Help Email Not Deleting From Server On SGN8

[Duckster]

I just got off the phone for almost 3 hours with Samsung and Verizon. Verizon says that the following is a Samsung issue. Can someone verify if you have this issue?

When I receive emails on my phone using the stock "Email" setup option (not MS exchange, Gmail, etc), I want them to stay on the phone until I delete them or pull them off of the server by downloading them on my desktop/laptop. This worked perfectly by selecting SERVER SETTINGS, DELETE EMAIL FROM SERVER (NEVER) on my SGN3. The other option here is to select Delete email from server "when deleted from inbox". If I select the later one, I'll never see the email on my desktop, which deletes emails from the server after I download it on the SGN8. I need this to work in reverse.

Samsung used Smart Tutor to test it and sure enough, even after I downloaded the emails on my desktop, they still remained on my SGN8. When switching to the later setting, it deletes if off of the server so I never saw it on the desktop. This is a huge issue when I travel out of town with only my SGN8. When I come home and download the emails on my desktop, I still have to go back through and individually delete LOTS of emails from my phone even after I have already responded to them from the desktop.

Question #1: Do any of you have this issue above?

Question #2: When selecting EMAIL SETTINGS, ABOUT EMAILS, APP INFO, are you able to select FORCE STOP on the Email app? Mine is greyed out.

Samsung says that I have an app issue and the ONLY way to fix it is to either send my phone back in for 7 days, or take it in to a Samsung expert at Best Buy. I live about 150 miles round trip from a Best Buy, so I thought I'd see if anyone here has this issue. If so, then Samsung knows that I will call back tomorrow and tell them that this is possibly a bigger issue than just my phone.

Thanks.

 

[lunatic59]

This is a setup issue. You are accessing the same email account from both your phone and PC as POP3 email. By doing that, the email is copied to the device for viewing and, by selecting the option to not delete from the server on your phone, you can then get it again on your PC. If you have email setup on your PC to delete from the server once downloaded, then I bet you never see it on your phone.

I do something similar, but here's how I do it. I have my PC (Outlook 2016 ... or whatever version is in the 365 subscription) setup as a POP3 client but in the account properties under the advanced settings I have it setup to delete messages from server after 10 days.

And, I have my phone setup as an IMAP client that maintains the sync with the server. After 10 days the mail drops off my phone.

Assuming you can access your account using both IMAP and POP3 then this should work for you too.

 

[Duckster]

This is a setup issue. You are accessing the same email account from both your phone and PC as POP3 email. By doing that, the email is copied to the device for viewing and, by selecting the option to not delete from the server on your phone, you can then get it again on your PC. If you have email setup on your PC to delete from the server once downloaded, then I bet you never see it on your phone.

Thanks for the quick response. As far as the "setup" that you described above, that is EXACTLY how it was and how I wanted it. I never had an issue with my SGN3 with this setup this way, and it still works that way on WiFi. I mostly use my desktop as the primary and try to just get "heads up" emails with the SGN8 when I'm away from home. The technician I spoke with at Samsung said that is how he likes his as well. All was well, until recently on the SGN8 after the last update that I received.

The technician also said that he has the FORCE STOP option "NOT" greyed out on their test phone. Mine is greyed out, so that is what makes him think that I have an app issue. I am thinking that it has more to do with the last update. He wants me to take it in for an APPS Refresh that will just refresh all of my apps but not delete any of my data. He said that they can only do that from Best Buy unless I send in my phone for 7 days. When he took control of my phone, he did several test emails. It worked as I wanted it to on the SGN3, but not the SGN8.

 

[lunatic59]

Except you say that you want the email to disappear from your phone after you get it on your PC. The means the SGN8 should be setup as an IMAP account, not POP3. With it setup as POP3 when you get the mail on the phone, it will stay on the phone until you delete it.

 

[Duckster]

Except you say that you want the email to disappear from your phone after you get it on your PC. The means the SGN8 should be setup as an IMAP account, not POP3. With it setup as POP3 when you get the mail on the phone, it will stay on the phone until you delete it.

Correct..I want it to disappear when I get it on the PC. I hear what you are saying but it works just fine with POP3 on my SGN3. I matched the same setup as did Samsung when they controlled my phone. He also turned on my camera and I held it on the setting for the SGN3 and he verified that they were exactly the same. Unless the SGN8 has some new/different particularities, why would it work perfectly on the 3 and not the 8? I'll give it a go later and see if that resolves my issue. I'll report here after I set it up.

Did you (or anyone else) notice if your FORCE STOP was greyed out? That is what is making Samsung think that my app is corrupt. I don't think that it is because I'm still getting my mail, but they are the corporate knowledge database (except for around here)

 

[lunatic59]

I don't have a Note 8 or do I use the default Samsung app for email. I've been using gmail for all my email accounts (5 of them currently) so I can have a unified email app.

