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damiensmunki · Oct 27, 2007, 02:08 PM

Hi, guys... I remember struggling with this when I upgraded to Tiger, but I managed to fumble through and get it working. I can't seem to figure it out this time. Mail.app is only loading messages I've received with my Gmail account since upgrading to Leopard. I have a ton of old messages on the server that I want to access with Mail. Can you tell me how to force Mail to load these messages? Thanks!
Rob

swiz · Oct 27, 2007, 02:41 PM

Are you sure they were being stored on the server? Is this a .mac account or another type?

damiensmunki · Oct 27, 2007, 02:48 PM

It's a Gmail account, and yes, they're stored on the server. If I use web access, they're all there.

swiz · Oct 27, 2007, 03:00 PM

Did you setup your Gmail account in Mail as an IMAP type? Sorry I don't know much about gmail just offering suggestions.

damiensmunki · Oct 27, 2007, 03:07 PM

Gmail's Mail.app setup guide says to use it as Pop. ::shrug:: I really wish I could remember what magic change I made the last time. Thanks for trying, Swiz.

swiz · Oct 27, 2007, 03:10 PM

Try recreating the account in Mail and do it as an IMAP just to see if that works. If the messages re still on the server they should download. Also, click on synchronize "your email account" in the mailbox menu.

damiensmunki · Oct 27, 2007, 03:26 PM

I don't believe you can use Gmail as an IMAP server. And I already synchronized everything. I've even gone so far as to boot up my Tiger drive to compare settings, and from what I can tell, they're identical. I'm at a loss.

swiz · Oct 27, 2007, 03:31 PM

That is really odd. Just to be safe check that your computers date and time are set properly.

swiz · Oct 27, 2007, 03:38 PM

I just searched Gmail and it says that they do now support IMAP as long as your Mail client does and it lists Apple Mail as supported. I gues it would help if someone else with Leopard who actually uses Gmail would chime in

swiz · Oct 27, 2007, 03:40 PM

See this for IMAP and GMAIL:
Getting Started with IMAP for Gmail

frdmfghtr · Oct 27, 2007, 05:13 PM

If you want to stick with POP access, you can't force Mail to get messages that it has already retrieved; GMail won't re-send them, since they have already been downloaded.

To get all your old mail to Mail.app, go into your Gmail account on the website, and go to Settings-->Forwarding and POP/IMAP (it may just show Forwarding/POP if your account hasn't been upgraded to IMAP access, but that was supposed to be finished this weekend). In the POP Download area, first disable POP then select "Enable POP for all mail". This appears to reset the Gmail servers count on what has been downloaded.

The next time Mail.app checks the POP account, it will start to get all the mail on the server starting with the oldest. If you have a lot of messages, it will take several cycles to get all the mail downloaded; GMail will only send 400-500 messages per mail check, depending on the size of each message and attachments.

damiensmunki · 07:05 PM

I'd love to set it up with IMAP. I followed your link and read the directions for enabling IMAP, but under settings, I only see "Forwarding and POP," not "Forwarding and POP/IMAP." I am tremendously confused and thinking about getting rid of the gmail account.

Edit: Oh...I see where frdmfghtr said the accounts were being updated for IMAP. I guess mine hasn't been. Do I need to do anything to have it updated, or should I just wait? Thanks for all your help, guys!
Rob

jrafter · Oct 27, 2007, 10:07 PM

The advice from frdmfghtr is correct for "re-retrieving" all mail with POP. But if you can wait for IMAP to be added to your account... it works very well with Mail.app.