How can I stop a folder called "Unwanted" from continually being recreated?

[Dave Rado]

Ever since I added my Gmail account to Thunderbird using IMAP, a folder
called "Unwanted" has somehow been created in the root approximately
once a day.

It only ever seems to happen when I have Thunderbird open (i.e. I've
never seen it appear on my phone or in Gmail in my browser, except when
I've seen it appear in Thunderbird first, and then if I look, I can see
it in all three places).

Every time I see it, I immediately delete it; and then a day or so later
it comes back. It never contains any emails, so it's not that emails are
being assigned to it. It just keeps being recreated as an empty folder.

It only ever happens in my Gmail account, never in my other email accounts.

What could be causing this and how can I stop it from happening?

Dave

[David E. Ross]

Are any of your other accounts -- the ones that do not have this folder
-- also IMAP?

Do you see a Thunderbird folder named Unwanted in the folder pane of
Thunderbird's window? Or is it strictly a computer folder?

Is it really in Thunderbird's root where thunderbird.exe resides or in
Thunderbird's profile? If the latter, is it directly in the profile
folder or is it in the account subfolder for Gmail within the profile?

--
David E. Ross
<http://www.rossde.com/>

When the President of the United States makes a statement of
national importance, I want to see his face as he is talking.
At the least, I want to hear his voice.

Donald: Stop tweeting. Otherwise, how do we know the message
really comes from you?

[Dave Rado]

Hi David

On 22/01/2017 19:39, David E. Ross wrote:

> Are any of your other accounts -- the ones that do not have this folder
> -- also IMAP?

they are all IMAP.

> Do you see a Thunderbird folder named Unwanted in the folder pane of
> Thunderbird's window?

Yes it's an IMAP folder.

> Is it really in Thunderbird's root where thunderbird.exe resides or in
> Thunderbird's profile?

Neither - it's in the root of the Gmail email account. It's an IMAP folder.

Dave

[David E. Ross]

Aha! Since I do not use IMAP, I cannot help you. I can only conjecture
that Gmail has created this folder and forced it upon you.

Note well: A "root folder" is where thunderbird.exe itself resides.
That is the only root folder. Your various accounts are in
sub-subfolders of the Mail subfolder of a Thunderbird profile folder,
quite separate from the root folder. You are much more likely to get a
correct solution to your problem if you use the correct terminology.

[Gabor]

I had a similar issue with the creation of an "Archives" folder. Is it
possible that you have at some point set the default folder for
archiving to the name "Unwanted" or alternately set the Junk folder
to "Unwanted" in the folders settings for that account? Note that
even if you never achive anything or move junk to the junk folder,
the default folder may be created.

--
Gabor

[Disaster Master]

On Sun Jan 22 2017 13:38:22 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time), Dave Rado <dave...@nospam.co.uk> wrote:

Ever since I added my Gmail account to Thunderbird using IMAP, a folder 
called "Unwanted" has somehow been created in the root approximately 
once a day.

Do you by any chance access your email using a Samsung smartphone or tablet?

https://www.cnet.com/forums/discussions/recently-a-folder-has-appeared-in-my-inbox-named-unwanted-641279/

[Disaster Master]

On Sun Jan 22 2017 22:20:08 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time), David E. Ross <nob...@nowhere.invalid> wrote:

Note well:  A "root folder" is where thunderbird.exe itself resides.

That is the only root folder.

Wrong. What is meant by 'root folder' is totally dependent on context.

Your various accounts are in
sub-subfolders of the Mail subfolder of a Thunderbird profile folder,
quite separate from the root folder.  You are much more likely to get a
correct solution to your problem if you use the correct terminology.

The use of the term 'root' is totally fine in the context it was used.

[Dave Rado]

No, and in any case, when this "Unwanted" folder gets created, there are
never any emails in it, which there would be if it were being used for
either of those.

Thanks for the suggestions though.

Dave

[PS56k]

happen to see this mentioned on other forums -
Are you also using a Samsung Android smartphone for Gmail access ?

http://exchangeitup.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/exchange-2010-extra-junk-or-unwanted.html

[PS56k]

here is where I found the comments about the folder
and using a Samsung smartphone -

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_outlook-mso_winother/email-folder-popped-up-called-unwanted/e526c60f-94aa-40b0-b47c-4e04f71a5e34

[Dave Rado]

Thanks, but that article is about emails being moved to a folder called
"Unwanted" - whereas in my case, the "Unwanted" folder, when it appears,
is always empty, so it's not relevant to my problem.

Nevertheless, I have just checked the built-in email app on my phone to
see if there are any addresses listed under "Spam addresses", and there
aren't any.

I don't generally use the built-in email app, because I don't like it -
although I have set up the built-in app with my email account details
for complex reasons.

