Change IMAP email account SENT ITEMS folder to another folder, sync??

[Doug Miller1]

I have a company email account, that uses IMAP. I have set it up to send/receive. I also access the same account using OUTLOOK 2010. Here is the deal, I can receive all emails on both the pc and phone. I can send emals easily enough. I cannot see the emails that i send using the windows phone when i go to outlook. They do not show up on the email account's sent folder. SENT emails from the phone do get kept on the phone in "sent items" folder. But this folder does not existin on my IMAP account. I want to have my emails sent from my phone, sync, and show up in the SENT folder on the IMAP account. HOW do you change this on my WINDOWS PHONE 8 Device?????

Thanks

 

[Jeremy Biggs]

I have a similar issue issue: I was having trouble finding messages that I had sent from my phone, and discovered that a new SENT ITEMS folder had appeared in my IMAP folder list. I also have Windows 8 on my laptop, and have configured the Mail app to place my sent email in my SENT folder on IMAP, which is what should be happening. My Win8 laptop Mail app does show the SENT ITEMS folder somehow, I'm assuming because it's tied to my WP8, but I want to configure my phone to add sent messages to an IMAP folder, not the local copy. This was a huge miss with Android's mail app, and is a huge one with WP8 if there is no way!

 

[locoworks]

could you set up another email account specific to the phone and always sent a CC to that email when you send from the phone?? you would then have a copy of what you sent in your inbox for the phone specific email address. aslong as you don't link that inbox to any other accounts on the phone it should be a stand alone record of sent items in an inbox???

 

[RichHowerton]

i too have the similar issue. Sent emails remain on my phones "sent items" folder. But do not show up on my imap "sent" folder, which is what my outlook uses. The emails stay on the phone's folder, not the imap account email sent folder.

 

[jsbieber]

I have this exact same issue. If anyone finds a fix or a workaround for it I'd love to hear it.

I think the same thing happens for the "Trash" folder. If you delete something on the WP8 it creates a new folder called "Deleted Items" and instead puts your deleted emails in that folder. It is annoying as ****.

 

[Fluxcored]

The simplest solution is to alter the configuration of the other email clients you use. Although the server suggests default namespace and folders, each client can be programmed to use folders arbitrarily. WP8 currently has no ability to manually define default IMAP folders, but most other clients do. Note that WP8 doesn't seem to sync its "Drafts" folder to IMAP services ever.

On the WP8 device(s):
1. Setup/edit an IMAP4 account.
2. Send a test email, delete a test email, then sync the account.
3. Repeat steps 1 - 2 for every IMAP account you plan to use on the WP8 device.

On other email clients you use on other devices:
4. Setup/edit an IMAP account.
5. Subscribe to the folders "Sent Items" and "Deleted Items".
6. Configure the subscribed folder "Sent Items" as the default location to save sent email.
7. Configure the subscribed folder "Deleted Items" as the default location to save deleted email.
8. Send a test email, delete a test email, then sync the account.
9. Confirm convergence between devices by repeating steps 2 and 8.
10. Copy the contents of the original "Sent" folder to "Sent Items".
11. Copy the contents of the original "Trash" folder to "Deleted Items".
12. Unsubscribe from the original "Sent" and "Trash" folders.
13. Repeat steps 4 - 12 for every IMAP account you want to share with WP8.

 

[RichHowerton]

The simplest solution is to alter the configuration of the other email clients you use. Although the server suggests default namespace and folders, each client can be programmed to use folders arbitrarily. WP8 currently has no ability to manually define default IMAP folders, but most other clients do. Note that WP8 doesn't seem to sync its "Drafts" folder to IMAP services ever.

On the WP8 device(s):
1. Setup/edit an IMAP4 account.
2. Send a test email, delete a test email, then sync the account.
3. Repeat steps 1 - 2 for every IMAP account you plan to use on the WP8 device.

On other email clients you use on other devices:
4. Setup/edit an IMAP account.
5. Subscribe to the folders "Sent Items" and "Deleted Items".
6. Configure the subscribed folder "Sent Items" as the default location to save sent email.
7. Configure the subscribed folder "Deleted Items" as the default location to save deleted email.
8. Send a test email, delete a test email, then sync the account.
9. Confirm convergence between devices by repeating steps 2 and 8.
10. Copy the contents of the original "Sent" folder to "Sent Items".
11. Copy the contents of the original "Trash" folder to "Deleted Items".
12. Unsubscribe from the original "Sent" and "Trash" folders.
13. Repeat steps 4 - 12 for every IMAP account you want to share with WP8.

I had already tried that, did not work for me. I have the SENT ITEMS folder created on IMAP, and outlook subscribed, but nothing shows up. It just stays on the phone's sent items folder. Nothing gets synced to the imap account.

