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GSixZero · Jun 17, 2005, 04:45 PM

So I have this problem on a number of macs, all which are clean installs of 10.3.9.

So here's the story.

-Clean install; either new machine or machine restored from disks and then updated via software update.

-Open Mail.app and provide server and login info, for either POP or IMAP (it's happening both ways)

-Mail.app opens and there is no trash can at all. If I create a folder called Trash, and then go to Mailbox -> Use this folder for... -> All options are ghosted.

-All applicable preferences are set correctly.

This is driving me nuts. This seems to be a problem with Mail.app as it's reproducible on clean installs that are in no way connected to each other, not even on the network.

Does anyone have any advice?

Fusion · Jun 17, 2005, 05:44 PM

Yeah. After a clean install, have you tried deleting a mail message? Mailboxes such as Trash, Junk, Sent and Drafts don't actually create themselves on Mail.app until you use them the first time. Just delete a message.

GSixZero · Jun 17, 2005, 06:23 PM

I have tried setting up an account and deleting a message. It message disappears, but not into the trash.

Out, Sent and Drafts all exist, but no Trash. Hitting Apple + 5 does not take me anywhere.

azdude · Jun 17, 2005, 06:45 PM

It's a bug... I've had problems with folders 1 through 6 disappearing on occasion.

Buck_W · Sep 23, 2005, 11:43 PM

Originally Posted by azdude

It's a bug... I've had problems with folders 1 through 6 disappearing on occasion.

What??? It's a bug??? I've been trying to figure out what happened to my trash icon in mail as well. It is completely gone. Does anybody know how to get it back?

Jordan · Sep 27, 2005, 10:13 AM

Originally Posted by GSixZero

So I have this problem on a number of macs, all which are clean installs of 10.3.9.

This is driving me nuts. This seems to be a problem with Mail.app as it's reproducible on clean installs that are in no way connected to each other, not even on the network.

Does anyone have any advice?

No help at all but exactly the same thing is happening with my Dad's Mac at the moment. I just talked him through the conversion from Entourage to Mail.app over the phone. Now he says that there is no Trash in Mail.app. I didn't believe him until I read this....

Anyone know of a work around? Deleting preferences bring it back??? It's not doing this on mine and he doesn't know enough for me to test it on him. He lives about 3 hours flight away so I can't pop over and check it out....

TIA,

Jordan

Jordan · Sep 27, 2005, 10:20 AM

Just fixed this I think....

You need to open the trash can at least once. Go to Mailbox->Go To->Trash or Hit Command 5. Once you have gone there once it opens and stays there.

Now if someone could tell me why it won't remember the settings for sort.... When he sorts with newest messages on the top, if he quits out of Mail.app and comes back in again, it goes back to new messages on the bottom. Very frustrating....

Thanks,

Jordan

Buck_W · Sep 27, 2005, 12:21 PM

I had to open Preferences, Accounts, Advanced and choose to Remove copy from server after retrieving a message. Once I checked that, my trash icon showed back up.

mjames · Jun 23, 2006, 11:17 AM

Sorry to bump this thread, but I had the same problem on both my Macs and fixed it using Jordan's advice. However, I'm still not seeing deleted messages that I received this morning. I read them in the Inbox, deleted them, and now they are no where to be seen, not in the Trash folder. Mail had created a Deleted Items folder for me while the Trash folder was missing, but the e-mails weren't in there, either. I just sent myself a test message and deleted it and it went to the Trash, so it seems fixed now, but I still lost some earlier messages. Any ideas how to recover them?

I think this might have something to do with .Mac syncing because I synced both my Macs while on vacation and that's when the problem occurred.

darcybaston · Oct 15, 2006, 09:58 PM

A friend of mine got a new MacBook, and after launching Mail for the first time and setting up a gmail account, she could receive, send and delete mail, but no Trash, nor Drafts folders were created. No icons, and no respective folders in ~/library/mail. It's really weird. Mail refuses to display the appropriate icons and create the file system tree structure.

We've tried deleting messages, no progress.

We've tried the Mailbox->Go To->Trash menu selection (Which was not greyed out), no progress.

We've tried the CMD+5 hotkey, no progress.

We've tired the 'remove messages immediately' advanced preference, no progress.

We've tried deleting prefs, plists, the contents of the ~/library/mail folder and deleting the mail folder itself. No progress with each permutation.

We've tried repairing permissions, same story.

So I'm stumped! I have no idea why it won't work, or what to do to get it to work.

jrafter · Oct 17, 2006, 09:33 PM

I've had the same problem under 10.4.8. I get the best results by
1) Deleting a message
2) Quitting mail
3) Re-openning mail

Hope this helps!

darcybaston · Oct 17, 2006, 09:44 PM

Aha! Quitting and re-opening did it (after all the "try to find it" activity) !