Cannot empty Evolution deleted items folder

If you mean your "Trash" folder in Evolution, right click on that and select "Empty Garbage bin" from the drop-down menu.

Thanks but I have tried this and also File>Empty deleted items and Folder>Expunge but nothing removes them.

"File>Empty deleted items" - not in my version 2.22.3.1
Which version of Ubuntu and Evolution are you using?

In Evolution, go to Edit, Preferences. Highlight your account and click on "Mail Preferences" (left field) and check what is written under the heading of "Delete Mail". Is it set to "Empty Trash Folder on Exit - Everytime"?

Thanks for your help. I'm using Ubuntu 8.10 and Evolution version 2.24.1 - trash/deleted probably same thing. Setting preference for 'empty deleted folder on exit everytime' doesn't have any effect.

I've just sent one 'sent' message to deleted folder and then tried 'empty deleted folder' and that one message was deleted but all the rest still remain in there. Strange.

There is a lot of information on the web regarding Evolution's handling of Trash which has been a source of annoyance to many for several years.

The only "remedies" I have found are to "Expunge" (which you have already tried) and "Hide Deleted Messages" (accessible via View).

You can try to create a new folder and move the folders out of Trash (drag and drop) into the new folder and then delete the whole folder.

Thanks Andre this works. I have also discovered that complete removal of Evolution using Synaptic and then deleting the hidden .evolution folder (Ctrl+H)from the home folder works, but need to save contacts/messages etc and then import them after re-install of Evolution. Your way is easier.

I tried what Andre said, and it didn't work, it just copied the messages, despite the explicit request to move the items. When started from the console I got some messages on the lines of ...

(evolution:15682): camel-WARNING **: Error storing '~/.evolution/mail/local/Inbox (mbox)': Summary and folder mismatch, even after a sync

(evolution:15682): camel-local-provider-WARNING **: Didn't get the next message where I expected (75114950) got 79791557 instead

Anyway, managed to find a fix based on https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/evolution/+bug/287811/comments/6

Instead of deleting the summary files, I removed the cmeta, index and index.data files (i.e. change the find command accordingly). When I started evolution from console after it had a bit of a bitch about some 'Could not find entry for word...' messages. However, I skimmed over my folders everything seemed fine. After reloading I could remove the deleted items. I guess this change comes because evolution has changed it's internal storage (so ev-summary files don't exist now).

I would like to point out I have zero knowledge on how evolution works internally, and this fix I tried was my first estimated guess on how to solve this after other methods didn't work. I recommend backing up your ~/evolution folder before doing this, and will not be held responsible if things go pear shaped (shouldn't happen if you backup).

I'm guessing what's happened is that the index/cmeta files are database indexes, and these got corrupted at some point. I guess the app will detect when this get removed and regenerates them when this happens.

I am also a victim of this error. Since I did a fresh install of 8.10 but retained my old /home, I ended up deleting a ton of ev files as well as the cmeta,index and index.data files. This allowed me to delete the trash successfully. Hopefully this will be fixed in the near future.

This saved my day. Here are the commands to remove the files. Please do follow other instructions. These are only commands to delete the various derived files.

find .evolution -name \*index.data -exec rm -f {} \;
find .evolution -name \*index -exec rm -f {} \;
find .evolution -name \*cmeta -exec rm -f {} \;

Thanks Slowpoison, Was having same problem and it worked perfectly.. will see how long it lasts.. I am running version 2.28 along with Ubuntu 10.04 which I would like to add is not as stable as 9.10. Seem to be having lock up issues with this version and didn't with 9.10.. Thanks again..