Switching from Gmail POP to IMAP in Mail

Discussion in 'Mac Apps and Mac App Store' started by sloochi, Aug 24, 2008.

Most Liked Posts
  1. sloochi, Aug 24, 2008

    sloochi macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2008
    #1
    How would i switch my Gmail account in mail from POP to IMAP without having to delete my current account and lose all of my emails? Thanks in advance for all your help!
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  2. Fearless Leader, Aug 24, 2008

    Fearless Leader macrumors 68020

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2006
    Location:
    Hoosiertown
    #2
    its an option in the settings menu. where did you get the deleting and restarting approach?
    edit: I get what you're asking sorry.

    are your emails not on the gmail servers?
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  3. zephead, Aug 24, 2008

    zephead macrumors 68000

    zephead

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2006
    Location:
    in your pants
    #3
    I just switched over to IMAP with Gmail and Apple Mail so messages I read on my iPhone show up as read in Mail, and vice versa.

    No, you don't have to delete your account. Under Mail > Preferences > Accounts > Advanced, there's an option to disable your POP account. Don't worry, it just means the account, along with the messages, will be 'hidden' and won't show up in the main window unless you re-enable the account. Nothing will be deleted. If you already put your IMAP settings in, you can enable/disable that account the same way. Right now, I have my POP disabled and IMAP enabled. There's just one thing you gotta watch out for: If you decide to re-enable your POP account, every message you've received since you disabled it will start downloading.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  4. sloochi, Aug 24, 2008

    sloochi thread starter macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2008
    #4
    Okay, so do i disable the POP through Gmail or Apple Mail. Its cuz the account type is still labeled as POP and i cant change that. I have IMAP enabled in Gmail. And no i dont have my emails on the server because i choose to remove them after being downloaded.

    And zephead if i understand you correctly, if i disable the POP my messages will be hidden. But that isnt good because i reference them.

    Any suggestions? Is there a way to put my emails back on the Gmail server and then re-download after setting up a new IMAP account in mail?
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  5. cleung, Sep 15, 2008

    cleung macrumors regular

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2006
    Location:
    Hong Kong
    #5
    I'm trying to do the exact same thing except I have thousands of mail in the gmail server. I can't seem to figure this out except what sloochi said about deleting the account. I tried to disable the account but I can't change it from a POP to an IMAP account. It's enabled under gmail.com but how do I get the Mail app to change it to IMAP?
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  6. sloochi, Sep 15, 2008

    sloochi thread starter macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2008
    #6
    Solution

    So here's what i ended up doing

    Since i didnt have any of my messages on the server (under my POP mail settings, i chose to remove messages from the server after downloading to Mail on my mac), I was presented with a problem with losing all of my emails when i wanted to switch the account to imap (dont ask me why i didnt just to imap to begin with).

    I created folders "on my mac" in Mail and placed the messages that i didnt want to lose in these folders. I crossed my fingers and hoped that it didnt delete my messages as i deleted and re-set up the account in Mail as an IMAP account. This worked for me. Just make sure that the messages that arent on the server that you dont want to lose are placed somewhere other than "inbox".

    Hope this helps, cheers
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)

Share This Page