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Is there any other way of removing the "Set Up Mail" and other entries from the message indicator short of uninstalling Evolution? I prefer to use GMail directly through the browser. It's beginning to annoy me since I keep on clicking it by accident then that window pops out.

Flyk
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Marky
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3 Answers3

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To remove the Set Up Mail... ( or Chat, Broadcast etc.) item for just your user account, simply run the following commands (replacing evolution with gwibber,empathy etc.):

This creates a folder that the Messaging Menu looks into for applications to not show: 

mkdir ~/.config/indicators/messages/applications-blacklist/ -p

Now, to "blacklist" an item from the Messaging Menu:

cp /usr/share/indicators/messages/applications/evolution ~/.config/indicators/messages/applications-blacklist/

This has the same effect as removing evolution from /usr/share/indicators/messages/applications but it will only affect your user. Also, it takes effect immediately, you don't need to log out or restart the panel.

If for any reason you want to re-enable Set Up Mail, simply remove the file ~/.config/indicators/messages/applications-blacklist/evolution

Isaiah
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    This is the best way to remove specific entries from the messaging menu without uninstalling the application. It will work for this user and doesn't involve any files that are under package manager control. Thanks DoR! – Ted Gould Apr 29 '11 at 14:08
  • I've followed these instructions on 12.04 and copied the files empathy, gwibber.indicator and thunderbird to the blacklist folder; thunderbird was removed (after a logout/login) but Chat and Set Up Mail... remain - am I missing something? – lofidevops Jul 06 '12 at 09:03
  • This does not seem to work in 12.10 (I filed a bug as there seems to be a new way through dconf: https://bugs.launchpad.net/indicator-messages/+bug/1083562 ) – sup Nov 27 '12 at 13:09
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You can remove the evolution-indicator package and Evolution won't show up in the Messaging Indicator anymore.

JanC
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Note: as per Ted and pydave's comments, my original answer below is not the ideal solution. Refer to the other answers for better solutions.

Removing an item from /usr/share/indicators/messages/applications should remove its corresponding application from the messaging indicator. It should take effect the next time you log in.

Community
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mgunes
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  • Excellent it worked! But I had to load into a Guest session to see that it did work. Killing the panel didn't seem to do the trick. I guess on my next login it should be gone. Thanks Marco! :) or Murat, sorry. ;) – Marky Oct 17 '10 at 04:07
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    This works, but I don't think it's good to encourage people to change/delete files that are under package management. It can cause errors on upgrade or the files will get replaced. – Ted Gould Apr 29 '11 at 14:03
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    I agree with Ted. Uninstalling evolution-indicator or blacklisting the indicator is a better approach. An update may restore evolution's indicator. Also, changing system files affects all users (if you're going to do that, why not just uninstall evolution completely: http://askubuntu.com/questions/32231 ) – idbrii May 05 '11 at 17:31