Gmail IMAP messages marked as "read" - when they're not!

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Level 2

362 points

Gmail IMAP messages marked as "read" - when they're not!

I just switched from .Mac to Gmail. I'm using the Gmail IMAP service. It is working well, except for one thing: when I receive a new message, it is marked as "read" (no blue dot next to it) right when it comes into the Inbox. Any ideas why this is happening and what I can do about it?

G5 2.0 dual-core, Mac OS X (10.5.1), 17" Apple LCD, NVIDIA 6600 LE, 4.5 GB RAM, 10,000 RPM 74G Raptor boot drive

Posted on Jan 19, 2008 9:12 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Pascal Bouvier

Level 4

2,880 points

Jan 19, 2008 9:37 AM in response to Badlydrawnboy

here is what i would suggest you do: delete the gmail account in mail>preferences>accounts and then quit mail, shut down your computer, power up, launch mail, and add the gmail accout again.

let me know if that helps

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Answer 2

Badlydrawnboy Author

Level 2

362 points

Jan 19, 2008 9:44 AM in response to Pascal Bouvier

I deleted and re-created the account, and so far it seems to be working. Thanks.

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Answer 3

Jan 19, 2008 9:49 AM in response to Badlydrawnboy

glad i could help

if the issue pops up again, i would suggest you delete the account in mail, then quit, then go to homefolder/library/mail, then drag that folder to the desktop - if you have other accounts than the gmail, make a copy of that folder, then create a new mail folder in same location, then launch mail and recreate the account...

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Answer 4

Badlydrawnboy Author

Level 2

362 points

Jan 19, 2008 11:41 AM in response to Pascal Bouvier

Alas, I'm still having problems with Gmail. Now what happens is that I'm getting the "caution" triangle next to the account which indicates a problem. The error message when I click on that triangle is: " Unable to Connect There may be a problem with the mail server or network. Check the settings for account “Gmail” or try again. The server error encountered was: The connection to the server “imap.gmail.com” on port 587 timed out."

Also, something else is strange. When I look in the account settings window, my password is not there. It's blank. So I enter it. A few minutes later, when I check, my password is again no longer there.

Regarding your suggestions to move the mail folder, I really don't want to do that because I have about 20 mailboxes full of important saved messages. I can't afford to lose those. Surely there must be some other way?

Leopard is the worst OS upgrade in Apple's history, IMO. It's caused more problems for me than I could have imagined.

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Answer 5

Jan 19, 2008 11:56 AM in response to Badlydrawnboy

i too have gmail and have just gotten the triangle warning a few minutes ago. usually it goes away a little while later, or goes away if i quit mail and launch again - as a matter of fact i did just that and it cleared itself.

as for a password field being blank, that is not normal. i would look in the outgoing server list, select edit server list, check the gmail server settings, delete and enter them again, close perferences window and save, then go to keychain access and make sure the password is there and correct, and that there are no duplicates.

hope this helps

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Answer 6

Badlydrawnboy Author

Level 2

362 points

Jan 19, 2008 12:06 PM in response to Pascal Bouvier

The issue is not with the SMTP server password, it's with the IMAP password in the "account settings" tab. I delete the account, re-create it, enter the password etc. and save. I close the preferences window. When I reopen, the password field in the account settings window is again blank.

More strange behavior: the notification for this thread when you replied did not come through to my Gmail account - it went to my .Mac account. This is in spite of the fact that I have Gmail configured to collect my .Mac account.

I can't use Gmail if I can't depend on it to retrieve all of my mail from my other accounts. I'm getting cold feet now and thinking of keeping my .Mac account and just paying the $100.

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Answer 7

Badlydrawnboy Author

Level 2

362 points

Jan 19, 2008 1:06 PM in response to Badlydrawnboy

I am getting the "triangle" again, and the "connect to server timeout" error message. This is frustrating. I've posted a message at the Google forums but no one answers over there. What else can I do?

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Answer 8

Feb 17, 2008 8:00 AM in response to Pascal Bouvier

I must say this resolution has worked for my problems as well. I had the same issues with 2 mac's both accessing my IMAP mailbox. All mails incoming were "already read" eventhough I have not even seen their subjects.

Removing, booting and reentering helped. ( although it took some time to redownload all my mails from the imap server.

..BUT WHY ? This isn't microsoft, so tell me why !?

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