gmail-apple mail not leaving gmail on gmail server

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Level 1

36 points

gmail-apple mail not leaving gmail on gmail server

Hello: I am using Apple Mail 1.3.11 on OS X.3.9. I want to leave the messages of my gmail account, on the gmail server, after downloading them to the Apple Mail app. In Apple Mail prefs, for my account "gmail" on the "advanced" button, there is a checkbox to "remove copy from server after retrieving a message." I have that box unchecked - I do NOT want a copy REMOVED from server. I want that copy kept there so I can again download it in another mail app. I have checked my gmail mail, from the web (using camino), and in sending a test message to my gmail account, it is downloaded to my Apple Mail account, and REMOVED from the gmail server (the test message is NOT on the gmail server).

Is this a corrupted Apple Mail preference? And/or, how can I make the mail (copy) stay on gmail's server as it should (note, it does work properly in thunderbird, which unfortunately is much slower on my Mac than Mail)? Thank you.

G4 400MHz sawtooth, Mac OS X (10.3.x), 1G RAM

Posted on Nov 18, 2007 2:59 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 18, 2007 5:21 PM in response to Paul Larkin

Hello Paul.

The thing is, Mail wouldn’t be able to remove your mail from Gmail’s server even if you told it to do so. Gmail POP access doesn’t work like a normal POP mail server would, and one of its idiosyncrasies is precisely that Gmail ignores any requests to delete messages from the server made by a POP client such as Mail.

Your Mail > Preferences > Accounts > Advanced > Remove copy from server settings have absolutely no effect on the messages stored on Gmail’s server. What happens to the messages on the server after a POP client has downloaded them is determined by Gmail’s Settings > Forwarding and POP > When messages are accessed with POP setting alone. If your messages are being removed from the server after Mail has downloaded them, it has to be because you’ve configured Gmail (not Mail) that way...

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Answer 2

Paul Larkin Author

Level 1

36 points

Nov 19, 2007 9:11 PM in response to David Gimeno Gost

Thank you. Right after I posted, I checked other email clients and they have the same behavior. And there's no way to set the gmail settings to leave on (its) server, till a client tells it not to, gmail just downloads to 1st pop client, and erases per its prefs.

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Answer 3

Nov 20, 2007 3:00 AM in response to Paul Larkin

You’re welcome.

Not sure what you mean. Sure there is a way to change the Gmail settings (after logging into your mail account on the web), and I already told you what it is in my first post: Settings > Forwarding and POP > When messages are accessed with POP.

Moreover, the default isn’t to remove the messages from the server after downloading them, which means that if the messages are being removed from the server it has to be because at some point you changed those settings...

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