Identify which folder on mail server is currently designated by Mail.app as Drafts, Junk, Trash, Sent, Archive

emailfoldersimapmail.app

In Mail.app on El Capitan, the Mailbox menu offers the menu item Use this mailbox as. A submenu offers the items Drafts Mailbox, Sent Mailbox, Junk Mailbox, Trash Mailbox, and Archive Mailbox.

After using one of these commands, the selected folder disappears. That folder's name is masked, displayed under the Drafts, Sent, Junk, Trash, and Archive icons at the top of the sidebar as the name of the account rather than the actual folder name.

How can I tell what is the currently designated folder for each function (Drafts, Sent, Junk, Trash, and Archive)?

Best Answer

You can read it with a text editor at the beginning of the file ~/Library/Mail/V3/MailData/BackupTOC.plist.

While you can read the paths of the mailboxes, you do not see, which belongs to Drafts and which to Sent, etc. On my system, the entries in the file are in the following order: Inbox, Drafts, Sent, Trash, Junk, Archive.

The mailboxes for each account are listed next to each other.

Note: Changes to the paths in this file have no effect. You must set it within the Mail application.

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What are the default special folder names for IMAP accounts in Mail.app (like Drafts, Junk, Sent)

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) defines that in a proper RFC, the RFC 6154. There you will find a list of special use mailbox denominations:

   \All
      This mailbox presents all messages in the user's message store.
      Implementations MAY omit some messages, such as, perhaps, those
      in \Trash and \Junk.  When this special use is supported, it is
      almost certain to represent a virtual mailbox.

   \Archive
        This mailbox is used to archive messages.  The meaning of an
        "archival" mailbox is server-dependent; typically, it will be
        used to get messages out of the inbox, or otherwise keep them
        out of the user's way, while still making them accessible.

   \Drafts
        This mailbox is used to hold draft messages -- typically,
        messages that are being composed but have not yet been sent.  In
        some server implementations, this might be a virtual mailbox,
        containing messages from other mailboxes that are marked with
        the "\Draft" message flag.  Alternatively, this might just be
        advice that a client put drafts here.

   \Flagged
        This mailbox presents all messages marked in some way as
        "important".  When this special use is supported, it is likely
        to represent a virtual mailbox collecting messages (from other
        mailboxes) that are marked with the "\Flagged" message flag.

   \Junk
        This mailbox is where messages deemed to be junk mail are held.
        Some server implementations might put messages here
        automatically.  Alternatively, this might just be advice to a
        client-side spam filter.

   \Sent
        This mailbox is used to hold copies of messages that have been
        sent.  Some server implementations might put messages here
        automatically.  Alternatively, this might just be advice that a
        client save sent messages here.

   \Trash
        This mailbox is used to hold messages that have been deleted or
        marked for deletion.  In some server implementations, this might
        be a virtual mailbox, containing messages from other mailboxes
        that are marked with the "\Deleted" message flag.
        Alternatively, this might just be advice that a client that
        chooses not to use the IMAP "\Deleted" model should use this as
        its trash location.  In server implementations that strictly
        expect the IMAP "\Deleted" model, this special use is likely not
        to be supported.

Inbox empty using OS X Mail with outlook.com account (IMAP)

I've faced the same problem trying to set up my wife's Hotmail account in Mail.app. After much fiddling I eventually gave up and used POP3 instead.

About the only suggestion out there that I didn't try was trimming down the inbox (she had, I believe, 3k+ emails in her inbox), since some people reported solving the problem by getting their inboxes down to, say, 100 emails or so. I didn't even bother trying that solution since it seems so fragile -- what happens when she receives new email above the magic threshold that breaks IMAP? Is it just going to break again?

Much as it pains me to say this, it appears POP3 is the way to go for Hotmail/outlook.com/etc. accounts. IMAP appears to be simply broken.

Best Answer

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What are the default special folder names for IMAP accounts in Mail.app (like Drafts, Junk, Sent)

Inbox empty using OS X Mail with outlook.com account (IMAP)

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