Can someone explain to me how IMAP works?

[Simon]

In idiot terms, please!    I'm trying to convert my POP3 IDNet account to IMAP, so that I can synchronise mail with my phone.  I set the account up, on my PC, and started copying mail from the POP account to the IMAP account, but then I found that all the disc space was being used up, because the mail was sitting on the server, as well as in my IMAP Inbox on the PC.  This also applied to another folder of mail I moved to the IMAP account.  How do you download mail into the PC mail client, so that it's removed from the server, as it would be with a POP3 account?   

[pctech]

As far as I understand it the messages stay on the server until you delete them even if you've opened them in the client.

[Simon]

Oh, that's a bit pants, then.    All I want to do is get the Sent messages off my phone, onto the mail client, but I don't want to have to use Outlook to synchronise, as that isn't my default mail client.

[Steve]

I use IMAP on the phone and POP on the desktop . The Mac Mail app has the option with the POP3 account of leaving a copy on the server until I move/remove it from the desktop Inbox. It means I can see recent mail on the phone and the POP3 account does the housekeeping. I would think it may be possible with other clients surely.

[Simon]

Yes, that's my current method, Steve, but it doesn't allow for retrieval of mail sent from the phone.

[gizmo71]

Yes, that's my current method, Steve, but it doesn't allow for retrieval of mail sent from the phone.

Where does mail sent from your phone get stored, on the phone or in a folder on the IMAP server?

[Steve]

It's a bit clumsy but cannot use an additional IMAP account on your desktop to synchronise your sent messages and use the POP3 to keep the server happy. As Gizmo said I do keep copies of sent messages on the server so they should be available from POP

[gizmo71]

Some providers allow you to use POP3 to retrieve from folders other than the Inbox, usually by using a slightly different login name. I can't see any details on the IDNet site but then I can't even see POP3 or IMAP login details...

[Steve]

The Idnet customer portal has a more comprehensive list of email settings

[Simon]

Thanks guys.  I'm using POP3 on my phone, but sent emails are stored on the phone, and I can't see how to get them to store on the server.  When I had the BlackBerry, that used IMAP, and I've just discovered a load of emails sent from that on the server, but even if I set up an IMAP account in my email client, the sent emails are synchronized, and will download to the mail client on the computer, but they still remain on the server.

[Steve]

In my email client I have a tick box to save sent emails on server

[Simon]

On your phone, Steve?  I only have a tick box option to save sent mail on the the phone.  I wonder if it would save on the server if I unticked it?  Then, how to download it off the server...?

[Rik]

If you're on IMAP, you should be able to download to any machine from the server, without limit to the number of machines - or did I miss something?

[gizmo71]

On your phone, Steve?  I only have a tick box option to save sent mail on the the phone.  I wonder if it would save on the server if I unticked it?

It probably won't save them at all, although you could considering doing that and Bcc'ing yourself whenever you send...

[gizmo71]

The Idnet customer portal has a more comprehensive list of email settings

It has a good set of instructions for doing basic configuration of POP3 accounts in various email clients, but none of them mention IMAP at all, let alone any 'magic' logins that might be available for pulling mail via POP3 from anywhere but the default mailbox.

[Simon]

Rik, yes, I can download them from the server, but copies remain on the sever, taking up disc space, which, it appears, can only be deleted one by one.  That's a bit of a faff!

[Steve]

Can you not select all then delete

[gizmo71]

Rik, yes, I can download them from the server, but copies remain on the sever, taking up disc space, which, it appears, can only be deleted one by one.  That's a bit of a faff!

You mean, delete them from the server via IMAP? Can you not move them en masse using IMAP from the Sent folder to the Inbox, whereupon POP3 could download them all and delete them from the server?

[Rik]

Can you not select all then delete

But doesn't that also delete them from the local machines when they synchronise with the server?

[Steve]

Yep. I think the Bcc sounds a good choice if you need a sent record.

[Simon]

It seems ridiculously complex, for what seems like a simple requirement.

I tired selecting all in the webmail interface, and it didn't seem to want to. 

[Lance]

I think we need to be clear here.

You want to have the sent items on your computer and phone but not the server?

In that case, I don't think using imap on the computer is the right thing to do. I think you should be using pop3 to pull it down and delete from the server at the same time.

[Simon]

Yes to both, Lance.  But how do I download the Sent folder via POP3?

[Lance]

I'm just pondering that! 

[Lance]

A quick google suggests setting up a second account in the email client, setting it up as IMAP and only syncing sent items. It won't delete them from the server but at least the server wouldn't have received items as well.