IMAP Sent Folders

[Badger]

You want to use multiple machines, each with its own mail client (which may well be Outlook in all cases). It is irrelevant whether you have one account or more than one.

You want to be able to read sent mail as well as received mail from any of your machines, even if the mail was sent from a different machine.

Mail is stored on the IMAP server and read from there. Mail is sent via SMTP. So the IMAP clients store read mails, and filed mails, in the appropriate folder on the IMAP server, but the problem is that sent mails are not stored in a folder on the IMAP server, because they are not sent from that server.

The solution is to have each IMAP client save sent mails to a "sent" folder on the IMAP server. This is a normal thing to do. Your problem is that Outlook is not doing it.

Excuse me for summarising the question, and not having an answer: but I thought it might help us keep to the point. I know that it works because it works for me on Opera Mail and Mac Mail.

Hopefully an Outlook user will be able to tell you how to make it work.

Exactly - Many thanks.

Outlook Express does this, but Outlook 2003 doesn't

[expat]

You want to use multiple machines, each with its own mail client (which may well be Outlook in all cases). It is irrelevant whether you have one account or more than one.

You want to be able to read sent mail as well as received mail from any of your machines, even if the mail was sent from a different machine.

Mail is stored on the IMAP server and read from there. Mail is sent via SMTP. So the IMAP clients store read mails, and filed mails, in the appropriate folder on the IMAP server, but the problem is that sent mails are not stored in a folder on the IMAP server, because they are not sent from that server.

The solution is to have each IMAP client save sent mails to a "sent" folder on the IMAP server. This is a normal thing to do. Your problem is that Outlook is not doing it.



Excuse me for summarising the question, and not having an answer: but I thought it might help us keep to the point. I know that it works because it works for me on Opera Mail and Mac Mail.

Hopefully an Outlook user will be able to tell you how to make it work.

[AlfredJPruffock]

So that I can check whats been sent whether I'm on my Desktop, Laptop, or iPhone.

Why not simply insert a reference code seomwhere in your message so that you know which device you have used eg .de .la .mo ?

[pmeswani]

So that I can check whats been sent whether I'm on my Desktop, Laptop, or iPhone.

The best thing to do is to set up a webmail system and use your machines to connect to that so that you can check your multiple accounts and their sent items folder. I use Squirrelmail, and seems to do the job. However, this is assuming that you have webspace with the same provider and that you have access to php on that webspace.

EDIT: And preferably have access to MySQL.

[BlightyBoy]

So that I can check whats been sent whether I'm on my Desktop, Laptop, or iPhone.

So with multiple e-mail accounts, and one client, you want to track which e-mails are sent on which account?

Am I being a bit dim? Is that even possible? During a "session" how can you reply to an e-mail received with one account with a different signature/return-address etc.? (More of a rhetorical question - no real answers required)

[Badger]

... What would be the purpose of saving "sent" e-mails to an IMAP folder anyway?

So that I can check whats been sent whether I'm on my Desktop, Laptop, or iPhone.

[BlightyBoy]

you cannot send emails via IMAP, only receive. Emails can only be sent via SMTP

He's quite right:

IMAP - Internet Message Access Protocol
SMTP - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.

So far as routing goes, it is generally "retrieved" using IMAP and then resent using SMTP. This is the way of things. What would be the purpose of saving "sent" e-mails to an IMAP folder anyway?

used Outlook Rules to move the sent item

This is a good idea (if it's really what you want to do).

[AlfredJPruffock]

From what I understand, you cannot send emails via IMAP, only receive. Emails can only be sent via SMTP. As this is the case, your emails will be stored locally in your Sent Items folder. However, my knowledge of IMAP extends only to the scenario you have mentioned and my own webmail account.

Normally there is a parm on the IMAP client which specifies the dns or IP address of the SMTP server destination which then the mail item is relayed to for susbsequent processing.

[Badger]

Thanks. I've looked at the Rules option, and it seems to work ok, but as I have multiple accounts it's getting messy to do Rules.

Thunderbird works exactly as I want but the complete lack of any decent signature option rules this out - very poor Mozilla.

I could just go back to Outlook Express!

[Netraider]

I had a similar problem, and used Outlook Rules to move the sent item from personal folders to my IMAP sent items folder. Hope that is of some use.

[pmeswani]

I have several IMAP email accounts set up in Outlook 2003, when I send/reply to an email the sent mail does not go into my IMAP Sent folder, it goes into Outlooks own 'Personal' Sent Items folder.

In my email options I have 'Save copies of messages into Sent Items Folder' ticked, and the copy is saved there, but I also want it stored in the IMAP Sent folder, which it isn't.

Is there an Outlook/IMAP setting I need to change?

TIA

From what I understand, you cannot send emails via IMAP, only receive. Emails can only be sent via SMTP. As this is the case, your emails will be stored locally in your Sent Items folder. However, my knowledge of IMAP extends only to the scenario you have mentioned and my own webmail account.

[Badger]

I have several IMAP email accounts set up in Outlook 2003, when I send/reply to an email the sent mail does not go into my IMAP Sent folder, it goes into Outlooks own 'Personal' Sent Items folder.

In my email options I have 'Save copies of messages into Sent Items Folder' ticked, and the copy is saved there, but I also want it stored in the IMAP Sent folder, which it isn't.

Is there an Outlook/IMAP setting I need to change?

TIA