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How do actions sync in IMAP?

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Your IMAP client will show all of your default Gmail views under a special [Gmail] folder hierarchy. Here's a guide to how other actions in your IMAP client will appear in the Gmail web interface.

Action on mobile device/client (e.g. iPhone/Outlook) Result in Gmail on the web
Open a message Mark a message as read
Flag a message Apply a star to the message
Move a message to a folder Apply a label to the message
Move a message to a folder within a folder* Apply a label showing folder hierarchy ('MainFolder/SubFolder')*
Create a folder Create a label
Move a message to [Gmail]/Spam Report a message as spam
Move a message to [Gmail]/Trash Move a message to Trash
Send a message Store message in Sent Mail
Delete a message in inbox** Remove the message from inbox**
Delete a message from a folder** Remove that label from the message**
Delete a message from [Gmail]/Spam or [Gmail]/Trash Delete the message permanently

*IMAP translates labels with a forward slash (/) into a folder hierarchy like you see in your computer's file system. If you have a label such as 'Family/Friends,' you may want to reconsider your naming schemes because your IMAP client will display it as a folder named 'Family' with a subfolder named 'Friends.'

**Note: Please note that if you're using an iPhone or iPod touch with software version 1.1.3 or later and you automatically configured Gmail by tapping the large 'Gmail' logo during setup, messages trashed from your iPhone will be moved to the [Gmail]/Trash folder rather than the [Gmail]/All Mail folder. Learn more

To avoid this type of deletion behavior, please manually configure your iPhone device.

updated 6/30/2009

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