I do administer several email servers and have a good understanding of POP3 and IMAP and how they are supposed to work. I never setup mobile devices as POP3 for this specific scenario. Why it worked that way on your SGN3 is a mystery to me unless it wasn't really true POP3 and detected the IMAP connection when you first set it up.

Could you post a screen shot of the incoming server settings? (blanking out the personal information, obviously)

 

[Duckster]

Could you post a screen shot of the incoming server settings? (blanking out the personal information, obviously)

Here ya go. I hope you don't see this as being argumentative. I'm certainly not being, but again, this is how I had it set up for YEARS with no issues until now. The Samsung tech said that he does the exact same thing with the same settings that he saw on my 3 & 8.

Hopefully someone will look at their 8 and chime in about the FORCE STOP. That would answer a lot if they can see theirs.

 

[Shotgun84]

Is the uninstall app option greyed out too? If Samsung think it's a problem with the app and are just going to refresh it , why not delete it and then reinstall from the Samsung Apps app.

 

[Duckster]

Is the uninstall app option greyed out too? If Samsung think it's a problem with the app and are just going to refresh it , why not delete it and then reinstall from the Samsung Apps app.

I am not able to uninstall it. The Tech even said that he could not do it remotely and that I had to take it to a Best Buy joint to let them do it.

I did try the IMAP, but it is not what I want. It may even be impossible that the 8 can handle mail like the 3 and briefly the 7 did. When I get to it, I'll take the 150 mile round trip to a BB and see what they thing. Still waiting for another 8 member to chime in about the grey areas.

 

[BigRedGonzo]

I tested mine. I am a .rr.com person also. Now I think I know what your issue is. When RR updated a couple of years ago, they converted their mail service to IMAP, which means that all your emails are mirrored to your device from the server. This means that when you look at the email on your PC, you are seeing a snapshot of what resides on the server in your inbox. When I delete an email on my PC, it does indeed disappear on my device, but no longer when I just view my emails. This allows you to have a folder structure in your inbox that is accessible from anywhere. I think this may be the root of your problem. I much prefer IMAP to POP for this very reason. I can "File" an email where ever I happen to read it. I'll stop rambling and let this sink in, but based on what little I know, it doesn't matter what mail package you use, you won't get back to where you want to be because of the changes to the RR servers.

BigRedGonzo

 

[Duckster]

Hey BRG,

For some reason, I'm just now seeing your response! Nice explanation of the IMAP mirrors. I'm still a POP fan but I think I may just change over for a while and give it more of a chance. For a while now, I have been using the mail.twc.com servers and it did not make a difference.

Having said the above, I was on a mission today! I had been talking to Samsung and Verizon and no one could resolve the issue. I still have the emails remaining on the server issue, but I was able to resolve the FORCE STOP issue with the Samsung rep at Best Buy. We tested his theory and he resolved that particular issue. What we did was deleted each email account one at a time (I have 3 using the email account setup, in addition to gmail and yahoo). What we found out was surprising! There was absolutely nothing wrong with the RR account! The issue is on the Microsoft Exchange servers. I have work accounts on my phone and I had to agree to allowing them more access to it than they need. This means that they (and I too) have the ability to completely wipe my phone (but they better have a good reason for that). Right after we put the Microsoft Exchange accounts back on, the FORCE STOP was not selectable anymore. The tech said that they probable did that so that if they were trying to wipe the phone, I could not stop it. Thus, if anyone is having email issues, and you have a Microsoft Exchange account, try deleting that and see if your issues go away.

I did notice that there is a second Exchange account setup option on the phone. I will try to do a setup using that one if I can. If it works, I'll report back here again. If not, I hope that this helps someone else.

Update: Not using Microsoft Exchange Autosync is the answer! My accounts work just fine when setting it up as Microsoft Exchange but using the Gmail interface. I now have my FORCE STOP option

 

[BigRedGonzo]

Glad to hear you got things back up and running correctly. I, unfortunately, am required to carry a work cell and my personal cell, so I don't use Exchange on my Note. I only use it on my iFruit. I guess this is good since I have about 7 accounts set up on my personal phone. I am sort of the IT guy for my church and have a few accounts that I monitor there and then have some personal accounts for various reasons. I always use IMAP, because of the flexibility. What I do on my phone is done, I don't have to repeat it. With POP, I would delete items on the phone and then when I would sit down at the desktop, I would have to repeat the process all over again. Also with POP, I couldn't file an email, I only had access to the inbox. I also ran into times in the past where the sync would get off between the server and my phone (over POP) and it requires an account deletion and re-set up to resolve. IMAP being a mirror of the server, remedies this particular issue also. IMAP also cuts down on what your phone has to keep track of. With POP, you phone has to maintain a list of deleted items so that it knows not to retrieve them again. I find that IMAP just runs smoother.

Anyway, I'm glad you got straightened out.

BigRedGonzo

 

[Duckster]

I'm flexible. I'm going to set up my phone and laptop for IMAP today and leave my desktop as a POP for some comparisons.