Advise Please...Email Related

Just trying out may end you in a huge mess.

You can try with POP - leave a copy on a server and then have thousands of e-mails in Outlook - not really great - just to name an example.

I think lineS of flight's apporach of finding out what should be best is the way to go in his case.

If you only have 10 e-mails, or just started its easy to "just try it out".

 

You may like to live dangerously...and more power to you. I don't, which is why I asked all these questions. And, I have a lot of mails - most of which I cannot afford to lose, so I will try to be doubly careful. Lastly, just because I say I know how to set up the Outlook + Gmail connection (nothing much to know really, Outlook walks you through it and there is quite a detailed explanation and description on Gmail's help pages), the nuances involved are intricate - especially, if your livelihood depended upon it.

You are free, of course, not to participate in this discussion, or to help me understand with your knowledge.

 

Yes it will download all of them.

It's IMAP, so it is going to download all of them.

Well, for me, 5000 or so emails amount to about 330 MBs.

 

This reminds me:

A "nomal e-mail" is generally pretty small - only KBs.

But if you have attachments... these things gobble up space like I don't know what...

 

Maybe 30% of them have attachments - xls. pdf, doc/docx and ppt!

I should probably try to weed out some of the 10K emails first from Gmail and then do the downloading - how I wish I had started with Outlook and Gmail at the outset - but then again in 2005, there was no Outlook 2007 and at that time I thought the 'cloud' was the place to be!!!

 

I know, it would have made life easier.

I had Outlook - 2002 I think for a while - then went to 2007 - it is that much nicer.

I suppose 2003 would have been an option...

But sometimes its difficult - do you follow a trend or use a technology other people will call outdated.

Some people never use an e-mail client - I can't live without one.

I'm sure once you've made your choices and sorted out the initial mess it'll be running very well for you

 

Do I follow a trend or use a technology? To be frank, I tend to use whatever makes my life/work easier - be that a trend or a technology - lately I have been finding that it is more a case of the latter than the former!

The problem was that I was in University and thus on the Univ Exchange system, which worked well with both Gmail and Outlook. Then I got my degree and left. So no Exchange. Then my laptop crashed and died. So, new laptop with new everything. Since then I have been relying on Gmail.

But meantime, I loved the Outlook convenience - the Calendar, the Scheduling, and the easy export into and import from Office 2007. I thought I'd follow 'the trend' - so tried the Google Apps way. Very disappointed. Found out that I like the Office Ecology. But now, 10K + mails later, it is a difficult move to make. Plus I will be soon be entering a new job!

Yes, I have to make a choice sooner rather than later and I am (1) actually procrastinating (2) I know what my most likely choice is going to be and (3) I also know that I will have to wade through the 10K+ emails.

So, to make the process as painless as possible, I thought I'd ask here and read up.

 

Having 10,000-20,000 emails in gmail and then setting up outlook to sync shouldn't be a problem as long as you ahve a good internet connection. If the intial sync operation fails, you may just have to doing it again until it works. It is only if it continues to fail that you'll have to look at changing something. This is why I encouraged you to try it out, but your right, better to ask questions first.

If you like the email syncing capability of IMAP then you have the choice in outlook of whether to have it download just the meesage header or the complete item.

- Downloading just the header just downloads the subject line until you want to read the email in outlook, it is only at that point that it tries to download the complete email. The advantage is it takes less time for the initial sync ooperation to take place, as it is only downloading the subjectlines of emails. The Disadvantage is that if you are offline you cannot read emails that you have downloaded, because you only have the subject line. Also when you are online, and go to read an email, there is a slight delay as outlook tries to download the body of the email. I found this delay annoying.

- Downloading the complete item downloads the complete email. The first time you run this it will take a while (30min - 2hours) as it downloads all your emails in entirety. While this is a long time the Advantage of this is that this initial sync only has to be done once, after that it will just be downloading new emails as they come in.
- Downloading complete items also has an option that I never noticed until now. You can set it to "Download only headers for items larger than xxKB" where you can set the size in KB. This advantage of using this is the inital sync wouldn't take as long. But if your online and you go to read an email that's larger than that limit you'll have to wait a couple seconds as it downloads, Also you won't be able to read them if your offline.

Here is where you tell outlook2007 if you want to download message headers only or entire emails. Tools > Options > Mail Setup Tab > Send/Receive > Then select the Group name or All Accounts > Edit > Under Folder Options check off "Download Compete item including attachments, Just below this is the option to "Download only headers for items larger than xx KB.

 

Its not clear from your post:
You can donwload headers only via POP too, not just IMAP.

 

Well...I think the option I am tending towards is IMAP. Also, since I want to read emails (some of them contain important reference material) offline, I will probably want to download the whole emails, not just the headers.

I think what my next steps should be are as follows:

(1) Go into Gmail (web interface) and weed out some of the older and uncessary ones.