 

[Fluxcored]

I had already tried that, did not work for me. I have the SENT ITEMS folder created on IMAP, and outlook subscribed, but nothing shows up. It just stays on the phone's sent items folder. Nothing gets synced to the imap account.

I'd posit that somewhere in the configuration of the clients a setting is off. You have probably been through it already, but you might double check:

-Positive you created an IMAP and not a POP account on the WP8 device?
-Is the account able to complete the sync procedure without failing due to some other unrelated problem?
-Is the "Sent Items" folder on the WP8 device set to sync? This can be toggled on and off from the settings menu within the folder.
-You may have to browse the folder list on the WP8 device and manually sync from within "Sent Items" the first time.

-If you can verify with a webmail client that there is truly nothing in the "Sent Items" folder on the server, you could delete the folder and have WP8 recreate it.
-In general a webmail client will give a more transparent view of the mailbox.

-The following link describes how to implement step 6 & 7. Change where sent e-mail messages are saved - Outlook - Office.com

GL!

 

[svein michaelsen]

This problem also bugs me!

There is no way to control step 6 & 7 in WP8. When set up IMAP4 account on WP8 there are no way to choose where sent items is saved.
Those clever or not minds has chosen to save the sendt IMAP mails on the root/local folders. We can not alter it to save it on the IMAP folder tree. Therefore we
can never sync or see sent mails from our WP8 device on other devices.

Please fix ASAP.

Thanks.

 

[RichHowerton]

anyone ever figure this out? still not able to select sent email folder...

 

[alexscottnzl]

I had a similar problem (sent mail can not be seen by me until someone replies to it then I shows up as a thread) but I was just having a play now with the windows Nokia 520 and here is a workaround. I think this might also help with those who also dont have a copy of the sent item (using the method below it might show up in your inbox) when the get back their normal mail box.

In the windows smartphone mail inbox select the 3 dots in the bottom RHS (next the other 4 display buttons).
Select the 3 dots.
Select Settings.
Go down the page a little.
Select the option that says Always BCC myself.
Using this option means you will get a blind copy of what you sent...at least you know then the message has gone and that you don't start wondering if the message was ever sent or you accidentally deleted (which weve all done). it should also in theory show up in your inbox back at work.
Alex

 

[Sreenivas Y]

Hi,This problem is due to incapable email client. It wont allow you to create any folders nor it downloads new folders . really useless and totally un expected from Microsoft. surprisingly there is no updates nor any clients available to circumvent the problem. What is the use of sending mail, when you cant retrieve the same in your PC ???

 

[Sreenivas Y]

In fact, had i know about this problem before purchase i would have not bought this Windows phone at all.. really dis appointing..................

 

[Juan Ferrari]

I have the same problem and I had to switch to android because of this. I hate that S3 and its "always present lag", but I need to work with my phone, so it gets me through the day with no email issues.

Let me get one thing straight, "BCC copy to myself" is not a solution, is an unprofessional way of patching the problem, so please stop suggesting it. I know you are trying to help and I appreciate it, but in this topic in particular, that wont help.

I think this is clearly a bug and I ll have my WP in the drawer until it gets solved. There is no way to take am OS serious without being able to setup your email account....

 

[jrlive]

This is not a fix but it helps - and Microsoft better fix this!

Anyway - when sending from the mobile, as we know a 'sent items' folder is created in the webmail account.

I use Mozilla Thunderbird as my desktop email client and I simply subscribe to the 'sent items' folder. This means I have a 'sent' folder (non mobile) and a 'sent items' folder within the account in Thunderbird. I can do two things from here - just leave it, as in effect it is just splitting mail sent from mobile vs webmail/thunderbird, or I can create a rule to automatically move the mail to the proper sent folder in Thunderbird (thus also updating the webmail folders at my host).

On the mobile (Lumia 920) I also see two folders (sent and sent items).

Can live with it for now - as I can see everything I have sent - but damn Microsoft SORT IT OUT!

 

[tpapictures]

I did extensive testing with this back when I got my 925 in November because it shocked me a bit that this wasn't possible. In any event, it's a problem with the basic email server in Windows Phone. So, after a long time playing with different things I did find a solution. If you copy emails from the phone's SENT folder to your IMAP server SENT folder, they DO copy over and leave your phone. So, once a week or so (because it's all I need) I copy them over. You literally just touch and hold to select them and move or copy. I suppose you could theoretically do it after every email. Anyway, not ideal, but a solution nevertheless.
A REAL solution would be a third party company making a new email app. They have them for Windows 8, so I don't see the problem.

 

[Karl Grimm]

I HAVE FOUND OUT WHAT CAUSES THIS ISSUE AND HAVE A SIMPLE FIX.

I am not a regular member of this forum, but after spending so much time browsing and testing, I felt obliged to give you guys the answers you seek.

