Problem deleting emails in gmail using imaplib

Question

I try to remove message from inbox folder and all alright, but when i switched to All Mail folder the removing does not work. expunge() method returns ('OK', [None]) and message was not removed:

>>>import imaplib
>>>server = imaplib.IMAP4_SSL('imap.gmail.com','993')
>>>server.login('[email protected]','Password')
>>>server.select('inbox')
>>>for i in server.search(None,'all')[1][0].split():
...    print i+"\n"+server.fetch(i,'(BODY[HEADER.FIELDS (Subject)])')[1][0][1]
...
#  that how i know what UID hame my message? I select by subject
#....
#28
#Subject: 1 Question Has 1 Answer - Stack Overflow
#
#
#29
#Subject: 2222222222
#...
>>>server.store(29,'+FLAGS','\\Deleted')
#('OK', ['29 (FLAGS (\\Seen \\Deleted))'])
>>>server.expunge()
#('OK', ['29'])
>>> server.select('[Gmail]/All Mail')
('OK', ['47'])
>>> for i in server.search(None,'all')[1][0].split():
...  print i+"\n"+server.fetch(i,'(BODY[HEADER.FIELDS (Subject)])')[1][0][1]
... 
#....
#
#46
#Subject: 2222222222
#
#
#47
#Subject: 3333333333333333
#
#....
>>> server.store(47,'+FLAGS','\\Deleted')
('OK', ['47 (FLAGS (\\Seen \\Deleted))'])
>>> server.expunge()
('OK', [None])

Answer 1

it moves all the mail in a given gmail label to the gmail Trash

#!usr/bin/python
import email, imaplib

user = 'xxx'
pwd = 'xxx'

m = imaplib.IMAP4_SSL("imap.gmail.com")
m.login(user,pwd)

m.select("some_gmail_label")
m.store("1:*",'+X-GM-LABELS', '\\Trash')

m.expunge() # should be useless, but gmail server says it is ok

Remember to refresh your gmail interface cause it has cache

Answer 2

As it says on the gmail blog site, Google's implementation of IMAP is a bit different. When you follow the instructions for getting more usual semantics, does it help?

There are also some more obscure options for those of you who want to make Gmail's IMAP work more like traditional IMAP providers: you can turn off auto-expunge or trash messages when they're no longer visible through IMAP.

The IMAP protocol allows messages to be marked for deletion, a sort of limbo state where a message is still present in the folder but slated to be deleted the next time the folder is expunged. In our standard IMAP implementation, when you mark a message as deleted, Gmail doesn't let it linger in that state -- it deletes (or auto-expunges) it from the folder right away. If you want the two-stage delete process, after you've enabled this Lab, just select 'Do not automatically expunge messages' under the 'Forwarding and POP/IMAP' tab in Settings.

Similarly, most IMAP systems don't share Gmail's concept of archiving messages (sending messages to the [Gmail]/All Mail folder rather than [Gmail]/Trash). If you'd prefer that deleted messages not remaining in any other visible IMAP folders are sent to [Gmail]/Trash instead, Advanced IMAP Controls lets you set your preferences this way. In the 'IMAP Access:' section of the 'Forwarding and POP/IMAP' tab, find the 'When a message is deleted from the last visible IMAP folder:' option. Select 'Move the message to the Gmail Trash.' If you want to take it one step further, you can select 'Immediately delete the message forever.'