(2) Get rid of all the labels on Gmail - basically convert them all to either "Inbox" or better still "All Mail"

(3) Configure Outlook 2007 and Gmail - IMAP style

(4) Begin the synch operations by downloading the emails from Gmail to Outlook.

Now one more question (never seems to end!):

As and when I move from Vista + Office 2007 to Win 7 + Outlook 2010 (new machine), is the transfering of mails just a matter of moving the pst files of outlook from one machine to another? Or, does the above process have to be followed all over again - though the condition in my Gmail account should be much better by then?

All this taught me an important lesson - think a hundred times before embarking on a way of doing things - coz if you don't you will, at some point, hit a problem like what I am experiencing at this point - long-term planning I guess is important. But then again the tech platforms and capabilties change so often that it is difficult to keep up - I hope that after Office 2010, MS desists from another version of Office for a while!!!!

 

You can just move the Pst file yes

I've done that before when I was reformatting my computer.

 

Thank god for that! Less hassles!!!

 

Only thing that doesn't transfer is your e-mail account settings.

The pst file contains your e-mails, your contacts, calendar, tasks etc.

But not theconnection and log-in settins for your account.

 

OK. But that would be easy to set up I would think as long as it subsequently re-syncs with the original gmail whose settings would not be changed or different in the first instance.

 

You're making it too hard man. Try it out first, then see if you have to go reorganizing stuff. My recommendation:
1 - enable IMAP in Gmail
2 - setup IMAP in outlook
3 - Do the sync operation
4 - If it works then decide if you have too many folders and what not. If it doesn't work then I'd recommend checking out the gmail help page for some recommendations.
5- export contacts from gmail to outlook, if you need them that is.

Also don't forget the Microsoft Outlook PST backup tool. Your emails will be backed up on gmail's servers but your contacts and calendar won't be.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/ha010875321033.aspx

When it comes time to setup a new computer with outlook 2007 or 2010 you'll have export your calendar, contacts, memo, Drafts, Journal, and tasks to outlook on the new computer. As for the emails you can either export them just as above, or just setup the outlook IMAP settings on the new computer and do the sync operation again.

 

it should be

I'm just thinking... I'm not sure how it works for IMAP - I did dthat in with POP accounts...

 

I really don't see the need to remove the labels. You are basing your decisions on how you THINK your situation will affect the performance of Outlook. You should just give it a whirl. Worst comes to worst, just delete the account in Outlook and try again on the initial sync.

I remember taking no precautions in my initial sync(s). I got Outlook installed on three machines here and it runs just fine with three web emails and one Exchange account. Considering your short history with Outlook, I suggest you give it an initial whirl without basing your expectations on your minute observation of Outlook.

Edit:

I see this all the time at my workplace. People using ideology, intuition, and casual benchmarking rather than evidence based decision. They SWEAR their machine is running slower. I benchmark it in the background with perfmon. I compare it to the baseline from a year ago. Looks roughly the same. They saw someone with the same gadget and they want it here in the office. I think to myself, "Will this gadget make you as successful as that guy??" Someone brings up a proposal and they reason because GE, a Fortune 500 company does this, we should to. I question, "Are we similiar enough to GE that we will get a similar result??"

It just kind of drives me crazy. Proposing a pilot program with 5 people is one thing. Proposing something that affects multiple functions on the whim because "everyone else is doing it" just makes me wonder sometimes............

Not that intuition is bad. There are times where historically, there is NO precedence for a certain situation. I just hate repeating history....

 

I have gone through the entire process of setting up outlook with IMAP for gmail before so I thought I'd tell you of something else you should know.

Outlook stores autocomplete email address in a file called outlook.nk2. Autocomplete is when you start typing an email address outlook throws up some suggestions based on what you've typed to help you find the right email address. Sounds handy right? Well it can really screw you up if you start entering email address in the "to:" field without ever putting them in contacts because those email address will not be stored in the PST file in a way that is easy to find. Then if you export your PST file to a new computer you will loose all the email addresses that only existed in the NK2 file. If this confuses you make sure to read the following links on the NK2 file. You can also try it out for yourself by opening a new email in outlook, enter in an email address in teh to field that is not in your outlook contacts, send the email, then check your contacts, the email is not there, but if you type the email again in the to filed it will be there. If you export the PST file with contacts the email address won't be there, because it only exists in the NK2 at this point.

In setting outlook up for a friend I turned autocomplete off on his outlook to avoid this being a problem. Autocomplete is very handy but only if you understand that autocomplete email addresses are stored in the NK2 file, not contacts.

Info on Outlook Automatic Completion NK2 file
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA100978871033.aspx?pid=CH100776981033

 

Well, if Gmails labels are converted into individual folder albeit under the Gmail heading within outlook, I will end up with 30 or more such folders, which will be counterproductive. So, for example, in Gmail I have my communications with each publishing house and academic under a separate label. This would mean that in Outlook, each of these would end up as separate folders. What I would do in Outlook is to have one folder titled, say, Publishers/ Academics and put all related emails in there. Then when I want to look up something specific, I will use the search function in Outlook to isolate that what I am looking for.

