Deleting IMAP messages

  • Thread starter Thread starter BLSilver
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BLSilver

When I delete items in my IMAP inbox, they do not show up with
strike-through, they actually delete, and the only place I can find them is
in the All Items folder. When I lok at them in my All Items folder, IMAP
staus reads "unmarked". Why is this?
 
BLSilver said:
When I delete items in my IMAP inbox, they do not show up with
strike-through, they actually delete, and the only place I can find
them is in the All Items folder. When I lok at them in my All Items
folder, IMAP staus reads "unmarked". Why is this?
Click to expand...

gmail, perchance?
 
I haven't been able to get Outlook 2007 to work properly in deleting mail
from Gmail IMAP, no matter what settings I use. However, Windows Live Mail
and Thunderbird work well with Gmail IMAP.
 
This seems to be more of an Outlook issue. How is the fact that it is tied
to a Gmail account affect how Outlook behaves?
 
Not sure if it is a gmail issue or not, but different IMAP servers have
slightly different behavior, not to mention different folder lists (gmail
does something odd with the label functions and structure). I know that AOL
imap works with Outlook 2007, but Gmail IMAP does not work, at least not well
enough for me to use it in Outlook.
 
As a workaround to delete messages with Outlook 2007 and Gmail IMAP, what
works is manually moving the messages to the Trash folder; then deletions
from that folder will permanently delete. (this is with [Gmail] selected as
the root folder for Outlook imap folders account setup.)
 
Thanks I still don't understand something. Many others in threads regarding
Outlook and IMAP have stated that when they delete something inthe inbox in
Outlook, the message stays in the inbox with a strike-through. I do not see
that behavior (I do in the All Items folder but not in the inbox.) Why is
that?

ML said:
As a workaround to delete messages with Outlook 2007 and Gmail IMAP, what
works is manually moving the messages to the Trash folder; then deletions
from that folder will permanently delete. (this is with [Gmail] selected as
the root folder for Outlook imap folders account setup.)


ML said:
Not sure if it is a gmail issue or not, but different IMAP servers have
slightly different behavior, not to mention different folder lists (gmail
does something odd with the label functions and structure). I know that AOL
imap works with Outlook 2007, but Gmail IMAP does not work, at least not well
enough for me to use it in Outlook.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Who knows what's going on in the code there, but that is the behavior I see
also (with gmail imap configured in Outlook such that [Gmail] is given as the
root folder path in the Advanced tab under account settings). On the gmail
side, I believe the deletion from the Inbox merely removes a label (the
"inbox" label), while the message is still in All Items, whereas the deletion
from All Items actually flags it for deletion (the strikethrough). (though
really only the move to Trash flags it for deletion for gmail, and only the
deletion from trash actually deletes it).

Anyway, given the current behavior of Outlook and gmail imap, I think this
is the way to delete it completely, but you should test it out:
1. Move the copy from All Items folder to Trash. (this also automatically
removes all labels, i.e. "moves" it from all the other folders).
2. Delete it from Trash.

BLSilver said:
Thanks I still don't understand something. Many others in threads regarding
Outlook and IMAP have stated that when they delete something inthe inbox in
Outlook, the message stays in the inbox with a strike-through. I do not see
that behavior (I do in the All Items folder but not in the inbox.) Why is
that?

ML said:
As a workaround to delete messages with Outlook 2007 and Gmail IMAP, what
works is manually moving the messages to the Trash folder; then deletions
from that folder will permanently delete. (this is with [Gmail] selected as
the root folder for Outlook imap folders account setup.)


ML said:
Not sure if it is a gmail issue or not, but different IMAP servers have
slightly different behavior, not to mention different folder lists (gmail
does something odd with the label functions and structure). I know that AOL
imap works with Outlook 2007, but Gmail IMAP does not work, at least not well
enough for me to use it in Outlook.

:

This seems to be more of an Outlook issue. How is the fact that it is tied
to a Gmail account affect how Outlook behaves?

:

I haven't been able to get Outlook 2007 to work properly in deleting mail
from Gmail IMAP, no matter what settings I use. However, Windows Live Mail
and Thunderbird work well with Gmail IMAP.

:

Yes, it is a Gmail account. Is this a common issue with Gmail?

:


When I delete items in my IMAP inbox, they do not show up with
strike-through, they actually delete, and the only place I can find
them is in the All Items folder. When I lok at them in my All Items
folder, IMAP staus reads "unmarked". Why is this?

gmail, perchance?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
BLSilver said:
Yes, it is a Gmail account. Is this a common issue with Gmail?
Click to expand...

I don't know where the problem lies, but both Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007
exhibit the issue. The "All Mail" folder appears to be a "conversation" or
"search context". I had to log into gmail via web and delete the messages,
which moved them into gmail's Trash folder. In my opinion, Outlook is
usually inferior in handling IMAP accounts, but it works well enough to suit
me.

I also tested this with Outlook Express and the "All Mail" folder behaves
exactly this way in Outlook Express as well, except that in OE you can hide
the folder. Outlook's subscription feature doesn't seem to work well with
that folder (but it does work with other IMAP servers). Frankly, I think
Google implemented IMAP in much the same as they implemented POP; that is,
"almost, but not quite."
 
Google implemented IMAP in much the same as they implemented POP; that is,
"almost, but not quite."
Click to expand...

That may be true; still, Windows Live Mail and Thunderbird (unlike Outlook)
seem to work well with Gmail IMAP on the whole, though they're far from
perfect (esp in performance).
 
ML said:
That may be true; still, Windows Live Mail and Thunderbird (unlike
Outlook) seem to work well with Gmail IMAP on the whole, though
they're far from perfect (esp in performance).
Click to expand...

So use them instead of Outlook if they work as you wish. I've never thought
Outlook's IMAP implemenation was all that great anyway.
 
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