mail that have already been delivered to their local computers. Most of my clients have no idea that copies of their incoming email messages are being stored on the server. Nor do they have any use for these copies which only take up server space and quite often lead to over quota, which ceases mail delivery entirely to their accounts until these copies are removed.

Instructing them to reset the option in their email client to not save copies on the server hasn't met with much success. So I was hoping for a simple override solution to do so through WHM. But it seems from the responses here that isn't possible.

[Infopro]

Nor do they have any use for these copies which only take up server space and quite often lead to over quota, which ceases mail delivery entirely to their accounts until these copies are removed.

We have no clue if they have any use for them or not though? If they have no real use for the mail, and the account stops accepting email, and you get a ticket on it, and you explain that they'll have to clear off some space on their account as they've gone over quota, why would they not clear off some space at that time? And if it's important email and they don't wish to delete anything, the only option left is upgrades.

I'm not aware of any way to override this setting on the server. But as previously mentioned, if they were actually connecting via IMAP, logging in via POP3 (and the setting to leave copy on server unchecked) should help this situation easy enough.

Instructing them to reset the option in their email client to not save copies on the server hasn't met with much success.

As I mentioned, this is an advanced setting (in Outlook I can't speak to other clients). I can't imagine many would have changed this unless they wanted to save that email.

I personally have email going back years that I can access from any location in the world. Do I have a use for most of it? No of course not. But that once in a rare moment that I might, I know where to go and find it and its not at home on my PC, only.

I am not deleting my clients' mail, nor would I ever do so without their explicit consent.

If they run out of space, that's their problem. They can clean it up or buy more space.
That's the business we're in.

I hope this doesn't read harsh for you, its not meant to. I'm Just trying to assist you sort out the prob you want to sort out.