PHP Manual
IMAP Functions
Mark a message for deletion from current mailbox

imap_delete

(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

imap_delete — Mark a message for deletion from current mailbox

Description

imap_delete(IMAP\Connection $imap, string $message_nums, int $flags = 0): bool

Marks messages listed in message_nums for deletion. Messages marked for deletion will stay in the mailbox until either imap_expunge() is called or imap_close() is called with the optional parameter CL_EXPUNGE.

Parameters

imap: An IMAP\Connection instance.
message_nums: A string representing one or more messages in IMAP4-style sequence format ("n", "n:m", or combination of these delimited by commas).
flags: You can set the FT_UID which tells the function to treat the message_nums argument as a UID.

Return Values

Returns true.

Changelog

Version	Description
8.1.0	The `imap` parameter expects an IMAP\Connection instance now; previously, a resource was expected.

Examples

Example #1 imap_delete() example


<?php

$mbox = imap_open("{imap.example.org}INBOX", "username", "password")
    or die("Can't connect: " . imap_last_error());

$check = imap_mailboxmsginfo($mbox);
echo "Messages before delete: " . $check->Nmsgs . "<br />\n";

imap_delete($mbox, 1);

$check = imap_mailboxmsginfo($mbox);
echo "Messages after  delete: " . $check->Nmsgs . "<br />\n";

imap_expunge($mbox);

$check = imap_mailboxmsginfo($mbox);
echo "Messages after expunge: " . $check->Nmsgs . "<br />\n";

imap_close($mbox);
?>

Notes

Note:
IMAP mailboxes may not have their message flags saved between connections, so imap_expunge() should be called during the same connection in order to guarantee that messages marked for deletion will actually be purged.