Apple Mail Rules dont apply when mail is READ on other devices!

Question

Level 1

0 points

Apple Mail Rules dont apply when mail is READ on other devices!

Hi,

I use IMAP settings on Apple Mail (v4.5) and also check my emails on the iPhone (iPhone also set up with IMAP). However if i have read an email on the iPhone then when i switch my computer on the incoming Apple Mail Rule that applies to that sender does not seem to work. It keeps the mail within my Inbox and does not transfer the mail/message to the desired folder.

However, if the same sender sends me an email which i do not read on the iPhone and then switch my Apple Mail ON, then the mail is automatically transferred to the desired folder.

It looks like the problem is only with READ mail and not UNREAD mail.

Is there a fix for this? There seems to be a lot of people having the same issue and was wondering if there is any work around on this?

Would really appreciate any help from anyone on this.

Regards,

Jay

PS: I recently moved from Outlook 2011 on MAC to Apple Mail as i heard is a far superior mail application and works smoothly. So far everything about Apple Mail has been correct, it is a fantastic app, however this Rule problem is pretty basic and surprised that Apple still has not fixed this.

MacBook Pro 15", Mac OS X (10.6.6), Oct 2009 Model

Posted on Jun 15, 2011 2:59 AM

Reply

Answer 1

bizi1234 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 17, 2011 4:46 AM in response to bizi1234

Hi Guys, does anyone have a clue of how to fix this?

Does guys from Apple read these discussion boards?

Reply

Answer 2

Jun 17, 2011 5:00 AM in response to bizi1234

Rules only apply on the device they are set on in Mac Mail when new messages are downloaded from the server. If they are already shown as downloaded and read on the server, then the rules won't apply since it's IMAP. You can select all the messages in the inbox of the Mac and apply the rules manually, and they will then perform the functions set.

If you download them on another device first, then you will have to have the same rules set and the folders you move them to will have to be synced with IMAP so you will see them on all devices and not a local folder on that device.

If you're storing the messages in the IMAP folders and not locally on the computer, then you may be able to set rules at the IMAP Account site where they will be moved to folders you select.

Reply

Answer 3

bizi1234 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 17, 2011 5:40 AM in response to Glenn Leblanc

Hi Glenn,

Many thanks for this. Unfortunately i dont have this facility on the server as we are using a simple opensource mail delivery and storage service, so the rules would have to be set up on the computer.

I was using Outlook 2011 and prior that was using Entourage 2008 and both worked well with the IMAP rules. Nothing was ommitted and everything READ or UNREAD was imported and the rules applied. It's only in Apple Mail that these rules dont seem to work.

Is there no other work around? No Apple Mail Add-Ins? I see quite a number of people complaining about the same problem and i'm surprise that Apple has not found a solution for this.

Anyway, thank you soo much for your reply. Much appreciated.

Regards,

Jay

Reply

Answer 4

Jun 17, 2011 5:54 AM in response to bizi1234

I don't have an iPhone, so I'm not sure what you can set in it. If you could set it to leave the message on the server as unread, then it should show as unread on your Mac when you open Mail.

You can manually select all messages in the Inbox, right click, and Apply Rules. It will move them.

Or, you could just simply use the rules in Mail to move the messages if they don't need to be moved imediately.

Example: If message received is more than one day old, move to ***. It will move the messages after 24 hours.

Reply

Answer 5

lasdjfk

Level 1

4 points

Nov 28, 2011 8:29 AM in response to bizi1234

I found a workaround when using gmail. Set up a filter in gmail that marks all incoming messages with a star. The star-marking is then synced and shown as a flag i Apple mail. A rule can be set up to act on all messages with a flag (which then refers to all incoming messages).

Reply

Answer 6

Dec 17, 2011 7:35 PM in response to bizi1234

Per the IMAP standards, if a message is read on any device, it will be marked on the server as having been read.

Apple Mail applies rules only to unread mail, as I understand it. Hence, when a message was already read using a different device, Mail will not apply rules to that message.

Enjoy,

Jim

Reply

Answer 7

Jul 28, 2012 10:58 AM in response to bizi1234

I'm having this problem too, did you find any solution?

Reply

Answer 8

lwr032

Level 1

15 points

Nov 23, 2012 1:48 PM in response to luisx1504

I'm having mail rule problems. I made a folder called iPad. Then I made a rule that is suppose to move all messages from the yahoo iPad group that come to me into the iPad folder. It doesn't pick up all the messages. I get some of the messages moved into the folder but when I go into my main inbox, there are still some iPad group messages in there that I haven't seen because they weren't moved. I set the folders and rules up on my MBA. I read most of my mail on my iPad Mini. Also, I did a sync of my iPad mini and the folder I made on my MBA is not showing up on my iPad mini. I've made the folder and rule under my me.com email address.

Alice

Reply

Answer 9

Mar 20, 2013 11:07 PM in response to bizi1234

Yes, there appear to be bugs.......

I have gmail, and apple mail on 10.8.

Apple mail has rules to put mail into certain folder in the gmail account it is connected to. This works fine.

But on my iPad the unread badges are wrong in Apple's iPad mail -- they don't show up. The badges display correctly in iPad Gmail app and on the MabBook 10.8.

Reply