But yes, essentially, I think I am getting the sense that as long as the emails on Gmail are left undisturbed (except for removing the labels), then I could afford to make an error while trying out the Outlook-Gmail setup. If it works then good, if not, then try again.

Edit: My concern is primarily to work out a system that I will be comfortable with. I just want to find a system that either is easy (to setup and use) or is relatively easy (to setup and use). I am not trying to second-guess how my actions will affect Outlook; rather it is the opposite, I am concerned about how Outlook will affect my actions. I wish I could do the former (have my actions affect Outlook in the way I want Outlook to perform), but I know I have to settle for the latter (recognize that Outlook will in certain ways affect my actions). You know what I mean?

 

Hmmm...I did not know this. Thanks for the update and the link!!! This will be very useful. Though I should say that I do like the auto-complete function - which was what used to happen when I was on my ex-university's Exchange system. It seemed to work flawlessly there as it does in Gmail!

 

When you get around to setting up your outlook and gmail with IMAP post an update to let us know how it's going.

 

Absolutely! But it is going to take a couple of weeks for me to get down to it. I have a manuscript that needs to be submitted and a lecture that I have to deliver at an international forum. So between those two priorities, I am making lists of all the relevant info that you folks have so generously pointed me to such that I have a "instruction set', to work off when I get a moment to catch my breath and spend a bit of time downloading those emails. While I would like to post a novice's (that's me) 'how to', I would probably refrain because most people seem to know how to do this with a fair degree of confidence, except for me that is!

But one thing is for sure, I have decided to move to Outlook - assessing my particular needs, I think its the best way to go.

Again, my sincere thanks to you and to all the others who helped, advised and guided me with your experience and insight.

Cheers!

 

Yeah, definitely let us know how I works out and any questions you ask.

 

I'm going to double post to bump this.

I just found out you can select which labels/folders that you want to appear when you use the IMAP protocol.

So if you don't want the GMAIL/ALLMAIL label downloading thousands of emails to Outlook, you can turn that off under Gmail Settings/Labels.

I never had taken a hard look into the settings but I'm glad I did this morning.

 

Lol!! I just found that out too!!! Which means a whole lot less trouble. I can, therefore, weed out the emails on gmail folders that have pretty much lost their relevance AND I can do that on gmail rather than on Outlook!!!!!

Thanks!!!!

Edit: Possible Reality Check here for me: The Hide/ Display of labels may not apply to the IMAP protocols. As far as I can see, it is only to enable or disable the lebls on the Gmail interface. However, I could be wrong...but if not, then a MAJOR problem is solved!!!!!

 

You guys, I love this thread too but we don't have to keep going circles . I already mentioned in post #38 that it is Gmail's Advanced IMAP Controls that allow you control which labels are synced and represented as folders in Outlook. To turn it on, in Gmail > Settings > Labs > scroll down to Advanced IMAP Controls > check off enable > scroll down to bottom and click save changes.


From the Gmail help page.
Advanced IMAP Controls
Our engineers have been working to enhance the Gmail IMAP experience
since we launched IMAP access last year. Now, with a new Labs feature
written by Jamie Nicolson, you can have more control over how IMAP
works with your account.
Here's what this feature can do:
- Choose which labels to sync in IMAP (Folder subscriptions)
This can be very handy if, for example, you find your mail client
choking on a big [Gmail]/All Mail folder. Just sign into Gmail and
click 'Settings,' then click the 'Labels' tab. You'll see a new
checkbox next to each of your labels called 'Show in IMAP.' If you
uncheck that box, the corresponding folder will disappear from IMAP.

http://groups.google.com/group/Gmail-Help-POP-and-IMAP-en/browse_thread/thread/0e294c5b3cf59a6e

 

Yeah...thanks, I saw that AFTER I posted....I should have re-edited! I also should have re-read #38! See what I mean...I need to have a reference doc while doing this...can't do it with multiple docs open, 100 reference books open at the same time, half asleep and very very tired! But, yeah, point taken!

 

How do I set up Outlook properly with my free Yahoo accounts properly? POP3 kept shutting itself after a while.

BTW, is there a way to restore all my emails back from Outlook to my Hotmail and school account?

Thanks in advance.

 

Etiquette dictates that you start a new thread.

 

Open your own thread please - then PM me with a link please.
I use a free yahoo account with POP and it seems to work pretty well

I can name you my settings except e-mail and password of course.

 

Actually guys... re: cn_habs question - I should have titled the thread more appropriately...they way the title reads can be quite misleading! My apologies.

