Mail inbox greyed out

I contacted Outlook support but they have not replied yet. Meanwhile, I have some suspicions about Outlook 365, as I only installed this about 2 weeks ago and the problem started after that. I have noticed that Outlook 365 on the laptop does not always display the same recent messages as the mail provider's web e mail (Btinternet). If I have Outlook open on the laptop and emails open on the web as well, I can see more recent messages on the web, even if I do a send/receive on Outlook. I have checked and double-checked the Outlook settings and I don't think I have missed anything.

Another piece of info that might help is that if I turn off my iphone and turn it back on, the inbox is accessible, but goes back to greyed out and inaccessible as soon as I move away from it.

Jim

Thanks Axel. The Account Changes setting is set at ALLOW. Regarding iOS 13.4, the phone doesn't allow it. I assume because it is an early model (Iphone 5s).

I should have mentioned that, if I delete and reload the IMAP account, the mail app shows the inbox content initially, but as soon as I move to another folder, everything disappears and it is greyed out. However, if I open another folder and search "all folders" for a message that I know was in the Inbox, I can find it and it says it is in the Inbox folder.

Thanks Again Axel. Yes, I have spent quite a long time talking to Apple support on two occasions and some of the things I have done were suggested by them. I did try to download the Outlook 365 mail app, but even when I put the exact settings from my laptop 365 account it says it can not connect to server. I am wondering if this is an 'old iphone' issue too! I may try again though, just in case I made a mistake.

Jim

An update on this. I have not had any reply from Microsoft. In answer to the question above, all the mail is a personal account, there is no outside organisation involved.

Meanwhile, to try to isolate the problem, I have:

uninstalled the Outlook 365 from my laptop

deleted the mail account again from both iphone and ipad

added the mail account to another iphone (6s running iOS 13.4)

The same greyed out inbox problem occurs.

I need to explain that all the above refers to my partner's phone and ipad, and she has the habit of creating loads (40 or more) sub folders under the inbox on different subjects. All those are accessible and readable, except the inbox itself.

If I check her Btinternet account on the internet, the inbox is readable and up to date, but none of the sub folders that she has on iphone and ipad appear. I am wondering whether it is possible to back up the sub folders anywher and see if her iphone/ipad can mirror the account on the internet? If I move the sub folders to 'Archive', are they held locally on the iphone but not on the server?

Hello Axel

The email account is provided by BTinternet, which is our broadband provider.

However - I now have to apologise (because I don't use the internet mail page normally) I have just noticed that to see the whole mailbox and all the subfolders, I have to hover over the inbox and click a right arrow. So all the folders are there on webmail and the inbox can be accessed.

I wondered if it was a capacity issue on the iphone, but there seems to be enough left. It is 16GB and there is 2.06GB free. In any case, the inbox problem is the same on the iPad. Do the iPhone and iPad sync with each other for mail or just with the e mail server?

Jim

You must be getting as tired of this topic as I am frustrated! I contacted BTinternet support and they asked me to check settings, which were all ok. As a last resort, someone suggested changing the e mail account password, which I did, but still the same problem.

Clutching at straws now, but my partner uses the same BTinternet provider as me. When I look at my IMAP folders on webmail, they are pretty much standard I think: Inbox, Drafts, Sent, Junk, Trash, Archive, Deleted Messages. The same on my iphone. However, on my partner's webmail, she has: Inbox, Unread, Starred, Drafts, Sent, Archive, Spam, Deleted and then Inbox (again), then loads of sub folders including Spam, saved Mail, Junk, Sent, etc.

On her webmail, the two inboxes have the same content and are readable. Her iphone has the same folders in the same sequence (as one would expect), but the two inboxes are greyed out. It may not be significant , but below the second inbox, there is a sub-folder Bulk Mail which is the only other folder greyed out. It is also on the web mail, but is called Spam and is empty.

Sorry, this all must be quite confusing to follow. I am wondering if the IMAP folders are duplicated and/or corrupted as I can't understand why there should be two inboxes.

Jim

No I hadn't thought of that Axel. I will give it a try. Meanwhile, I can report that I finally managed to get Outlook for ios working and it replicates the webmail folders and both inboxes work! So, if all else fails, I can ditch the old mail app.

Jim

I have only managed to do this on the ipad. Still to reinstall the mail app on iphone, but I will leave it a day or so to be sure the ipad has settled. One step at a time! I am very grateful for your help and sticking with it, Axel.