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Ideal Settings for Apple Mail and Gmail IMAP Syncing [Mac Guide]

By Franklin Davis on Apr 22, 2008 filed under Apple, Featured, Google, Guides | Comments

Gmail Logo I am a BIG fan of Google’s Gmail service. It has the best webmail interface by far and offers nearly unlimited storage. Now that Gmail allows IMAP access I am using it as my primary email service via Apple’s Mail.app. I’ve configured Gmail to check all of my other email addresses via POP3. This is not only convenient since I have access to all of my email in one location, but it also reduces the amount of spam I see since the Google spam filter is very good. Note that you will need to maintain a list of contacts in Gmail to prevent real mail from being accidently labeled as spam. I use A to G.app to import my Apple Address Book contacts into my Gmail contact list. Continue reading to learn about the ideal settings for using Mail.app with Gmail via IMAP.

If you aren’t familiar with the POP3 and IMAP protocols, read this.


Note: I’ve updated this post to conform with Gmail’s own guidelines and enable better IMAP syncing with my iPhone.

Enable IMAP Access

Before we begin you will need to enable IMAP access from inside your Gmail Settings ⇒ Forwading and POP/IMAP panel.
Gmail IMAP

Setup Gmail IMAP in Apple Mail

Follow these instructions to configure Apple Mail.app to access Gmail. In short, your settings should look something like the following.

  • Incoming server: imap.gmail.com
  • Outgoing server: smtp.gmail.com
  • Authentication: USERNAME@gmail.com + USERNAME’s password
  • Check ‘use secure socket layer (SSL)’
  • Use ports 587 for outgoing and 993 for incoming

Enable Advanced IMAP Settings in Gmail

Within Gmail’s web interface, go to Settings ⇒ Labs and enable the Advanced IMAP Controls:
gmail-advancedimap

Modify Apple Mail Settings

Now open Mail.app Preferences ⇒ Accounts ⇒ Mailbox Behaviors, and confirm these settings:

gmail-imap-settings
I modify these setting just slightly and enable storing Sent mail on the server (you’ll see why below).
[via google support]

Assign IMAP Folders

Then under the Advanced tab section, ensure the IMAP Path Prefix is blank. Now find the [Gmail] folder in Mail.app. This folder should contain All Mail, Drafts, Sent, and Starred.

  • Select the Drafts folder in the sidebar and in the Mail.app menubar select Mailbox ⇒ Use This Mailbox For ⇒ Drafts.
  • Select the Sent folder in the sidebar and in the Mail.app menubar select Mailbox ⇒ Use This Mailbox For ⇒ Sent. - this enables me to see the same sent mail in Mail.app and on my iPhone

Flagging Messages

Flagging messages in Mail.app (CMD+SHIFT+L) is the same as adding a Star to a message in Gmail. If you flag a message in Mail.app it will show up as starred in the Gmail interface and vice versa.

Question for the Readers

Does anyone know how to prevent Mail.app from creating the ‘Apple Mail To Do’ folder on a IMAP server? I’d prefer to keep my ToDos locally but when I delete the label on Gmail it eventually reappears.

I’ve given up on this and I now use Evernote for my Notes and Things for my To Do list. This allows me to take my notes and to do list with me on my iPhone. Why in the world Apple has still failed to enable Mail.app to sync notes and to do items with the phone is beyond me.




Leave me a comment if you know of a good Gmail tip that I haven’t mentioned.

[via macosxhints.com and 5thirtyOne]




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