 

Here is what I am going to do: As and when I start the migration from Gmail to Outlook 2007, I'll keep posting what I am doing. To avoid unncessarily increasing the number of posts on this thread, I will post the actions as updates.

Update 1:

I finally managed to whittle down the total number of emails (under the ALL MAIL label - Gmail) from over 12K to under 5K on Gmail. Two benefits - lesser things to download (I am opting to download everything and not merely the headers)and probably will take lesser time. But, I am opting to download the related attachments as well - so I might lose some time there...but that's ok.

I have also reduced the number of labels on Gmail (rationalized, is probably a better term to use in this context) to under 20. Earlier, it was 34. Each of these labels are indispensible and given that they will convert themselves into Folders in Outlook 2007, I think it was worth the exercise.

My next step will be to (1) confirm that IMAP is activated on Gmail (2) configure Outlook 2007 as per the instructions on the Gmail website and the links that some of you have provided, and (3) to actually download the mails keeping a copy on the Gmail server. I will post on how things go on this front in Update 2 in a few days.

Cheers!

Ps: Yeah, I am a slow-coach, but then I have also have my fingers in a lot of pies!

 

Hey...after going through the link you provided, I went to Setting>Labels in Gmail, but there is no checkbox facility to 'Show in IMAP.'

Is this a Google Labs feature? Meanwhile, I will check at my end.

Cheers!


EDIT: Ok. I found it. It s a "Labs" feature on Gmail (Advanced IMAP Controls)

 

You must be doing your first gmail/outlook imap sync then.
Keep the updates coming.
I think I may be more excited about this than you are. Nice to be able to help someone with something with the tiny bit of knowledge I have.

 

Yes, first gmail/outlook imap sync....I am not so much excited, but i'll bet I am a bit more worried that you are!!!

Yup, I will keep posting updates in the one in which I mentioned updates. And thanks for helping me (and maybe others too!)!!!!

 

UPDATE 2:

Well, I finally got around to configuring Outlook 2007. I did this following the Gmail instruction set from their "Settings" page. It went OK - I guess. The thing is (1) why do I see the same gmail account twice under All Accounts Group, which is under the Tools>SEND/RECEIVE Menu in Outlook? There are three headings: (1) All Accounts Group (2) [email protected] (within this Inbox; Download Inbox Headers; Process All Headers) and (3) [again!!!!) [email protected] (within this only Inbox is available - the others are blanked out)

Secondly, all the labels/ folders that I had enabled in Gmail (web interface) showed up. BUT so did the ALL MAIL folder, which I had not. Additionally, there are some mails in the ALL MAIL folder that are showing as being unread. But when I scroll down the list there don't seem to be any.

Third, when I delete an email in Outlook, it crosses itself out. How can I make it go directly into the Deleted Mail folder without having to drag and drop?

Fourthly, Outlook, looks quite cluttered - though that must be the difference in interface. I found that to sort by Conversation made things go haywire and it takes a lot to look through. If I leave them sorted by Date (default) then it is much easier. Now, I suspect that incoming mails wont go directly into their respective folders OR will they? If that does not happen, then do I have to drag and drop? But since Outlook and Gmail are synched, then won't the email appear in both ALL MAIL (which I am assuming is the Inbox for this Gmail account in Outlook) AND in the Folder that it belongs to - because when the mail comes into Gmail, it automatically gets tagged with the label with which it is associated?

Fifthly, I am going to give this a try for a few weeks - just to see how it works - hoping that my mails on Gmail remain as they are and new incoming mails are also saved therein - if not, I in trouble!

Lastly, what is Outlook Connector? It came on by itself, prompted me to enter my password (but then it said it had something to do with MS Passport Services, which is linked to their Live Mail/ Hotmail) - so I don't understand the connection!!!!!

What have I got into?

Cheers..more updates to follow, I am sure!!!!!!

EDIT: One more question. Suppose I can't take Outlook anymore and want to stick with Gmail web interface. Do I just delete the gmail account in Outlook? What happens to the messages on my local drive? How do I get rid of it? Has this got something to do with the discussions about moving or deleting the PST file? If yes, where exactly is the PST file? Users>myname>outlook....? Thanx

 

UPDATE 3:

Here is something interesting and irritating. In Gmail I cannot uncheck the "Inbox" under IMAP. But I can uncheck ALL MAIL. But Gmail/Inbox is arranged alphabetically - so in the list of folders, it appears way down and it appears that it cannot be moved up. So the only option is to show "ALL MAIL", which sucks! Makes things more complicated. Any way around this? This may be an Outlook 'killer' for me!

Secondly, when I delete files from Outlook, it deletes files and puts them in Trash (or deleted folder) but the deleted mails still appear in that folder. I am assuming that one needs to delete them from Gmail's Trash label for them to be deleted in Outlook? Yes?

Edit: And BTW, the synch function takes quite a while!!!! MAybe because I am on a 2MB connection.

