How to Purge "Phantom" Mail Data (3.8GB worth that isn't there)

auggiebjorn · Oct 11, 2015

My iPhone shows that 3.8 GB is being used; however, almost all of my email folders are empty. (I have a Roadrunner and Gmail account, but the folders are virtually empty.) There's nothing there. Is there a way to purge this phantom data?

Also: every time I delete an app, the memory that should be freed up immediately goes into the Mail Usage "box."

The folks at Verizon were perplexed.

scifan57 · Oct 11, 2015

You could try deleting your email accounts from the iPhone, then putting them back on. This should free up that mail data.

xrayeyes · Oct 11, 2015

Try logging into your mail accounts on a PC and deleting any emails you can out of all folders and sub folders. You wil have to use the webmail site for Road Runner not a secondary program. Is your RR account set up as a POP or IMAP?

bear7962 · Oct 11, 2015

Something occurred to me. I use Yahoo and Roadrunner and my email folders are not empty like yours yet I am only using 149 MB. I am wondering if you have your email settings set to archive rather than delete. I will post a picture of my settings for RR. This is under Settings>mail, Calendar, Contacts> Rr.com>Account. I have an IMAP account but had the same settings in the old days when all RR had was POP accounts. (I use IMAP because it lets me create folders etc. ). Hth