Automatically Remove Old Mail from the Mac OS X Mail Trash

When I delete a message I really shouldn't delete, the Mac OS X Mail Trash folder is a godsend. It lets me recover the message easily.

I also like another aspect of the Trash in Mac OS X Mail: how it keeps itself to a reasonable size by eliminating very old messages automatically.

Automatically Remove Old Mail from the Mac OS X Mail Trash

To turn this feature on and have old mail automatically removed from the Mac OS X Mail Trash:

• Select Mail | Preferences... from the menu.
• Go to the Accounts category.
• Highlight the account whose Trash folder you want to configure.
• Go to the Special Mailboxes tab.
• Make sure Move deleted messages to a separate folder (POP accounts) or Move deleted messages to the Trash mailbox (IMAP accounts) is selected.
• Now make sure One month/week/day old is selected under Erase deleted messages when:.
• Close the dialog saving changes.