diff --git a/deploy-chatmail/src/deploy_chatmail/__init__.py b/deploy-chatmail/src/deploy_chatmail/__init__.py
index 381b3054..5e280fa2 100644
--- a/deploy-chatmail/src/deploy_chatmail/__init__.py
+++ b/deploy-chatmail/src/deploy_chatmail/__init__.py
@@ -160,6 +160,16 @@ def _configure_dovecot(mail_server: str) -> bool:
     )
     need_restart |= auth_config.changed
 
+    files.put(
+        src=importlib.resources.files(__package__)
+        .joinpath("dovecot/expunge.cron")
+        .open("rb"),
+        dest="/etc/cron.d/expunge",
+        user="root",
+        group="root",
+        mode="644",
+    )
+
     return need_restart
 
 
diff --git a/deploy-chatmail/src/deploy_chatmail/dovecot/expunge.cron b/deploy-chatmail/src/deploy_chatmail/dovecot/expunge.cron
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cd6af52a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deploy-chatmail/src/deploy_chatmail/dovecot/expunge.cron
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+2 0 * * * dovecot doveadm expunge -A SEEN BEFORE 40d INBOX
+2 0 * * * dovecot doveadm expunge -A SEEN BEFORE 40d Deltachat
+2 0 * * * dovecot doveadm expunge -A SEEN BEFORE 40d Trash
+2 30 * * * dovecot doveadm purge -A
\ No newline at end of file