1) ROOT FOLDER
Each IMAP server uses a folder structure to store your mail ....
a "root folder" which is the top level path name
individual folders for sent mail, incoming mail, etc
For example, the root folder name for Plesk systems is "Inbox". For Gmail it is "[Gmail]" - all case sensitive. (that's Inbox and [Gmail] - ignore the parentheses).

If you tell your email client the "root folder path", it will correctly identify all of the folders that exist on the IMAP server. This is an item in Settings, and I have found it in Outlook, Outlook Express, and on my Android phone. So if you have a Plesk IMAP email account, tell your Outlook Express, your Thunderbird, and your Android mail client that the root folder name is "Inbox", and it will correctly display the IMAP folder structure (below example for Plesk) ....
Inbox
sent-mail
Drafts

2) ANDROID BUG
Now, here is the tricky part. When you send an email from your Android phone, using an IMAP account, it ALWAYS puts the sent mail into a folder called "Sent", regardless of where your IMAP server normally puts them. The good news is that if you have done Step 1) above correctly, a new folder called "Sent" will show up on the IMAP server, and then in all of your email clients. So now you have ....
Inbox
sent-mail
Drafts
Sent
In the above example, you end up with most sent emails residing in "sent-mail", but those sent from your Android in "Sent".
Email clients such as Outlook are clever enough to put sent mail into the correct IMAP folder, eg. "sent-mail" for Plesk. But your Android is not clever enough, and it will put them into "Sent", thereby creating a new "Sent" folder on the IMAP server.
If you have correctly entered the root folder path, the above folder structure, complete with the new "Sent" folder, will correctly appear in your email client. Emails will be correctly sync'd, so that emails sent from your Android appear in all of your mail clients, albeit in the "Sent" folder on their own.

If you can follow the instructions in this thread, you may be able to override the default "Sent" folder name, but I have not done so. Now that I know what is going on, it is not much of an issue to have emails sent from my phone in a separate folder: they are visible on Webmail, on my PC, and any other device, provided it is properly configured ; and you can always move them if you wish.

Hope this is of use!

 

[first last15]

The simplest solution is to alter the configuration of the other email clients you use. Although the server suggests default namespace and folders, each client can be programmed to use folders arbitrarily. WP8 currently has no ability to manually define default IMAP folders, but most other clients do. Note that WP8 doesn't seem to sync its "Drafts" folder to IMAP services ever.

On the WP8 device(s):
1. Setup/edit an IMAP4 account.
2. Send a test email, delete a test email, then sync the account.
3. Repeat steps 1 - 2 for every IMAP account you plan to use on the WP8 device.

On other email clients you use on other devices:
4. Setup/edit an IMAP account.
5. Subscribe to the folders "Sent Items" and "Deleted Items".
6. Configure the subscribed folder "Sent Items" as the default location to save sent email.
7. Configure the subscribed folder "Deleted Items" as the default location to save deleted email.
8. Send a test email, delete a test email, then sync the account.
9. Confirm convergence between devices by repeating steps 2 and 8.
10. Copy the contents of the original "Sent" folder to "Sent Items".
11. Copy the contents of the original "Trash" folder to "Deleted Items".
12. Unsubscribe from the original "Sent" and "Trash" folders.
13. Repeat steps 4 - 12 for every IMAP account you want to share with WP8.

It is amazing that due to poor software development, users must work for the computers instead of the other way around. This type of programming kind of defeats the purpose of computers.

 

[first last15]

The simplest solution is to alter the configuration of the other email clients you use. Although the server suggests default namespace and folders, each client can be programmed to use folders arbitrarily. WP8 currently has no ability to manually define default IMAP folders, but most other clients do. Note that WP8 doesn't seem to sync its "Drafts" folder to IMAP services ever.

On the WP8 device(s):
1. Setup/edit an IMAP4 account.
2. Send a test email, delete a test email, then sync the account.
3. Repeat steps 1 - 2 for every IMAP account you plan to use on the WP8 device.

On other email clients you use on other devices:
4. Setup/edit an IMAP account.
5. Subscribe to the folders "Sent Items" and "Deleted Items".
6. Configure the subscribed folder "Sent Items" as the default location to save sent email.
7. Configure the subscribed folder "Deleted Items" as the default location to save deleted email.
8. Send a test email, delete a test email, then sync the account.
9. Confirm convergence between devices by repeating steps 2 and 8.
10. Copy the contents of the original "Sent" folder to "Sent Items".
11. Copy the contents of the original "Trash" folder to "Deleted Items".
12. Unsubscribe from the original "Sent" and "Trash" folders.
13. Repeat steps 4 - 12 for every IMAP account you want to share with WP8.

It is amazing that due to poor software development, users must work for the computers instead of the other way around. This type of programming kind of defeats the purpose of computers. This is one of the reasons the iPhone remains more popular than the Windows Phone - better integration to external services.