add deleting emails tutorial

Author: x4nth055

README.md

@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ This is a repository of all the tutorials of [The Python Code](https://www.thepy
     - [How to Use Regular Expressions in Python](https://www.thepythoncode.com/article/work-with-regular-expressions-in-python). ([code](python-standard-library/regular-expressions))
     - [Logging in Python](https://www.thepythoncode.com/article/logging-in-python). ([code](python-standard-library/logging))
     - [How to Make a Chat Application in Python](https://www.thepythoncode.com/article/make-a-chat-room-application-in-python). ([code](python-standard-library/chat-application))
+    - [How to Delete Emails in Python](https://www.thepythoncode.com/article/deleting-emails-in-python). ([code](python-standard-library/deleting-emails))
 
 - ### [Using APIs](https://www.thepythoncode.com/topic/using-apis-in-python)
     - [How to Automate your VPS or Dedicated Server Management in Python](https://www.thepythoncode.com/article/automate-veesp-server-management-in-python). ([code](general/automating-server-management))

python-standard-library/deleting-emails/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# [How to Delete Emails in Python](https://www.thepythoncode.com/article/deleting-emails-in-python)
+To run this:
+- Change `username` and `password` for real email credentials, edit the `imap.search()` line for your use case and run `delete_emails.py`:
+    ```
+    python delete_emails.py
+    ```

python-standard-library/deleting-emails/delete_emails.py

@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+import imaplib
+import email
+from email.header import decode_header
+
+# account credentials
+username = "youremailaddress@provider.com"
+password = "yourpassword"
+
+# create an IMAP4 class with SSL 
+imap = imaplib.IMAP4_SSL("imap.gmail.com")
+# authenticate
+imap.login(username, password)
+# select the mailbox I want to delete in
+# if you want SPAM, use imap.select("SPAM") instead
+imap.select("INBOX")
+# search for specific mails by sender
+status, messages = imap.search(None, 'FROM "googlealerts-noreply@google.com"')
+# to get all mails
+# status, messages = imap.search(None, "ALL")
+# to get mails by subject
+# status, messages = imap.search(None, 'SUBJECT "Thanks for Subscribing to our Newsletter !"')
+# to get mails after a specific date
+# status, messages = imap.search(None, 'SINCE "01-JAN-2020"')
+# to get mails before a specific date
+# status, messages = imap.search(None, 'BEFORE "01-JAN-2020"')
+# convert messages to a list of email IDs
+messages = messages[0].split(b' ')
+for mail in messages:
+    _, msg = imap.fetch(mail, "(RFC822)")
+    # you can delete the for loop for performance if you have a long list of emails
+    # because it is only for printing the SUBJECT of target email to delete
+    for response in msg:
+        if isinstance(response, tuple):
+            msg = email.message_from_bytes(response[1])
+            # decode the email subject
+            subject = decode_header(msg["Subject"])[0][0]
+            if isinstance(subject, bytes):
+                # if it's a bytes type, decode to str
+                subject = subject.decode()
+            print("Deleting", subject)
+    # mark the mail as deleted
+    imap.store(mail, "+FLAGS", "\\Deleted")
+# permanently remove mails that are marked as deleted
+# from the selected mailbox (in this case, INBOX)
+imap.expunge()
+# close the mailbox
+imap.close()
+# logout from the account
+imap.logout()