IMAP mailbox issues

So I dropped my MacBook on a concrete floor and it was basically dead. Took it to an Apple store and they replaced the Logic Board and some other internal parts. (I have AppleCare. Whew!) They wiped my HD so I had to start new. I use IMAP email and when the MacBook went though it's set up routing I allowed it to "find" and set up the IMAP account. Now I have duplicates of every custom folder. I'm suspecting that the Mail app is confused because my IMAP syncs with my email provider service but is also syncing on iCloud. I notice that if I try to turn off Mail in iCloud and delete the mail Account to re-enter it, I receive a warning about Keychain and deleting the mail account on all devices. Not sure how to get delete the duplicate folders.

Go to your ISP web site and see if there is a Web Mail anywhere there and download. Can't help with the cloud as I detest it and refuse to use it.

harryb2448 said:

Go to your ISP web site and see if there is a Web Mail anywhere there and download. Can't help with the cloud as I detest it and refuse to use it.

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My ISP Web Mail "mirrors" Apple mail, so if Apple Mail creates double Mailboxes or I delete a Mailbox on the iMac, MacBook, or iPhone, it gets changed on the ISP Web Mail. IMAP is definitely not a "backup".

Of these "duplicate" folders, is there one you could afford to lose? I ask because you could use that one to experiment by deleting one copy of it and see what happens across all the syncing. If only one deletes everywhere, and if in the version you keep the messages are there, then you can just pick the dupes one at a time and delete them. Or, you could make a full backup, do the experiment and if BOTH of the folders disappear, leaving you with none, or if the remaining folder is empty and the messages are gone, restore from the backup.

BTW, not to be pedantic (OK, it is pedantic but it's kind of important), but IMAP stands for "Internet Message Access Protocol" and is not an application or program in itself. So these two sentences:

I'm suspecting that the Mail app is confused because my IMAP syncs with my email provider service but is also syncing on iCloud.

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and

IMAP is definitely not a "backup".

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actually make not much real sense at all. Mail can use the IMAP protocol to communicate with your ISP's IMAP-protocol-using server to get messages into Mail. Mail then uses syncing with a different mechanism to communicate through iCloud to replicate any messages in any Mail implementation on any connected device to all the other connected devices to keep them synchronized. And IMAP cannot be a "backup" because it's a protocol. Just wanted you to know so that if you need more help you can use the term better and help us understand better what is going on. Think of IMAP as a language used by Mail to talk to the ISP and you'll be good.

I definitely do not mind someone explaining things to me. I just thought HarryB was telling me to retrieve email folders from my ISP IMAP company and folders deleted by me are no longer there after I delete them. MacInWin explained to me how IMAP works. I have IMAP on 3 devices = an iMac, MacBook and iPhone. I just did a test and created a new Folder on one of the devices and dragged in a few unimportant emails. In seconds the new folder appeared on the other 2 devices. Then I deleted the new folder on one of the other devices and, again, in seconds it was also deleted from the other 2 devices. So IMAP is syncing. So I'm safe to delete the duplicates on the MacBook (with the new innards and re-installed OS) and should be fine. (And I use Rackspace for IMAP service - just in case different providers operate differently.)

But, I still have myself confused on this >> If I'm depending on IMAP to sync my email, and created custom email folders, across all devices, should I have "Mail" turned On or Off in Internet Accounts > iCloud? And for educational purposes, does it matter and why?

Can you please provide a screenshot of what you are seeing? I am having a hard time understanding what the issue is?

ferrarr said:

Can you please provide a screenshot of what you are seeing? I am having a hard time understanding what the issue is?

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Sorry - too late. I already deleted the duplicate folders. Here's what happened. After I had my MacBook repaired with a new motherboard they wiped my HD and re-installed the OS. So when I fired it up it connected to my office WiFi and Mail had all of my standard and custom folders showing with all of the emails intact. BUT, I had duplicates of EVERY folder on the MacBook (but not on my iMac or iPhone) So inn the left "Mailbox" pane/column , under the name of my IMAP account, if I had a custom folder "Amex" where I store all of my American Express correspondence, and below all of my folders there was another heading of my IMAP account name, and another complete list of all of the folders.

But, I still have myself confused on this >> If I'm depending on IMAP to sync my email, and created custom email folders, across all devices, should I have "Mail" turned On or Off in Internet Accounts > iCloud? And for educational purposes, does it matter and why?

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Excellent question, Barrygou, and it caused me to do some investigating. The selection of "Mail" in the iCloud settings on the Mac sets up Mail to receive mail from your iCloud.com mailbox, and that appears to be all that it does. This Apple article, and others, describes what that option does: https://support.apple.com/kb/PH2621?locale=en_US&viewlocale=en_US
Beyond that, it appears to do nothing else. I looked at my own setup and while I do have iCloud Mail and have selected it in System Preferences/iCloud for sync, none of my other email messages from my email server are there, just my messages sent to my [email protected] address that came with the AppleID. So, if that is correct, the IMAP service is syncing across all of your devices through the email server and the function of checking the "Mail" option in iCloud is to set up your Mac to receive and send through the Apple iCloud email service as well.

I do not use my iCloud email account for any email so I can have it turned off, correct? My IMAP is now syncing across all of my devices. I guess, for some strange reason, when I first turned on and set up the MacBook with the newly installed MB and a wiped HD with a newly installed OS Mail went out twice to my IMAP ISP and downloaded the folders twice.

Yes, if you do not use iCloud email at all, you can turn it off. But I would not do that. It doesn't cost anything, it doesn't take much in the way of resources to be there and it provides an alternative for you to communicate in case anything goes wacky with your normal email provider. And if for any reason Apple needed to send an email, it would come via iCloud.

MacInWin said:

Yes, if you do not use iCloud email at all, you can turn it off. But I would not do that. It doesn't cost anything, it doesn't take much in the way of resources to be there and it provides an alternative for you to communicate in case anything goes wacky with your normal email provider. And if for any reason Apple needed to send an email, it would come via iCloud.

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Thanks so much! I love Mac Forums. I learn something new every day that my Macs can do. I bought my first Mac in 1982 and I'm still learning.