 

UPDATE 4:

Well, I think I have got a hang of how things work on Outlook - though I must say that adjusting from TB to Gmail (and vice versa) was much easier than from Gmail to Outlook.

I also think Gmail is very dangerous because it actually makes email management easier than Outlook without the backing of xCHANGE.

I have managed to lose one very important email which was in a label in Gmail (and thus in a separate folder in Outlook). Its just gone...vanished into thin air? How can than be possible? Its missing from Outlook AND from Gmail (though the relevant folder in Outlook exists as does the Label in Gmail). And I am quite sure I did not delete it!!!!

Any ideas how it can be recovered at all?

The other thing that I really don't like is how the Gmail/Inbox is alphabetically arranged as per the folders in Outlook - so one needs to scroll down to that folder to see incoming mail. Why could they not have it with the other folders such as Sent etc within the Gmail folder? Or, have I set it up incorrectly?

Cheers!

Thanks

 

I'm not sure why there are two accounts under Send and Receive/Define settings. Try deleting the second one.....

Don't use the abc@gmail/Gmail/Inbox folder. Use abc@gmail/inbox

The folders under [email protected]/GMAIL aren't supposed to be your everyday use folders.

Rather use abc@gmail/inbox.

Outlook's Delete mail does not, by default delete mail on Gmail's servers. Rather it archives it. To have it delete the mail on the servers by default, go to your Gmail settings and under IMAP/POP controls, disable expunge. And then select Delete the message forever for the setting below it.

Outlook's "Delete" function by default moves messages into the Personal folders/Deleted items folder. Under Tools/Options allows you to delete this folder upon exit. This is just a local folder and a local copy of your message and when you delete a message from abc@gmail/Inbox, it is the equivalent of hitting "archive" on the Gmail web interface.

The reason you can't delete files under Gmail/AllMail is because the IMAP control don't allow you to. Delete the message under Gmail/AllMail only deletes the local copy, and it will reappear when you resync. To truly delete a file on the GMAIL server, move it to GMAIL/Trash. Then, hit the delete button. Or set up your expunge settings

Outlook's "Sort by Conversation" is different from Gmail's and there is no way to replicate it. So you are out of luck here. If your filters in Gmail are set up to automatically add labels, then it will appear in both the Gmail/Allmail and the folder it is labeled. But again, the [email protected]/Gmail/AllMail wasn't meant to be your working inbox. The ABC@gmail/Inbox was meant to be your working inbox.

BTW, you should get up to date on OUtlook's view settings. They can and will overwhelm a first time user.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA101095881033.aspx

Outlook Connector installs when you install Windows Live Essentials. It is a plugin for Windows Live Email. Sort of like Google gears, but for Windows Live email.

To get rid of your Gmail account on Outlook, Go to Tool/Account Settings and delete the account there. And then you'll need to delete the PST file. You can do that from the same screen by clicking the "Data Files" tab and hitting "Open Folder."

Again, the abc@gmail/Gmail/AllMail folder wasn't meant to be your working folder. For your inbox, use [email protected]/inbox. I suggest you read this link again.


This one talks about Advaned Imap controls

Again, I highly recommend you read through the help sections, here.
This will save you LOTS and LOTS of time. A lot of your questions are answered there and it would of saved your some time if you read through the help section first.


Edit: PLZ PLZ PLZ, don't be messing with the folders under [email protected]/GMAIL. This is an ez way to screw your email box as you are unfamiliar with the IMAP protocol and how Gmail's servers sync with the IMAP actions. The [email protected]/GMAIL folders are like system folders. I would suggest you DON'T mess with them until you fully go through the help section.

And PLZ PLZ PLZ read the help section.

Gmail was not meant to sync perfectly with IMAP or Outlook. There are many IMAP actions that Gmail does not support, like "Answered."

Like anything new, I suggest you make a bunch of test emails. Just compose some emails and keep emailing it to yourself multiple times. Use those test emails to get familiar with the interface.

WTH, largest forum post ever.....

 

Hmmm...Thanks...I will read up the links. Meanwhile..." Outlook Connector installs when you install Windows Live Essentials. It is a plugin for Windows Live Email. Sort of like Google gears, but for Windows Live email." How to get rid of this? It keeps bugging when I open up Outlook. I do have a Live Account, but that's only for registering purposes on sites. So I don't need to have that.


I'm not sure why there are two accounts under Send and Receive/Define settings. Try deleting the second one.....

Well, this had something called MAPI affixed to it. I did as you said and deleted it. Nothing major seemed to have happened....yet!

Don't use the abc@gmail/Gmail/Inbox folder. Use abc@gmail/inbox

The folders under [email protected]/GMAIL aren't supposed to be your everyday use folders.

