For an iCloud and/or Windstream email account, how can I delete emails across multiple devices, without having to go to each device?

Question

I have a friend with an iCloud email account and Windstream account on both her iPad and iPhone... She's saying that when she deletes an email from one device, it doesn't delete it from the other automatically... She's using both emails through the "Mail, Contacts and Calendars" settings under the "Settings" menu; not through apps...  I've had her check both of her email account settings to make sure that the settings were consistent... I've never had this issue with Exchange or Gmail, and I don't use the iCloud email account, so I'm a little unfamiliar with what else to look at... Can someone offer some advice, please?
Thank you for your help!

Answer 1

IMAP is the mail protocol that allows you to delete a message one place and have it delete everywhere else. iCloud uses IMAP, so it should be working. If the messages never delete, then something may be incorrect in the settings. The easiest thing to do with iCloud is to logout of the account on every device, and then login again. (Another common problem with iCloud email is people often have two Apple IDs, and thus may have two iCloud email accounts. If you get confused about which one you're using, you may think you've deleted email when you actually haven't.)
If the iCloud messages do ultimately delete across all devices, then it could be that some devices aren't set to "Push" but are instead set to "Fetch" the newest info from the server. Fetch can be set to as long as an hour between check-ins.
The same holds true for Windstream if she's using an IMAP account there, too. If it's a POP account, then deleting a message one place will never delete it anywhere else—that's the way POP works.