Remove empty folders in offlineimap
###################################
:date: 2019-01-31 16:00
:tags: offlineimap


Offlineimap becomes quite slow when you have so many (empty folders), this is
how you can delete them.

The blog post is based on a (now offline) article_ by Matt Palma.

**Disclaimer:**

Besure to double and triple check every command, actions on the remote
are permanent.
If you want to read more about the dangers of deleting stuff, read the
Matt Palmers article_.

Find all empty folders
----------------------
.. code-block:: bash
   for i in INBOX.*; do find $i -type f | grep -q $i || \
    (echo $i ); done >/tmp/empties
    cat /tmp/empties

Remove empty folders locally
--------------------
.. code-block:: bash
    for i in $(cat /tmp/empties); do
      rm -rvf $i
    done

Remove empty folders via offlineimap remotely
--------------------

.. code-block:: bash
    for i in $(cat /tmp/empties); do
      offlineimap --delete-folder $i
    done


.. _article: https://web.archive.org/web/20160810001943/http://www.hezmatt.org/~mpalmer/blog/2007/06/03/offlineimap-and-deleting-folders.html