Deleted Emails or To-Do Items Keep Reappearing in Airmail

When you delete an email, or remove an item from the To-Do box, it can sometimes come back to your inbox or To-Do list after a short time. This is usually caused by how the Trash and To-Do markers are synchronised with your mail server, and not by a fault in the app itself.

Why this happens

Airmail keeps your messages in sync with your mail server over IMAP. A delete that does not stick is normally caused by the Trash folder not being correctly mapped to the folder your provider actually uses for deleted mail, so the server restores the message on the next sync. It can also happen because the To-Do marker is stored separately from the message, so deleting the email without removing the To-Do flag can make the item return. In some cases it is simply a temporary synchronisation conflict between Airmail and the server.

For emails that reappear in the inbox

Open Airmail, then Settings, then Accounts, and select the affected account. In the Folders section, make sure the Trash and Archive folders are mapped to the matching folders on your mail server (for example, the Bin or Trash folder used by Gmail). Confirm that your swipe or delete action is set to Move to Trash rather than Archive. If the message still returns, remove the account and add it again to clear a stuck synchronisation.

For items that keep coming back to the To-Do box

Open the item and remove the To-Do flag first, marking it as Done or removing it from the To-Do list. Only then delete the email, instead of deleting it directly from the To-Do box.

Good to know

Airmail for Mac is distributed through the Mac App Store and runs in Apple's sandbox, so no administrator rights or special system permissions are needed for these steps. Everything is done inside the app's own settings. Make sure you are on the latest version from the Mac App Store before troubleshooting.

If the problem continues after these steps, please contact Airmail support with your email provider (Gmail, iCloud, Outlook, and so on) and your exact Airmail version, so we can investigate further.

Updated on: 07/01/2026