Missing GMAIL folders on iPhone - but shows up everywhere else

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Missing GMAIL folders on iPhone - but shows up everywhere else

Ok, this is infuriating. Just recently the GMAIL sub-folders have all gone AWOL on my iPhone 11 ProMax, running the Mail.app on iOS 15.5. On my older iPad Mini 2 running iOS 12.5.5 I was able to add the email account in question -- and the folders all show up properly. Same as my MacbookPro running 10.11.6, and my MacMini running the latest MacOS. I've deleted the Mail.app from the iPhone, did a restart, tried removing and adding back the email account -- nothing. At one point I was able to get the sub-folders to appear, by disabling "show in IMAP" for a parent folder in the GMAIL settings via a web browser. But after disabling the same for the sub-folders (dunno what I was aiming to do by doing so -- if it aint broke don't fix it -- but i fixed it alright, for good) -- I was unable to re-create the "bug" and now I can't see the sub-folders anymore.

Seems like a bad preferences or setting within the Mail.app -- but I don't understand why deleting the app doesn't completely wipe these bad settings/preferences (do they still use that word these days - "preferences" as in the old MacOS 6-9 days). Back in the day you could delete preferences files and the app would re-create them from scratch. This reinitialization process fixed many problems.

It seems that a complete nuclear option -- wipe the darn device is in order. A back-up seems out of the question too -- although I really wonder -- whether the bad corrupt preference files wouldn't be re-downloaded from the Cloud? That would suck.

Or -- maybe -- just MAYBE this is an iOS issue -- a bug that an exhaustive Google search doesn't show other people experiencing -- and it'll be fixed in the next update?

I'd gladly welcome any ideas.

iPhone 11 Pro Max

Posted on May 27, 2022 8:59 PM

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Answer 1

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TheAnimaster Author

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May 28, 2022 6:08 AM in response to TheAnimaster

OK, after waking up the next morning I found the problem: bad UI design.

I'll get right to the solution: click on the small, blue, greater-than symbol on the folder. NOT the name of the folder, NOT the blank space either -- but the teeny, tiny, almost-pretty-much-insignificant SMALL, BLUE symbol. It will then expand down to show your sub-folders.

Poor UI design. In the past, these symbols were filled triangles, which were the universal symbol for "vertical expansion toggle".

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Answer 2

TheAnimaster Author

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20 points

May 27, 2022 9:36 PM in response to TheAnimaster

Ok -- looks like either Apple or Google stuffed the pudding on this one. So I did the nuclear option -- fresh wipe (fortunately backed everything up before I did... we'll see how that goes in a minute) -- and fresh system. Added the email account and BOOM -- no sub folders.

I'm guessing the next iOS update will have the solution -- hopefully. Else it looks like I will have to move all my important emails out of nested folders so I can have access to these through the Mail app when I'm traveling overseas (coz, even Google's own GMAIL app is terrible for viewing stuff).

You had ONE job...

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Missing GMAIL folders on iPhone - but shows up everywhere else

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