Don't delete mail in GMail when deleting mail with Outlook

Question

I have started using Outlook as an IMAP client for GMail. Until now, I never delete email in GMail (using the web interface)... I always hit "Archive" which simply removes the mail from the GMail Inbox, but leaves it in the "All Mail" folder of GMail.

I'd like to do this same thing in Outlook... when I "delete" a mail, rather than delete it, I want to simply remove it from the Gmail Inbox. That way the email continues to be in Gmail and can be searched later.

P.S. Same thing for my iPhone when managing email from there as well.

Solution

Take a look at the Google documentation here for tips on setting up folders to handle deletion properly. The default behaviour for Outlook does what you want, though the iPhone will require different actions to do what you want (which are also outlined in the link).

Comments

[Simon Gillbee]

That did it. I thought that Outlook was the one deleting mail, but it turns out (as the helpful link said), Outlook is removing the items from the folder (but leaving them in All Mail) properly, but the iPhone is the one trashing the mail. Special configuration required. Thanks for the help!

[Simon Gillbee]

See the link with special iPhone instructions. Basically, when you configure the iPhone to talk to GMail, don't select the IMAP account type as "GMail"... select "Other". Then it all works properly.

[Jonas]

What if I want the default behavior to be to move it to the trash and not keep in "all mail"?