iOS 18 sent mail only visible in phone

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72 points

iOS 18 sent mail only visible in phone

Since I upgraded to iOS 18, all email messages I send from my phone are only visible in the Sent folder in the phone, they cannot be seen in the Sent folders of my desktop client or in the webmail. And therefore, I am not able to archive them locally on my computer (as my business requires). Now I have a long list of sent messages in my phone's Sent folder that I cannot take care of properly.

When I talk to my ISP about this, they (of course) keep suggesting that my phone stores the sent messages in a local mailbox on the phone, but that is not correct. I can (in the phone) move the messages to any other server-side mailbox, including test mailboxes set up from my desktop client, but still these specific messages are only visible when viewed from the phone, not from my other clients.

Has anyone else experienced this? And maybe found a solution? Was something changed in the way messages are stored in iOS 18? Someone, regarding a similar but not identical problem, mentioned "SSL certificate" but that's greek to me.

iPhone 12 Pro, iOS 18

Posted on Dec 5, 2024 3:21 AM

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Answer 1

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JLG89

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138 points

Dec 7, 2024 7:13 AM in response to 750 H2C

Here's a fix that seems to be working for me. I just did this, so only time will tell if it's an actual fix. The essential procedure is to create a new IMAP folder for sent items. Using iOS, move all the "ghost" sent items (i.e. the ones that appear on the phone but nowhere else) into that new folder -- it should be selectable as a destination. Then reconfigure all of your email clients (phone, tablet, desktop, etc.) to use that new folder for sent messages. Finally, move all the other sent items from the old folder to the new one.

On iOS, open Settings-->Apps-->Mail-->Mail Accounts-->[your IMAP account]-->Account Settings-->Advanced

See what IMAP folder is being used as the Sent Mailbox. On my phone, it was "Sent Messages" but yours may be different. Use the iOS Mail app to create a new IMAP folder with a different name (I just used "Sent"). Move all the "ghost" sent items into that folder.

Back in those Advanced settings, change the Sent Mailbox to point to the new folder. Do the same thing on all your other devices.

Move everything from the old Sent Mailbox folder to the new one. This could take awhile, if you keep all your old sent items (I have upwards of 20k emails in there).

Finally, delete the old Sent Mailbox folder.

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Answer 2

750 H2C Author

Level 1

72 points

Dec 27, 2024 2:37 AM in response to 750 H2C

The problem seems to be fixed now (iOS 18.1.1). I just sent a test email from my phone and it turned up in my computer just as it should. I still don't know what the problem was, and I still have a number of emails in the Sent box on my phone that just won't show up anywhere else.

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Answer 3

JLG89

Level 1

138 points

Dec 7, 2024 6:44 AM in response to 750 H2C

Same here. If I open a sent message on the phone, and then try to move that message to the Sent folder on the IMAP server, I can't. The "Sent" and "Drafts" IMAP folders are both greyed out and un-selectable.

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Answer 4

JLG89

Level 1

138 points

Dec 7, 2024 12:21 PM in response to JLG89

Shoot, never mind all that. Didn't fix it after all.

It's not just on iOS 18, it's also on iPadOS 18. Neither one is actually pushing sent emails into the IMAP sent folder. Looks like I need to file a bug report.

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Answer 5

750 H2C Author

Level 1

72 points

Dec 8, 2024 8:21 AM in response to JLG89

Thanks for your reply; I am just as sorry to learn that you have this problem as I am happy to see that I'm not alone. :/ My ISP just ducked responsibility (again) saying "this seems to be a well-known problem on the internet", but I guess this thread is the only one they have seen – and us two being affected. Because I haven't found any other reports.

I've thought about upgrading my iPad to iPadOS 18, just to see if the messages would turn up there, but my iPad is too old for that. And from your post, I understand that they probably wouldn't.

Yep, bug report it is.

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