Cannot Delete Newsgroup Messages in Outlook Express

• Microsoft Outlook Express version 4.0 for Windows 95
• Microsoft Outlook Express version 4.0 for Windows NT 4.0

SYMPTOMS

If you select a newsgroup message in Outlook Express and then try to delete it, you may not be able to delete the message.

CAUSE

Messages on a news server cannot be deleted by a client program.

RESOLUTION

To work around this problem, follow these steps:

1. Select a newsgroup message that you want to delete.

2. On the Edit menu, click Mark As Read.

3. On the View menu, click Current View, and then click Unread Messages.

MORE INFORMATION

In some news reader clients, the ability to delete a downloaded message is a feature. However, only the local copy of the message is deleted. The only way to delete a message from a news server is by using the Cancel command. To cancel a message, you must be the author of the message. Not all news servers support this feature.

Outlook Express does not have a command to delete a local copy of a news message. This behavior is by design. The workaround listed above is a way to view only unread messages. There are additional features in Outlook Express for maintaining the size of the local message cache. Please see the online Help for more information.