Tim Hardy

I was asked to help delete 16,980 messages from an IMAP spam folder the other day. No email client could handle it without crashing. Even mutt choked after several hours of valiantly struggling.

Python to the rescue. Rather than write a script to do this I ran each command from the python shell. It’s a very addictive way of working because you get instant feedback.

import getpass, imaplib
M = imaplib.IMAP4_SSL("imap.gmail.com")
M.login("yourusername@gmail.com", getpass.getpass())


Now we’re in. Let’s see what directories exist.

M.list()


Pick the offending directory.

M.select("[Gmail]/Spam")


View the messages.

typ, data = M.search(None, 'ALL')
for num in data[0].split():
....typ, data = M.fetch(num, '(RFC822)')
....print 'Message %s\n%s\n' % (num, data[0][1])


Now delete them all and close the connection to the mailserver. To delete a message in IMAP, you need to set the delete flag on it then expunge the folder.

typ, data = M.search(None, 'ALL')
for num in data[0].split():
....M.store(num, '+FLAGS', '\\Deleted')
M.expunge()
M.close()
M.logout()


(To be fair to google I must point out that gmail was not the offending mailserver although I’ve used them in the sample code above.)

It is absolutely clear that, by his activity, man changes the forms of the materials of nature in such a way as to make them useful to him. The form of wood, for instance, is altered if a table is made out of it. Nevertheless the table continues to be wood, an ordinary, sensuous thing. But as soon as it emerges as a commodity, it changes into a thing which transcends sensuousness. It not only stands with its feet on the ground, but, in relation to all other commodities, it stands on its head, and evolves out of its wooden brain grotesque ideas, far more wonderful than if it were to begin dancing of its own free will.

Das Kapital, Karl Marx