MobileMe: You receive a "Mailbox full" email message

Resolution

Resolutions for this vary depending on the way you access your mail. If you are not sure which protocol you use, check the configuration of your mail application, as it will usually say in the account details which protocol it is using.

POP3

General Information

If you access your mail using Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3), ensure that the options in your email client's preferences are set to delete all messages from the server once they have been downloaded. Also, if your application has an option to partially download messages over a certain size, be sure this is deselected. Location and configuration of these options will vary by mail application. Consult the application's Help section for assistance in identifying and configuring them.

Mac OS X Mail

For accounts set up using the POP3 protocol in the Mail application included with Mac OS X, you should follow these steps:

1. Choose Preferences from the Mail menu.
2. Click Accounts.
3. Select your MobileMe POP account.
4. Click the Advanced tab.
5. Ensure that the "Remove copy from server after retrieving a message" option is enabled. 
6. Choose when you'd like messages to be removed using the pop-up list and click the Remove Now button. Also be sure that there is nothing entered into the field labeled "Prompt me to skip messages over ____ KB".
7. Click OK.
8. Quit then reopen the application.

Explanation

Mail will download all contents of the Inbox on the server to your computer. If the account has ever been accessed using the IMAP protocol, there may be additional messages that will remain on the server, as the POP3 download process only "sees" items in the Inbox. You can access the account using MobileMe Mail to read and delete any of these messages. See the MobileMe Mail section below for further assistance with this.

IMAP

General Information

If you use the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), check all folders within the account and delete any unnecessary messages as they all count towards your server space. You can also drag messages you want to keep into local folders in order to save space on the server.

Mac OS X Mail

For accounts set up using the IMAP protocol in the Mail application included with Mac OS X, follow these steps: 

1. Delete unwanted messages from all folders within the MobileMe account.
2. Any messages the you'd like to keep may be stored locally by dragging them to any of the categories under "On My Mac".
3. Once all folders have been emptied, empty the Deleted Messages folder by choosing Erase Deleted Messages from the Mailbox menu item.

This will completely remove these items from the server.

Explanation

IMAP does not automatically download messages from the server. It shows you all the messages and folders you have within your mailbox, but this mailbox is on the server. IMAP also allows you to create new folders in your mailbox on the server. All messages in your folders, including Inbox, Deleted Messages (Trash), Sent Messages (Sent), and any other mail folders you may have created, are on the server and count towards your quota. Your MobileMe email storage has a 10 GB quota by default, but it can be adjusted.

As with the POP3 protocol, deleted messages are moved to your Deleted Messages folder and still count toward server space. Delete all messages from the Deleted Messages folder after all others are emptied, in order to completely remove items from the server and free up space. 

MobileMe Mail 

Another way to view and remove messages stored on the server is to access MobileMe Mail using a Web browser. Once logged in with your MobileMe member name and password, you can view all folders and messages stored on the server for your MobileMe account. Follow the same process as when accessing the account using IMAP. Empty all folders and delete the contents of the Deleted Messages folder after all others are emptied, in order to completely remove items from the server.