How can I fix the archive button in Mail.app for Gmail?

Question

How can I fix the archive button in Mail.app for Gmail?

When clicking the archive button on a Gmail message in Mail.app on Ventura, instead of moving the email from the inbox to the archive, the email stays in the inbox.

When I select an email in my Gmail inbox in Mail.app then click the archive button, I want the email to move out of the inbox and into the archive folder. However, when I click archive, the selected row in the mail view goes down to the next email but the “archived” email stays visible in Mail.app and in Gmail web view.

Things I've Checked

Mail.app archive button works for other email accounts, tested with an outlook.com address
“Mail -> Settings -> Accounts -> Google -> Mailbox Behaviours tab -> Archive Mailbox” is set to “[Google Mail]/All Mail”

Posted on Jun 23, 2023 11:26 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

ScottishCraig Author

Level 1

11 points

Jun 23, 2023 11:31 AM in response to ScottishCraig

Root Cause

Gmail doesn't have folders like a normal email service, it has labels instead. One message can appear in multiple labels. IMAP mail clients like Mail.app see these Gmail labels as folders, this means one message can appear in multiple folders.

This is what's causing the behaviour seen here.

Solution

In the Gmail website:

Go to: Settings (gear icon) -> Show All Settings -> Labels -> All Mail
De-select "show in IMAP"
Set to "Hide"

Go back to Mail.app and test that archive works as expected. NB: go to Mailbox menu -> Synchronise Gmail to force your action to update on the gmail server immediately

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Answer 2

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,102 points

Jun 23, 2023 11:32 AM in response to ScottishCraig

That’s how Gmail works. It’s not really IMAP. Your messages are already “in” the Archive folder as it is the All Mail label on Gmail. All messages arrive with both an All Mail and an Inbox label. Translating that to IMAP, they exist in both places at once which really isn’t possible in IMAP.

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How can I fix the archive button in Mail.app for Gmail?

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