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Thread ID: 65001 2006-01-04 06:23:00 Unable to delete messages in Outlook Express 6 allcamp (1882) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
418099 2006-01-04 06:23:00 A friend has been using Outlook Express for her email. She is unable to delete messages from her Inbox. Even when non-required messages are dragged to the Deleted Items box it is not possible to delete them from there either. When I checked Edit - Empty Deleted Items Folder I noted that this action was greyed out. I do not use Outlook Express and am unsure what I can do to help her. She is running XP (not sure of the version). Any help would be appreciated as she now has several hundred messages clogging up her system.

Many thanks

Allan
allcamp (1882)
418100 2006-01-04 06:28:00 Get her to go to tools/options/maintenance .

Tick empty messages from the deleted items folder on exit .

Then when she wants to delete an email, press delete on the keyboard, then exit OE / close it .

OE will delete them when she exits .
Speedy Gonzales (78)
418101 2006-01-04 06:30:00 Thanks Speedy - I tried that but no luck there either :mad: allcamp (1882)
418102 2006-01-04 06:33:00 Hmm I take it she's in CHCH??

Does the ISP she's with have webmail?? ie: Access to user's emails on their homepage?

If so, I would close OE, go to the homepage, and log into the webmail from the homepage . See if she can delete the emails there .
Speedy Gonzales (78)
418103 2006-01-04 06:42:00 Yes she is in ChCh. Her ISP is INET. Thanks for the suggestion. I have just checked their website and they seem to have webmail. I will try this when I next get to her place. I am still surprised that her messages can't be deleted on OE though. She is in her 70s and is not a very competent/confident user and is likely to be confused with having to use webmail in the future to sort out this problem.

Cheers

Allan
allcamp (1882)
418104 2006-01-04 07:03:00 I just tried that .

If the Empty deleted items folder option is grayed out, there's nothing in the deleted items folder to delete .

Try deleting the email/s in the inbox first . Then the above option will become active .
Speedy Gonzales (78)
418105 2006-01-04 07:21:00 The original problem was that we were unable to delete the messages from the Inbox either by selecting the message and then clicking on the Delete icon or by right mouse clicking and then selecting delete. I then dragged some messages into the Deleted Items Folder from the Inbox and tried to delete them from there by the above processes or using Edit\ etc - Empty Deleted Items Folder. There were definitely messages in the Deleted Items Folder and yet the menu item was greyed out. All very curious. I don't feel so dumb now, having previously tried the options you suggested. :waughh: allcamp (1882)
418106 2006-01-04 07:23:00 er............messages which haev been downloaded to outlookexpress WILL NOT be able to be deleted from it by gion to the webmail site....... drcspy (146)
418107 2006-01-04 07:37:00 Try this fix from here ( . insideoutlookexpress . com/faqs/why . htm" target="_blank">www . insideoutlookexpress . com)

Why can't I delete messages inside OE?

That can happen if the Deleted Items folder is damaged . Move all messages you might want to keep out of the Deleted Items folder and into another mail folder you create . Close OE, then delete the file Deleted Items . dbx in your Identity's store folder . OE will create a new one when you re-open OE .
Speedy Gonzales (78)
418108 2006-01-04 07:45:00 Thanks again Speedy for your help. I will give this a go when I next visit this woman. Looks like it may be the solution.

I LOVE Press F1 - I have always found the answers to any problems I may have. So many helpful people.

Cheers

Allan
allcamp (1882)
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