Mail app on M4 iMac: Incorrect status, unwanted folders

Question

Mail app on M4 iMac: Incorrect status, unwanted folders

I am fed up with ‘Mail’ since I bought my Apple M4 iMac late last year..

Under the ‘Google’ heading I have the following issues:

The inbox shows messages and marks them as ‘unread’ even though I have read them.

The ‘Important’ folder shows the same emails including ones I have deleted from the Inbox but shows which ones I have read and which ones I haven’t read.

The ‘Archive’ folder contains everything I have received since the beginning of the year showing which ones I have read and which ones I haven’t read.

The bin contains everything I have deleted since the beginning of the year - I’m not game to empty it!

I have created a folder named ‘Mine’ so I can drag emails that are personal and I want to keep. It only ever shows 1 email even though I have dragged several over there.

Under the ‘On My Mac’ heading I have 2 folders: Bin and Recovered. I don’t understand what they are for.

All I want is an Inbox, a Sent folder, a Junk folder and any that I create myself. I don’t want an Archives or Important folders. I don’t want Smart folders.

I’ve been using Mac for 30 years so I am not unfamiliar with its workings.

What am I missing here?

iMac 24″, macOS 15.7

Posted on Jan 14, 2026 5:51 PM

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Answer 1

Mac Jim ID

Level 9

62,150 points

Jan 14, 2026 6:56 PM in response to heatherprince

Your Google email account is an IMAP account which means it just mirrors what is on the Google servers for your account. The "Important" folder is not from the Apple Mail app, it is a folder that is included with gmail and synced to the Mail app. Sign into your Google/Gmail account online and you can change what folders you have there and the rules for read, archived and deleted emails. There are some things that Google does not let you change, where the issues of the Important folder and others are noted on the Gmail Support forum.

Gmail Support

Other discussions on how gmail accounts are synced to Mail clients can be seen here. A user did find a setting on their Gmail account to not include the Important folder, and then it will not sync to your Mac. In any case the answers are going to be found in your Gmail settings and you will need to login to your account using a browser.

Apple mail not showing "important" emails… - Apple Community

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