How to Delete a Mailbox in TrekMail (Single and Bulk)

Deleting a mailbox in TrekMail is permanent and removes everything: emails, folders, aliases, mail rules, webmail settings. This guide covers when to delete vs alternatives, the exact mechanics of single and bulk deletion, and what survives (almost nothing).

Who deletes mailboxes

Account owners and admins. A mailbox user can't self-delete; only the account that owns the mailbox can.

When to delete vs other options

Deletion is the right move when:

• An employee has left and you don't need to receive their email anymore.
• A test or dummy mailbox is no longer needed.
• A client relationship ended and you're cleaning up.
• You're consolidating — multiple mailboxes are being merged into one.

Deletion is NOT the right move when:

• You want to keep receiving the address's mail (use forwarding instead — see "Alternatives" below).
• You want to temporarily lock out a user while you investigate something (use Pause mailbox if available, or change the password).
• You think you might need the data later (export the mailbox to an archive first — IMAP download to a local client).

Path 1 — Delete a single mailbox

1. Open Mailboxes.
2. Find the mailbox in the list (search if many).
3. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) on the right side of the row.
4. Select Delete mailbox.
5. A confirmation modal appears explaining what will be removed.
6. Confirm.

Toast on success: "Mailbox deleted."

The deletion is synchronous and immediate — the row disappears from the list, the mailbox is wiped on the mail server within ~1 minute, IMAP/SMTP authentication starts failing for that mailbox right away.

Path 2 — Bulk delete multiple mailboxes

1. Open Mailboxes.
2. Tick the checkbox next to each mailbox you want to delete (or use the master "select all" checkbox).
3. The Bulk Actions bar appears at the top.
4. Click Bulk Actions → Delete mailboxes.
5. A confirmation modal lists the affected mailboxes by count.
6. Confirm.

Bulk deletion runs the same per-mailbox logic but in sequence. For large batches (50+ mailboxes), the deletion may take a minute or two to fully complete on the mail server side; the dashboard returns immediately after queuing.

What gets deleted

Everything tied to the mailbox is removed:

• All emails in every folder (Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Trash, Spam, custom folders).
• All folders the mailbox had.
• All mail rules / Sieve filters that were attached to this mailbox.
• Auto-reply / vacation responder configuration.
• All aliases that pointed at this mailbox as a destination. The alias addresses themselves are released — you can reassign them to another mailbox or create new aliases with the same name afterward.
• Forwarding configuration (where this mailbox was forwarding to).
• Webmail data: contacts (CardDAV), calendar entries (CalDAV), saved searches, custom settings, signatures.
• Drive files owned by this mailbox (if account-level Drive features apply).
• Recovery codes and access codes issued for this mailbox.

There is no recycle bin. Once you confirm deletion, the data is gone.

What's NOT deleted

• Mail that hasn't arrived yet — there's no way to delete mail that hasn't been sent. New mail to the address will bounce after deletion (see below).
• External copies — anyone who replied-to / Bcc'd / forwarded mail to/from this mailbox still has their own copy. Their copies aren't touched.
• Mailbox quota / count on the domain — the deletion frees up the slot. You can immediately create a new mailbox with the same local part or a different one.
• Audit logs — deletion is recorded in our admin audit log along with the timestamp and the admin who performed the action.

What happens to mail sent to the address after deletion

Two cases:

• You have catch-all enabled on the domain — mail to the deleted address (and all of its aliases) falls through to the catch-all destination. See Catch-all Inbox.
• No catch-all — mail to the deleted address bounces with 550 User not found. The sender gets a non-delivery report.

If a critical address is being deleted, set up catch-all OR create a forwarding alias on a different mailbox before deleting. That way mail keeps arriving.

What happens to active webmail sessions

Active webmail sessions for the deleted mailbox become orphaned. The next API call or page load fails with an authentication error; the user is logged out. They can't sign back in (mailbox doesn't exist anymore).

For IMAP/SMTP connections, the client gets "authentication failed" on next request.

Alternatives to deletion

If you want lighter handling, several patterns preserve more:

Pattern A — Lock and forward

You want to stop the user from accessing but keep the mail flowing somewhere.

1. Change the mailbox password to something only you know.
2. Enable forwarding from this mailbox to another (yours or a colleague's).
3. Decide "Keep a copy" — yes if you want a backup, no if you want to keep storage low.

The user can't log in anymore. Mail still arrives and is forwarded as configured.

Pattern B — Repurpose

You're offboarding the original user but want the address to keep working under new ownership.

1. Change the password to something the new user will use.
2. Update the display name if needed (Mailbox Settings → Display name).
3. Hand the new password to the new user securely.

The mailbox keeps its history; the user changes.

Pattern C — Archive locally before deleting

You want the historical mail offline but no longer in TrekMail.

1. Add the mailbox to a local IMAP client (Thunderbird is good for this).
2. Wait for full sync — IMAP downloads all messages to your local machine.
3. Verify the local archive is complete by spot-checking dates and counts.
4. Disconnect the IMAP account in Thunderbird (don't delete the local copy).
5. Then delete the mailbox on TrekMail.

The local archive is yours forever.

Bulk deletion safety

• Bulk delete confirmation lists how many mailboxes will be affected, but does NOT show individual names per mailbox in some dashboard versions. Double-check your selection before confirming.
• Multiple admins working on the same account can race — if two admins both delete the same mailbox at the same time, one succeeds and the other gets a "Mailbox not found" error. Harmless but mildly confusing.
• For very large bulks (200+), expect a brief "Bulk action processing..." state while everything finishes. Don't refresh repeatedly — the action is safe to leave in flight.

Common mistakes

Common questions

Can I recover a deleted mailbox? No. There's no recycle bin. Contact support quickly if you deleted within the last ~24 hours — we may have backup snapshots that could be restored, but this is best-effort and not guaranteed.

What happens to forwarding rules pointing at the deleted mailbox? Other mailboxes' forwarding rules that listed the deleted mailbox as the destination start bouncing. Update them.

Can I delete the last mailbox on a domain? Yes. The domain remains active. New mail to the domain bounces unless you have a catch-all configured elsewhere.

Is there a way to bulk-delete by some filter (e.g. "all mailboxes inactive for 90 days")? Not via dashboard UI. The API or admin tools could potentially be used; contact support.

Does deletion affect billing? Mailbox count is tied to plan limits, not direct billing. Deleting a mailbox doesn't reduce your monthly bill. It only matters if you're at your plan's mailbox cap.