Windows Live Mail 2012 - Empty 'Deleted items' folder missing from context menu

Question

I have recently switched to a newer desktop PC running Windows 10 Pro. I have reinstalled all my software and data. There is two odd things about Hotmail accounts on Windows Live Mail 2012. The first is an improvement in that, on my previous PC, sent items always appeared twice in the Sent folder - this is a known oddity for which there are explanations given which I don't fully understand. One the new PC, sent items only appear once in the Sent folder. The second is that Empty 'Deleted items' folder entry is missing from context menu for Hotmail accounts but appears for other types of account. Can anyone explain why the context menu is missing the Empty 'Deleted items' folder entry and how to get it back please? I have attached am image showing the two different context menus.

Answer 1

Thank you Clitheroe.

I did try what you suggested. I have slightly modified it by leaving 'Store special folders on IMAP server' ticked but renamed the folders as Deleted, Junk and Sent. I then deleted the Deleted Item, Sent Items and Junk E-mail folders from my Hotmail account. This tidies things up. Also Empty Deleted items Folder has re-appeared in the context menu - which is good.

Answer 2

Sorry it wasn't possible to answer you sooner. I am not sure, but after some thought I believe your fault might be related to the following fix for duplicate IMAP folders.

If you have selected IMAP as the account type, for your Hotmail account, the WLM program automatically creates the following folders in WLM's folder list for that account:

Deleted Items  
Sent Items  
Junk E-mail  

The folders with those names are useless duplicates (the real folders are those named "Deleted", "Junk" and "Sent"). You must remove the useless folders, as follows:

1. Select the option "WORK OFFLINE" on the ribbon. The ribbon is the top menu bar in the WLM program's window (the menu which includes the tabs labelled 'Home', 'Folders', 'View' and 'Accounts'). On the ribbon, go to: Home > Work Offline
2. Right-click on the added e-mail account's name (e.g. ******@somewhere.com), then click on "Properties".
3. On the "IMAP" tab, under "Special Folders", untick "Store special folders on IMAP server".
4. Click "OK".
5. When asked for confirmation to refresh the folders list, click "Yes". It'll take a few moments to download and refresh the folders list.
6. Manually delete the useless folders one by one: select a folder ("Deleted Items", "Sent Items", or "Junk E-mail"), then right-click on that folder, then select "Delete".
7. Select WLM's option to work ONLINE. On the ribbon, go to: Home > Work Online

It sounds as if you made some kind of mistake when you set up the Hotmail account. But it might be correctable, if you go back through the 7 steps involved, and do them again as suggested above, instead of doing what you did before.

Alternatively, you might try creating a new account in WLM for your Hotmail account, following closely the 7 steps I've suggested, then if it succeeds you could delete the problematic WLM account, once the replacement account is working properly.

Answer 3

I've noticed another odd things about the Hotmail accounts. If I alter the columns in the Inbox, the settings get applied to all the other folders. On my laptop I can set different column layouts for each folder.

I have just done a repair to Windows Essentials and it didn't make any difference.

Answer 4

The image didn't appear so here it is.