How to purge deleted emails from Outlook

To physically and finally delete emails marked for deletion in an IMAP account in Windows Mail or Outlook Express:

   * Click the Purge Messages button in the toolbar. 

(You can also select Edit | Purge Deleted Messages from the menu.)

Make Windows Mail or Outlook Express Purge Deleted Mail Automatically

While the click on Purge Messages is easy, it is still a click — a superfluous click if you never undelete any emails and always purge them at once (which makes the click many, many clicks).

If that's you, let Windows Mail do the clicking and have it purge deleted messages automatically:

   * Select Tools | Options from the menu in Windows Mail.
   * Go to the Advanced tab.
   * Click Maintenance.
   * Make sure Purge deleted messages when leaving IMAP folders is checked.
   * Click Close.
   * Now click OK. 

In Outlook Express:

   * Select Tools | Options from the menu in Outlook Express.
   * Go to the Maintenance tab.
   * Make sure Purge deleted messages when leaving IMAP folders is checked.
   * Click OK. 

You may also want to hide deleted messages so you can forget about them the moment you have trashed them.

   NOTE: Also see Auto Purge.