The way I am seeing it on my setup is like this:

Personal Folders
Deleted Items
Drafts
Inbox
Junk E-Mail
Outbox
RSS Feeds
Sent Items
Search Folders
[email protected]
(Folder) [Gmail]
(Folder) All Mail
(Folder) Drafts
(Folder) Sent Mail
(Folder) Trash
(Folder) (label 1 - from gmail)
(Folder) (label 2 - from gmail)
(Folder) (label 3 - from gmail)
(Folder) (label 4 - from gmail)
(Folder) (Inbox - which Inbox is this?) (Folder) (Label 5 - from gmail)
etc...etc...

Note where you see (Folder), it is the icon of a folder and where it says folder and label 1-4 from gmail, these are the corresponding labels from gmail.

Can you now point me in the right direction using the above description?

Thanks

Edit: There is a nesting process at work in the above description....so from the top, Personal Folders and ends at Search Folder. Then it begins at [email protected], a further indent at All Mail to Trash, and then another indent from Label 1 to label 4...I hope I am being clear about this! Sorry for the complications though!

Edit 2: If I want to delete the gmail account from Outlook and start all over again, then this can be done through Tools on the Menu bar right? No need to go into Local Data>Apps etc? If it is the latter, can you point me to the path where the CAB folder resides (and the PST)? Thannks

 

Go to Program and features. Uninstall Windows Live essentials. It will ask which components. At the top there should be Outlook Connector.

The Folder/Inbox is your Inbox view. Well, essentially. I like to move my folders all under Inbox. It will prefix all your labels with "INBOX" under Gmail's servers however.

The Inbox is your workhorse. Using Outlook's delete on a file from there, by default, is the same as hitting "Archive" on Gmail's servers. Moving a file from Inbox to a Label folder will tag it with a label, etc etc. Moving it to GMAIL/SPAM will label it as spam. Moving to GMAIL/TRASH will send it to Trash on the servers. Again, this is all on the help section

The personal folders are kind of useless in your case. You can have Outlook default to your GMAIL inbox as its startup view by going to Tools/Options/Other options/Advanced option/"Start Outlook in this view"

Another cool feature to help you out is Search Folders. By default, I don't go clicking through each label to read my unread mail. I have a custom search folder that goes through all my Email addresses and displays them on one screen. Under [email protected]/Search folders, you right click Search folders to make a new search folder. Click "Custom" Folder, give it a name. For Criteria, use "Unread" and select your Inbox and all your labels as the folders to search. Then you can drag that Search folder to your Favorite folders at the top. I use this as my default "Inbox."

Edit:

I figured that out

Again, it can all be done through Tools/Account settings. Delete the account from the "Email" tab. Then go to "Data Files" tab. Use the "open folder" button to go directly to where the PST files are stored.

 

Wow, that's alot of questions

1. Multiple Outlook Accounts

Sounds like you have two accounts in outlook for the same email address. Simply delete the account that you don't want. Might want to back it up first, in case it contains some contacts or emails that aren't contains in another outlook account.

2. Outlook: Different Send Receive options for different accounts

I'm not sure about this one. I tried to recreate this is my outlook and couldn't figure out how to do it. It may not be a concern though, or outlook help page might help you figure it out.


3. Gmail's All Mail folder

Confirm that in Gmail you have set the AllMail lable not to not show up in IMAP. In Gmail: Settings> Lables >make sure AllMail is not checked off.

4. Deleting messages in outlook

Both outlook and gmail have options for how to handle deleting messages in IMAP. I suggest you read both.

For Outlook:
When you mark an item on an IMAP e-mail server for deletion, the item is displayed in strikethrough text in the header list. However, the item is not removed from the IMAP mail server until a purge command is used.
NOTE You can change the view of an IMAP folder so that items marked for deletion do not appear. On the View menu, point to Current View, and then click Hide Messages Marked for Deletion. If you are using the Reading Pane, you must turn it back on after using this command. On the View menu, point to Reading Pane, and then click Right or Bottom.
Outlook Link:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP100804201033.aspx?pid=CH100622151033

For Gmail:
http://groups.google.com/group/Gmail-Help-POP-and-IMAP-en/browse_thread/thread/0e294c5b3cf59a6e


5. Gmail Lables and Outlook IMAP behavior
First understand gmail lables. As a default, all incomming emails get the lable "inbox". If you archive an email it removes the inbox label. Any emails with out any lable appear only in "All Mail", in addition all emails with any lable also appear in "All mail" This is why it's desirable to stop AllMail from syncing with an IMAP client.

Have you set up and filter in gmail, and if so does the filter simply add a lable or does it add a lable and skip the inbox, skipping the inbox removes the inbox label. If it just adds a label, the email in outlook will appear in the outlook inbox and in the label's outlook folder. If it adds a label and skips the inbox, the email will appear in the label's outlook folder and not in the outlook inbox.

