Mail.app does not sync Junk folder with Gmail

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I am running Mail.app on Yosemite with a few Gmail accounts on IMAP. Everything is syncing just fine, with the exception of the Junk folders: every time I use "Erase junk mail…", the emails are immediately deleted from the client, but they still show up in Gmail's spam folder.

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This doesn't happen with the other folders (sent mail ecc): whenever I delete an item from one of these folders, the change is synced to the server. They are also configured in the same way in Mail.app:

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How can I make sure that emptying the Junk folder in Mail.app deleted all spam from Gmail web as well?

Best Answer

In your IMAP folders, do you still have the junk folder inside the GMAIL folder ? If so, you should select it, and the choose "use as -> junk" in the mailbox folder.

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Mail.app configured to access gmail, is there a way to sync “sent items”

Select the Sent folder for Gmail in the Mail.app sidebar (might be under a [Gmail] heading in Mail depending on how you set it up) then go to the Mailbox menu in the menu bar and look down near the bottom for the Use This Mailbox For menu.

Choose Sent in there and that should make the Gmail-based Sent folder the default place for Mail.app to save outgoing mail. It will also appear to move that [Gmail]/Sent folder out of the Gmail section and up to the top-most Mailboxes section below Inbox, etc.

After you do this you may notice you now have a section in the Mail sidebar for On My Mac folders, and a Sent folder in there. This is the folder that previously was containing all messages sent via Gmail but stored locally. Feel free to copy all the messages out of there and into the new default Sent folder (which will copy them all up to the Gmail server).

PS - This process works for Trash as well, so you can map the Gmail Trash to be used by Mail.app. You can also do it for Drafts but I've seen some weird behaviour where Gmail/Mail.app doesn't delete drafts after sending a message and you get a ton of them stacking up in Drafts, which is why I usually leave Drafts as a local-only folder.

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.

Best Answer

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Mail.app configured to access gmail, is there a way to sync “sent items”

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

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