Problem with Mail and gmail IMAP

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Level 1

5 points

Problem with Mail and gmail IMAP

Hello,

The gmail account is listed on the side bar under 'MAILBOX'> 'inbox'> 'gmail'. This works fine.

Further down the sidebar the account appears again under 'GMAIL'> [Gmail]> then all the sub folders like junk, sent mail etc. This is driving me mad. If I delete anything it reappears. Plus it holds duplicates of the emails in the inbox. If I try to delete the whole account from the sidebar it says 'IMAP command delete failed with server error: Internal folder cannot be deleted'. I haven't deleted the account through preferences because I want the account in Mail.

How do I get the mails to stay deleted? Can I prevent the dupllication of mails in the inbox?

Any help is much appreciated, I miss the satisfaction of a neat inbox!

Thank you.

Rachel

g4, s

Posted on Oct 4, 2012 12:29 PM

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Answer 1

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

Oct 4, 2012 1:18 PM in response to rachelepoche

rachelepoche wrote:

Hello,

The gmail account is listed on the side bar under 'MAILBOX'> 'inbox'> 'gmail'. This works fine.

Further down the sidebar the account appears again under 'GMAIL'> [Gmail]> then all the sub folders like junk, sent mail etc. This is driving me mad. If I delete anything it reappears.

Where does it reappear? in the All Mail folder?

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Answer 2

rachelepoche Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 4, 2012 1:22 PM in response to Csound1

It will reapear in the folder it was deleted from. If I empty the spam folder, for example, the same messages reappear in the spam folder.

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Answer 3

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

Oct 4, 2012 1:41 PM in response to rachelepoche

Can you try something for me, pick a piece of mail, delete it, exit mail, restart and tell me if it reappears?

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Answer 4

rachelepoche Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 4, 2012 1:43 PM in response to Csound1

will do...

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Answer 5

rachelepoche Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 4, 2012 1:49 PM in response to Csound1

..it has reappeared

no wait! i forgot to exit mail. let me try again...

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Answer 6

rachelepoche Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 4, 2012 1:59 PM in response to rachelepoche

...yup it reappears

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Answer 7

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

Oct 4, 2012 2:00 PM in response to rachelepoche

Now go to your gmail account on the website, is it in both places there as well?

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Answer 8

rachelepoche Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 4, 2012 2:04 PM in response to Csound1

yes, it is there in both places as well

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Answer 9

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

Oct 4, 2012 2:15 PM in response to rachelepoche

Then the problem is not with Mail, it is apparently accurately reflecting the account on the server (website). I would deal the problem by suppressing the display of any but the required mailboxes, in Gmail, Settings>Labels will allow the choice of folders displayed in Mail, while in you are in settings check what (if any) are for Spam. Then, in Mail make sure that 'Move Deleted Messages to the Trash Mailbox' is selected and finally check Mail's rules for any that pertain to Spam.

Restart Mail after the changes.

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Answer 10

rachelepoche Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 4, 2012 2:24 PM in response to Csound1

I suppose that the problem is one of communication between Mail and gmail. I don't want to muddy the waters but I thought it might have something to do with gmail archieveing mail instead of deleting it. Gmail does show the option:

"When a message is marked as deleted and expunged from the last visible IMAP folder:

Archive the message (default)

Move the message to the Bin

Immediately delete the message foreve

"

but it cannot be changed from the default.

However I really really don't know.

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Answer 11

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

Oct 4, 2012 3:40 PM in response to rachelepoche

GMail is non standard, if you suppress the All Mail folder it's easier

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Answer 12

Dec 29, 2012 11:03 AM in response to Csound1

Csound1 wrote:

Then the problem is not with Mail, it is apparently accurately reflecting the account on the server (website). I would deal the problem by suppressing the display of any but the required mailboxes, in Gmail, Settings>Labels will allow the choice of folders displayed in Mail, while in you are in settings check what (if any) are for Spam. Then, in Mail make sure that 'Move Deleted Messages to the Trash Mailbox' is selected and finally check Mail's rules for any that pertain to Spam.

Restart Mail after the changes.

That got rid of the 2nd folder. I went in Gmail settings>Labels and unchecked every Show check box, with the Inbox grayed out. Its the only one showing and the 2nd one is now gone after quitting Mail and restarting. Great help!

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Answer 13

Mar 19, 2013 1:02 PM in response to Csound1

This is all great info! Unfortunately, it has only worked on One of my Three gmail accounts. Very weird. I have gone into Gmail>Settings>Labels and everything expect "Inbox" is unchecked. So, One would think that on rebooting Mac Mail, only the inbox for the three Gmail accounts would show. But The All Mail/ Spam, etc folders are still there for 2 Gmail accounts! I have even deleted the accounts completely from MacMail and started from scratch, but with the same results. Any extra advice for troubleshooting this?

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