AllMail in not the Inbox, as explained above.
In gmail, if a filter applies a label, the email keeps in inbox label too, and thus in outlook it appears in both the label's folder and in the inbox.
In gmail, if a filter applies a label and skips in the inbox, the email has its inbox label removed, and thus in outlook it only appears in the label's folder and not in the inbox.

You should do some reading to better understand Gmail's lables and IMAP

Using lables in Gmail
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=118708
Using Filters in Gmail
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=6579
How do action Sync in Gmail with IMAP
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=77657
The Gmail IMAP help page.
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/topic.py?hl=en&topic=12806


6. Outlook Connector, Hotmail

Microsoft has extensive help pages, that should be your first point of searching for info. Google is helpful too.
Microsoft Office Outlook Connector overview
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA102225181033.aspx?pid=CL100626971033

7. Outlook PST File

Outlook stores all email, contacts, calendar, tasks, notes, and Journal in one file called Personal Folders File, it ends in .PST
Where does Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 save my information and configurations?
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP100669141033.aspx?pid=CH102499831033

8. You cannot hide Gmail's inbox from an IMAP client

Yes that's correct. In Gmail inbox is the default label applied to all emails, so you wouln't want to hide this from an IMAP client

9. Outlook Favorites Folders puts folders in a convenient location

Make sure Outlook's Favorite Folders is turned on, move the inbox to Favorite folders, it will then be near the top of the outlook screen where you want it.

Favorite Folder info:
The Favorite Folders list, located at the top of the Navigation Pane, contains copies of your Inbox folder, Sent Items folder, Search Folders, and so on. You can add, remove, and arrange folders in this pane to see and access them more easily.

Turn favorites on or off
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA101722651033.aspx?pid=CH100744071033
Add or remove folders in Favorite Folders
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA101325401033.aspx?pid=CH100744071033

10. Deleting emails in Outlook

See question 4 above.

11. Syncing takes a while

Are you referring to doing the initial sync, which took me like an hour, or the subsequent syncs after that which don't take as long?

 

I see surfasb is doing a good job of beating me to answering your questions. Hopefully after this initial round of questions you will get things working how you want them to.

I'd like to address these two point you brought up before I was able to post my answer to the other 11 questions.

In Gmail, check that it is not in your Trash or in AllMail.
Also in Gmail, look at the contact info for the person and sent you the email and clich "show" for recent conversations, see if you can find it there.

Hopefully it is hiding somewhere in gmail or outlook.

I recommend you setup gmail and outlook so that when you delete an email in outlook it is either archived in gmail or moved to the trash folder so you some way of restoring deleted emails.

Outlook has a spot in the upper left to store your favorite folders.
It allows you to move the inbox there, and any other folders you use regularily, so you don't have to go scrolling for them.
See Question 9 in my previous post.

 

OK. Thanks for the tips from you both. I think the way I should approach this is as follows:

Formerly in Gmail, incoming mails were labelled but remained in the Inbox with a copy under the specific label. In other words, they were not filtered into labels. Thus, not all incoming mails were labeled for obvious reasons aside from the default Inbox. What I think I should do is to create obvious filters in Gmail for most of the mail that comes in. Yes, would mean a lot of folder in Outlook should I choose to view them, but that will probably not be the case.

The contrary view is that I remove all labels in Gmail and have all mail in the Gmail's Inbox. This means all the mail should be coming into the generic Gmail/Inbox of Outlook. From there I can creatre sub folders and physically move the mails to the respective folders. But in their unread state, all incoming mails should appear in the Gmail/Inbox of Outlook. Then I can choose - after reading the mails - where each should go. This may be a bit time consuming, but it will be a bit more comfortable for me. While in Gmail, all the mails remain in their unclassified form in Gmail's Inbox, which can be easily sorted using the search function. That, I think would work for me.

About Connector: Yeah, sorry, I should have read up on that, but losing that mail made me go a bit crazy + it was 4 am in the morning where I am and was seriously sleep depreived!!! But yes, I read up on it and its gone!

Thanks for the tips on the Favourites Folder - that works brilliantly.

About the Sync time: Yes, the first sync took some time, but each subsequent sync takes over 3 or 4 minutes...I am attributing it to my slow connection, but maybe there could be something else to it?

About the lost email (with 5 attachments) - Nope - its not hidden anywhere on Gmail (under any label) or on Outlook - this really puzzled me. I have no idea what happened or why - but I sure as hell don't want it to happen again!

Thanks for the Info on the location of the PST file and the related link.

I think, now that I know what's generally the scene, I will delete this account from Outlook. Remove the PST file. Then rework Gmail in the manner stated above and then redo the whole thing again.

What do you think?

Thanks again guys, you probably have no idea how much of a help you both (and others, to varying degrees) have been to me.

One last question: It is possible to minimize Outlook into the System Tray, isn't it? If I remember correctly, I could do that with Thunderbird...would be odd if I could not do it in Outlook. EDIT: The answer is yes. Right-click on icon in System tray and choose the relevant option...see, I do read up on these things sometimes!!!!!

