Email, Messaging, & Video Calls › Texting & Messaging How to Delete a Message Bypassing the Trash Share Pin Email Print monkeypics / Getty Images Texting & Messaging Email Texting & Messaging Video Calls By Heinz Tschabitscher Writer A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997. our editorial process Heinz Tschabitscher Updated February 05, 2020 24 24 people found this article helpful You can delete a spam message immediately before it even makes it to your Mozilla Thunderbird, Netscape or Mozilla trash folder. You may want to make sure a message is completely removed from your computer and not waiting around in the Trash to cause problems later. This will make you feel especially good if you suspect something contains a virus. We'll show you how. Delete a Message Bypassing the Trash in Mozilla Thunderbird or Netscape Normally when you hit the delete button the message goes to the Trash folder and sites there until you delete it or until it is automatically deleted, depending on your settings. (Look in Account Settings > Server Settings and Message Storage to see how yours is set up.) To immediately and irrevocably delete a message in Mozilla Thunderbird, Netscape or Mozilla: Select the message you want to delete in the message list.Hold down the Shift key while pressing Del.