IMAP settings - 2 PC's - only delete one message?

[katz]

Working with 2 PC's here, configuring gmail IMAP with Thunderbird on both. The issue is that when an email is deleted on either pc, it removes it from both. I've been all over gmail's settings as well as Thunderbird, and for the life of me I can't figure this one out.

The goal is to be able to manage each inbox independently, letting each user delete which one's they wish.

Secondary problem; Even though both PC's have the same outgoing server settings, I can only get one to send an email to a Comcast address. Attempting that with the second pc, the message disappears never to be seen.

Any ideas? I guess the easy answer is to switch gmail's settings to POP and go that route.

 

[glennd]

Same account on both PCs?

 

[allanc]

Working with 2 PC's here, configuring gmail IMAP with Thunderbird on both. The issue is that when an email is deleted on either pc, it removes it from both. I've been all over gmail's settings as well as Thunderbird, and for the life of me I can't figure this one out.

The goal is to be able to manage each inbox independently, letting each user delete which one's they wish.

Secondary problem; Even though both PC's have the same outgoing server settings, I can only get one to send an email to a Comcast address. Attempting that with the second pc, the message disappears never to be seen.

Any ideas? I guess the easy answer is to switch gmail's settings to POP and go that route.

RE: the first question.
If both computers are using the same Email account - isn't that the way IMAP is designed to work?

 

[Tech Savvy]

I agree, I think POP is the better protocol in this case. As for the sending issue. I would verify that you have the right smtp a server setting in the account itself. Also maybe check your security on the second PC, maybe a setting is blocking the port causing it to never be delivered and not giving an error message.

 

[katz]

Same acct. on both pc's, yes. I know IMAP is supposed to work that way, but I thought there was a local folder setting or something like that which could be configured differently. I suppose the best way to go in this situation is pop.

 

[Markverhyden]

Is there any rhyme or reason as to why they want this too happen? If one user is a pack rat just create a rule to forward a copy of all incoming emails to a local store. Not sure what to say about the sending issue.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Sounds like this is 2x separate users? If that's the case, sound like they outgrew residential grade e-mail and it's time to kick it up a notch.

If this is 2x separate individuals that want to control the e-mails individually...I'd create a distribution group name ...say this e-mail address is "sales @ company dot com"....and have that address forward to the 2 others. Now they can do what they want with it.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

Secondary problem; Even though both PC's have the same outgoing server settings, I can only get one to send an email to a Comcast address. Attempting that with the second pc, the message disappears never to be seen.

Either settings arent the exact same or something off with the email client or do they have different ip addresses and maybe one is blacklisted in spam databases?

 

[katz]

Mark/Stonecat,

It's kinda convoluted - it is a husband/wife, they are running a side business and the previous tech just set them up on IMAP, thought that would do the trick for them. One person is on the road, the other in the house and they are both constantly checking emails. One person deletes it, then the other person misses that one on their mobile pc. The prev. tech switched them from POP to IMAP, and along came redundant folders old emails from five years ago, this sending problem on one pc, etc.

Then they called me to fix this mess. We switched back to POP this morning and all is well. I was attempting to remedy the IMAP situation instead of switching back, because i didn't want them to have to deal with the redundant emails again when we made the change. I explained the situation to them and we decided to do the switch anyway.

They are quite upset with the previous tech switching them around without letting them know about the issues and are trying to get him to refund his service call. I told them that's between he & them, I'm not involved in that. Just don't let ANYONE else touch your email, lol.

A pain in the butt, but it was a paying job for me. And, I got a new customer for life out of it.

 

[nlinecomputers]

So both people are getting the same email? Two people, two emails. Any other way is chaos. As Stonecat said if they need a contact us group email you set up that as a distribution. IMAP would work fine but you can't stop Hubby and Wife from disagreeing about what email to delete.

 

[katz]

So both people are getting the same email? Two people, two emails. Any other way is chaos. As Stonecat said if they need a contact us group email you set up that as a distribution. IMAP would work fine but you can't stop Hubby and Wife from disagreeing about what email to delete.

Yep, both people/same email. POP is working out great for them today since I changed it, each person can delete which emails they wish. Now on to their botched up QB accout, yikes! Their pc's were botched up bad by a pizza tech - I can't believe some of the stuff I am encountering here. Time to switch to my hourly rate...

Oh, and for some reason their home network/router was switched to no password/WEP. (pizza tech) They are in a local town, and I can see probably 30 surrounding networks from their home office.

 

[Markverhyden]

You should really get them off of POP. It's one thing if it's just a single user. The technology is slowly fading away, Many ISP's, when you setup an email account, automatically set it up as IMAP.

I have a customer which, when I first started with them, had POP. They did have multiple accounts but it still caused unnecessary problems. Not the least is rules had to reside on the clients. So if a client went down there were problems. Moved them to O365 and things are much more reliable with the server based rules.

 

[nlinecomputers]

While losing all the advantages that something more modern than POP can bring them. If they reply from their phone will it be in Outlook on the main PC? Hubby makes one reply and wifey makes a different one to the same client and they contradict each other. Does the recipient know that or do you sound like a schizophrenic? You may have solved the problem but you didn't provide a better solution, IMO.

 

[Mercenary Roadie]

I hate IMAP just because if I delete an email on my phone it also gets deleted on my laptop which is where I want to keep all of my emails. I also hate POP because it doesn't sync the emails I send from my phone with my laptop.

I cause I'm doubly screwed.

 

[katz]

I hate IMAP just because if I delete an email on my phone it also gets deleted on my laptop which is where I want to keep all of my emails. I also hate POP because it doesn't sync the emails I send from my phone with my laptop.

Yeah, it's a catch 22 isn't it?

 

[carrcomp]

If they need to keep a copy on one of the computers, they'll need to have a separate PST folder for a local copy, and move the message into that PST.

 

[Daifne]

Since they're using Thunderbird, you could set up the IMAP account to use offline folders: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Offline_folders Look at the entry for Autosync in that article.