 

Am I correct in thinking that whichever way I look at it, if I have Labels (in Gmail) and their corresponding folders (in Outlook), there are always going to be 2 copies of the same email in Outlook - one within the specific folder and the other in the Inbox?

Secondly, I noticed that mails that I sent are saved in three locations in Outlook. First under the Sent Folder under the Gmail account (this one is under the Favourite Folders heading); second, in the Send Folder in the Personal Folders and third under [email protected] Sent folders.

Surely this is eating up drivespace locally!!!!

This was not addressed in any of the links posted by you guys today.

 

Uh, I don't see any reason to remove the labels if your going to create folders in outlook and refile all the emails. But that's up to you.

Glad to hear it.

Mine takes about that long, maybe longer. I set it to sync ever 3 to 5 minutes. Seems to work ok.

Is it in Trash in Gmail, or Gmail AllMail lable? Also, if you ever set up up outlook with gmail using POP the email might be in that PST file.

 

Nope...first time opening up Outlook and using IMAP (never used POP) on this machine.

Also, what do you think about the emails being saved?

 

Read again how lables work in Gmail's help page. I'll lay it out again for you though.
- In Gmail, an email can have multiple lables, if it is labled with inbox and label1, In outlook that email will appear in the inbox and in the label1 folder.
- In Gmail, if you set up a filter to add label1 and skip inbox, in outlook that email will only appear in the label1 folder.
- Now if your working in outlook, and you move an email from inbox to label1 folder, in gmail that email has the inbox label removed and the label1 applied.
- And, if your working in outlook, and you copy an email from inbox to label1 folder, in gmail that email keeps the inbox lable, and has the label1 applied.

- In Outlook, the folders listed under Favorites, are actually shortcuts to folders, just as you can have a shortcut to a folder on your desktop in Vista or XP.
- There is a setting in outlook for save a copy of send emails. This makes sence in POP but not for IMAP as there is already an IMAP folder for sent email.
Gmail recommends turning that you do not save copies in the sent messages folder. to quote:
In the Email Options settings reached by selecting Tools > Options > Preferences:
Save copies of messages in Sent Items folder > do NOT check
Link:Click on Outlook2003, there is not 2007 listed yet. http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=78892&cbid=1cxkwq7nvyev&src=cb&lev=answer#

And just so you know, here is how I found that info on the gmail help page.
gmail help page starts at: http://mail.google.com/support/?hl=en
Click IMAP - this section has all IMAP releated info
Click Recommended IMAP client settings
Click Outlook2003

yes.

No, but it's on the gmail help page. You should really read through it to see what info is there. They also have their own forums that are quite helpful.

I also recommend you checkout the gmail blog, and add it's RSS feed to your RSS reader. If you don't know what RSS is I recommend you check out google reader. It makes it very easy to keep up with webpages that are continually updated.

 

If they have a label, say "Personal", they aren't going to be in the Inbox. Think of the Inbox as having all Email having the Label "Inbox." By default, all received mail get this label.

You have to tell Outlook not to save sent email locally. Go to Tools/Options/Preference tab/Email Options/uncheck "save sent messages."

 

Aside from getting gmail & outlook with IMAP working how you want to, there are two things you should check out.

(1) you might find the lastest article in the Gmail blog interesting.
Gmail is always offering new features

http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/?utm_source=us-en-gmnav&utm_medium=et&utm_content=gmnav

New in Labs: Hide read labels
Friday, September 25, 2009 8:08 AM
Posted by David de Kloet, Software Engineer

A lot of people want to see their labels in order to see which ones have unread messages, but they don't want a long list of label names cluttering up the left hand side of their inboxes. To help out with this, we've made a Gmail Labs feature called "Hide read labels." Turn it on from the Labs tab under Settings and all your labels without unread messages will be hidden under the "More" menu. Labels with unread messages will automatically show up, unless you've explicitly chosen to keep them hidden.

This is particularly handy if you use your inbox as a to-do list where unread messages are the outstanding things you need to take care of. If you use that method along with labels like "Home" and "Project X," it's easy to see all your to-dos in context. With this Labs feature on, labels with outstanding to-dos will be bold and have a number next to them; everything else will be hidden in the "11 more" section:

(2) Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook (GASMO)
This is a totally different way of syncing outlook with gmail. It's supposed to be faster, and it syncs, contacts and calendar. But it has its own limitations, and it costs $50USD per user per year. I recommend you read up on it after you have IMAP working and decide for yourself if you want to try it out. I've never tried it myself but it looks very good. Google is marketing this to get entire institutions and corporations to use gmail with GASMO rather than Microsoft Exchange.

Check out the video
http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/outlook_sync.html

and check out the GASMO help page too if your interested in learning more
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/topic.py?topic=23333