Configuring how long mail remains in the Trash folder

When a user deletes a message from a mail file on a cloud server or the service automatically deletes an older message, the message is moved to the Trash folder where it remains for 14 days, by default. After 14 days, the message is permanently deleted. You can change how long deleted mail remains in the Trash folder. You can also prevent users from emptying the Trash folder themselves.

Before you begin

In a hybrid environment that includes IBM® Notes® clients, you can use an on-premises Mail Settings policy to specify automatic deletion from the Trash folder on local mail file replicas. For more information, see the topic Mail Settings restrictions.

About this task

Documents that are deleted from the Trash folder cannot be recovered. While deleted mail is in the Trash folder, users can restore it to its original folder.

The Trash folder can contain a maximum of 32,768 messages. If this limit is reached, each message added to the Trash folder causes a message that has been in the Trash folder the longest to be permanently deleted. This deletion occurs even if a message has been in the Trash folder less time than the specified deletion interval. Premature deletion from Trash stops when either manual or automatic deletion of messages causes the number of messages in the Trash folder to be within the limit. This behavior is not common but can occur in mail files where many messages are frequently received and deleted.

Procedure

  1. Log on to the service as an administrator.
  2. If your account also has the User role, click Admin > Manage Organization.
  3. In the System Settings section of the navigation pane, click IBM SmartCloud Notes.
  4. Click Account Settings and then click Email Management.
  5. Under Configure Mail Retention in the Trash Folder, complete these fields to manage mail in the Trash folder.
    Table 1. Trash Folder Mail Retention Settings
    Option Description
    Retain deleted messages for how many days? Enter a number from 14 - 90. The default value is 14.

    If you decrease an interval that was previously set, then all messages that meet the new criteria are deleted. For example, if you decrease the interval from 20 days to 16 days, then mail in the Trash folder older than 16 days is deleted.
    Allow users to empty the Trash folder When this option is selected, users can permanently delete messages from the Trash folder by clicking Empty Trash or by selecting a message and deleting it.

    This option is enabled by default. To prevent users from deleting mail from the Trash folder, deselect the option. Then, mail remains in the Trash folder for the duration specified in Retain deleted messages for how many days? before being permanently deleted.

    Note: If you prevent users from deleting mail in the Trash, IBM Notes client users can still delete mail from the Trash on local mail replicas. However, the deletion does not carry over to the server mail file replicas.