The article you linked to recommends disabling the spam filter on the
phone completely", which seems like a sensible idea; but I can't see any
way to do that and the article doesn't say how to do it - although as I
say, this filter can't be the cause of my problem for the reasons given
above.

Dave

[Mike Easter]

Dave Rado wrote:
> when this "Unwanted" folder gets created, there are never any emails in it,

Gmail doesn't use conventional folders, but instead uses a label system
to emulate folders. Tb's system is more like conventional folders.
Apparently gmail and some other mail system such as Tb or a phone
conflict over some created folder.

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/gmail/obYFWwvjXMI/jpdUiueaifoJ
Personal Messages Going to Unwanted (screenshot of Tiffany's Unwanted
folder she alleges is created by gmail) This definitely is not a Gmail
default or system label. - If is being created by a third party app,
probably on your mobile. I found a few other mentions of the "Unwanted"
label/folder online, and they all point the finger at the Junk filter in
the email client provided on Samsung phone .

This one is interesting not for success, but for an elaboration of how
persistent Unwanted is; the questioner is being helped by a gmail
specialist:
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/gmail/i6stJoV87pA (13
msgs) How do I remove the "UNWANTED" label in gmail?


--
Mike Easter

[Mike Easter]

Dave Rado wrote:
> The article you linked to recommends disabling the spam filter on the
> phone completely", which seems like a sensible idea; but I can't see any
> way to do that and the article doesn't say how to do it - although as I
> say, this filter can't be the cause of my problem for the reasons given
> above.

This is one of the articles linked in a link I posted earlier.

Altho' it has significant differences from your problem, the commonality
is the Unwanted folder. The conditions are a Samsung phone filter,
Outlook email agent, Exchange server; but no gmail no Tb. However,
there is a lot of success. It also tells how to turn the Samsung phone
filter off.

http://exchangeitup.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/exchange-2010-extra-junk-or-unwanted.html


--
Mike Easter

[Mike Easter]

Dave Rado wrote:
> Thanks, but that article is about emails being moved to a folder
> called "Unwanted" - whereas in my case, the "Unwanted" folder, when
> it appears, is always empty, so it's not relevant to my problem.

I disagree with your logic that emptiness 'proves' that it is not
related to the phone.

The phone can create the folder automatically/ by default/ in case it is
needed.

> Nevertheless, I have just checked the built-in email app on my phone
> to see if there are any addresses listed under "Spam addresses", and
> there aren't any.

That doesn't matter either. Even if there are none, the phone can
'think' the folder might be needed.

> I don't generally use the built-in email app, because I don't like it
> - although I have set up the built-in app with my email account
> details for complex reasons.

And therein lies the relationship; phone to gmail.

> The article you linked to recommends disabling the spam filter on
> the phone completely", which seems like a sensible idea; but I can't
> see any way to do that and the article doesn't say how to do it -
> although as I say, this filter can't be the cause of my problem for
> the reasons given above.

You've never said what is the brand/model phone. The link I gave
earlier is about Samsung.


--
Mike Easter

[John Kaufmann]

On 2017-01-25 15:02, Mike Easter wrote:

> Dave Rado wrote:
>> Thanks, but that article is about emails being moved to a folder
>> called "Unwanted" - whereas in my case, the "Unwanted" folder, when
>> it appears, is always empty, so it's not relevant to my problem.
>

> I disagree with your logic that emptiness 'proves' that it is not related
> to the phone.
>
> The phone can create the folder automatically/ by default/ in case it is
> needed.
>

>> Nevertheless, I have just checked the built-in email app on my phone
>> to see if there are any addresses listed under "Spam addresses", and
>> there aren't any.
>

> That doesn't matter either. Even if there are none, the phone can 'think'
> the folder might be needed.
>

>> I don't generally use the built-in email app, because I don't like it
>> - although I have set up the built-in app with my email account
>> details for complex reasons.
>

> And therein lies the relationship; phone to gmail.
>

>> The article you linked to recommends disabling the spam filter on
>> the phone completely", which seems like a sensible idea; but I can't
>> see any way to do that and the article doesn't say how to do it -
>> although as I say, this filter can't be the cause of my problem for
>> the reasons given above.
>

> You've never said what is the brand/model phone. The link I gave earlier
> is about Samsung.

Mike, I took Dave's earlier silence on the Samsung question, coupled with
his shift to an unwarranted assumption about the folder's content, as a
tacit acknowledgement that he is indeed working with a Samsung phone - but
that's not the reason for my comment here. Your troubleshooting logic
here, combined with your earlier posts and their links, adds up to a
spectacularly helpful example of untangling the threads. I just had to
express my admiration.
--
John