Single view of my different email accounts

[Arjay12345]

Hi. Need to ask somethingthat I'm sure others will be familiar with. I have the following email setup:
2 x Gmail accounts
1 x IMAP account from one hosting company
1 x POP account froM another hosting company (1&1)
I use Outlook on my home PC

I want to set up all of my accounts so they are all synchronized and I can see all folders at all times both on my desktop and phone.

Is this possible?

My POP and IMAP accounts are my main ones. Up until recently, the IMAP was a POP too so I used to delete things off my phone but have a main copy on Outlook. Now it's IMAP, my inbox is clogged as if I delete, it's never on Outlook, yet I don't have access to the outlook folders to file properly.

Please help?!!

Thanks..

 

[Crashdamage]

POP3 does not support sync of folders, so unless you change it to IMAP it can't work.

All the other accounts can sync all folders between the desktop and phone, no problem. It should be working now.

You lost me at the part where you say the IMAP account inbox is clogged, deletions, Outlook folders...I just can't make sense of it. Please try to give a clearer explanation.

Android since v1.0. Linux user since 2001.

 

[Arjay12345]

Ok, thanks CrashDamage. I get that in IMAP you can create folders but can't with POP

Where do I go to create the additional IMAP folders (somewhere in my hosting account?)
And then how/where will these folders show in my desktop Outlook? I take it these IMAP folders will be different to the Outlook pst folders I have created?

And all the IMAP folders I create are tied to that email account, yes? i.e. if I create a 'Home' folder on my 1&1 account, then my Google cannot sync the same 'Home' folder and instead I need to create a new Google 'Home' folder? So in my Outlook, I end up having multiple 'Home' folders, each tied to the specific IMAP account?

I was just rambling in my final paragraph. All I was explaining was how I used to manage my accounts prior to coming across IMAP. Previously, I just had two accounts, and both were POP, so email would download to both my phone and my desktop separately. I could delete anything off my phone knowing that i always had a copy on the desktop. This meant I could keep the number of emails on my phone low and manageable...................... Everything was fine and dandy............. until....

I then bought a new phone, and configured my email, and one of the POP ones has been configured as an IMAP unknowingly. Plus I added the two Google ones. I was happily deleting emails off my phone thinking I still had the desktop copy, but only just realised that for the IMAP accounts, the desktop ones were no longer there either. The only way to ensure I have copies of them on the desktop is not to delete them off my phone,........ but that results in too many emails in my main inbox on my phone **given I don't know how to create folder for IMAP where I can move emails out of my inbox** - i.e. my original question at the start of this reply. Does that make any more sense?

P.S. I know it's difficult to explain easily via text... am trying my best :/

 

[Crashdamage]

Offhand, I don't think any mobile email clients will create folders except I believe MailDroid will, but I could be wrong. Don't hold me to it. Desktop clients will create folders in POP3 or IMAP accounts, or you can create folders using the webmail interface which is usually the best place to create folders.

Mobile email clients skip the option to create folders basically because it's preferred practice in IMAP to create folders on the server side (webmail for you) and let folders propagate (sync) to email clients rather than create folders on your phone and have them sync back to the server. It works either way, but server side creation is just preferred for reliability.

IOW, if you log into webmail for an account, create a folder and put some mail in it, the new folder and contents will show up on your phone and desktop after the next sync. Folders created in an account are tied to that account, of course. Folders will not cross-pollinate across accounts.

I don't know what you mean by 'Outlook pst folders'. I don't know much about Outlook. I've always made a point of avoiding it.

Some email clients, both mobile and desktop, have a common, shared inbox option, which is what I think you're thinking of by a Home folder, but you cannot create such a folder, it must be a built-in option in the email app.

Remember, on POP3 accounts if you create a folder, it will only be where it was created. It will not propagate (sync) anywhere. You must use IMAP for that.

Email accounts always have a Trash or Deleted folder. Often email apps can be set to keep mail there for X days just in case, then automatically be permanently deleted. You can create folders like Keepers or Friends & Family to sort and save mail to keep the inbox under control. In Gmail and most other email services you can go to webmail and create filters to automatically sort mail into folders, which then sync to your phone and desktop.

Android since v1.0. Linux user since 2001.