Windows Mail App does not work with Gmail accounts

[Phil Coldrick]

The recent update to the Mail App for Windows 10 (Version 16005.12827.20200.0) has caused numerous problems with the Gmail integration.  Sent mails are not appearing in the Sent Mail folder - instead they often appear in the Spam folder; attachments on incoming emails are missing.

In addition the Draw functionality has been removed but no warning about this was given.

Can someone share what is happening here and if the Gmail problems can be resolved?

Many thanks,

Phil

[#2]

@Phil Coldrick 

Hi, I found the solution, 

Open the google account setting,  go to the Security tab then Sign to Google Account, then go to Security then App passwords, enter your password, go to select app, choose Mail, then choose Select device( Windows Computer ) and save the new generated password, Go to mail app in Windows 10 and  in Microsoft mail add your account with the new given password ... finished

[#3]

I have similar experience. F.e. GMail messages which are unread and AT FIRST appear in Mail App's "unread" filter in "All Mail" folder can be made to utterly disappear simply by moving them from one folder to another within the Mail App. After the move, they are not anywhere in the Mail App, even though the changes will be reflected correctly in GMail via browser interface. It's like the messages get "old" and lose their "hotness" -- changes to message attributes (label, folder, read/unread, flag) are not synched to them by Mail App unless the message is ARRIVING at the time of the change to the attribute. So, absent the message being identical to its arrival state, it is a non-message, and the Mail App no longer sees it.

Personally, I like to keep incoming mail messages in my In-Box until I have acted upon them. So, I'll generally have four or five messages sitting in the In-Box, unread, for a while. With any other mail app, this is fine; they sit there. With Microsoft Mail App, they disappear. Next time I log in, they aren't seen by the Mail App any more, and I don't know what or where they are. I left them there as a reminder, so I wouldn't have to remember them, I don't know what their contents are, and therefore I cannot search for them by content. I had a job to do; Microsoft hid it from me permanently, and quite effectively; now it won't get done.

There are plenty of other symptoms. The culprit seems to be, that the "folder" concept (used by most conceivably normal email systems) versus the "label" concept (used idiotically by GMail alone for very little good reason except that they like to push us around by demanding we change our thinking habits) are contradictory in some manner or other. Most IMAP setups should be able to handle GMail's "label" concept but evidently Microsoft Mail App cannot do it, and instead of showing messages that it knows are there, it hides them.

This is un-tenable. Microsoft Mail App ought to handle the simplest of GMail messages, but it cannot. I ought to be able to replicate my GMail folders either on a web browser or, via IMAP, in the Mail App, but I cannot, because Microsoft cannot handle GMail's "label" concept (or, differently put, because GMail's "label" concept conflicts with most email systems' assumptions about labeling and foldering).

[#4]

You say "go to Security then App passwords" but I don't find this option. I did follow "password" option, but it only sent me to the change-password screen.

[#5]

@CKP45 

Are you setup using IMAP or POP? 

[#6]

It's the standard default IMAP arrangement. Thanks for your interest and attention.

By the way, I have some work-arounds. One work-around is to go into the GMail browser interface, where I can clearly see all the messages sitting there in the inbox, and there I create a brand new label (can't be one I've ever used before) such as "primary" or "skeezix" and then label the messages in question with it. This will force Microsoft Maill App to "re-see" the messages in question, at least in so far as I can find the new folder (same name as the new label) and then look in that folder for the missing messages. It doesn't force Mail App to "re-see" the messages fully; they still won't appear in the In-Box nor will they appear via a search through the "all mail" label for unread messages. A second work-around is to have the good sense, whenever in the Mail App, to NEVER EVER change the "folder" that a message is stored in. Don't hit "Archive" (this moves things to "deleted/archive" or to "archive" or to "archives" depending on the phase of the moon?), don't drag-and-drop to a new folder (drag-drop will remove FROM the old folder, but not place INTO the new folder, thus accomplishing the disappearment of the message(s)). Third work-around is to find unread messages, but you have to use a trick to find them. Mail App won't find them properly. Instead, you must search in "all mail" for "is:unread" text string. This trick alone will find unread messages. I can't just use the Mail App's "unread" filter, that won't work. I have to use the text string "is:unread" to find unread messages. The contradiction in "unread" status -- Mail App won't even find NEW messages that are unread, if I just use its own "unread" filter -- indicates (I think) that GMail puts an "unread" LABEL on the message, rather than actually changing its STATUS as un/read, whereas MS Mail App cannot understand LABELS. So, again, the culprit seems to be, that "folder" (all other sane decent emailers) versus "label" (GMail alone) is inconsistent.

[#7]

Yeah. The meshing of those two systems using IMAP leaves a lot to be desired which is exactly why I asked. I set mine up as POP3 for that very reason about 6 years ago and apparently it hasn't improved. I don't need additional copies to match on googles servers. I just have a gmail account because I have an android phone and because.... I wanted to be one of the first 50k people to have a gmail account when they began offering them years ago. lol. I almost never login to the account. Can't even say when the last time was that I did. I just use POP3 in outlook to download it and then since it's in outlook, I don't have to worry about what gmail is doing. And if I want to view it in webmail I use outlook webmail.

One nice thing is that MS now supports custom domains for the home version of outlook and they also support gmail accounts. If you use outlook because you prefer it, there's no reason to use IMAP. Just use gmail as "the server" and use outlook.

[#8]

Your thoughts are welcome. In fact, at this moment I don't actually HAVE Outlook (the software) -- I have an outlook-dot-com email account, but I don't have rights to the Outlook desktop app. This is why I was hoping to use MS Mail App, to replace Outlook desktop software. I've tried Thunderbird, there's really no other alternatives. I am in process of transition from a full-scale business-level Office 365 account (at over $150 per year ouch) which was fully hosted at my-personal-name-dot-com, to nothing but email forwarding. I had thought I would transition over to GMail for email purposes, but this experience has pretty much made clear that's not a good solution. I wanted to avoid web-based email work (I hate both the Outlook and the GMail browser experiences) but right now I can only "fix" GMail's MS Mail App problems by resorting to GMail's web interface, so that means MS Mail's purpose is defeated.

I've managed to set up MS Mail App with TWO gmail accounts, identical email address. One of them only has email (set up via "other" method and IMAP details), the other has all three of email-calendar-contacts (set up via automatic "Google" method). The two accounts, identical email address, identical software running at the same time, show different in-box content. If you'd like I can tell you a zillion ways to make a GMail message disappear and remain invisible reliably ...

[#9]

lol. I'd rather not know.
Everyone has their reasons, but just in case you didn't notice....
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/p/microsoft-365-personal/cfq7ttc0k5bf?activetab=pivot:...

$69.99 per year, includes outlook and 1TB OneDrive space on up to 5 machines and you can point your domain to it for email. You can also get Wordpress for free and point the A record there and voila, $70 per year with everything you need. :)

[#10]

I don't like webmail either. I went through a tough point several years ago. Mozilla, the makers of Firefox, have a very nice alternative to Outlook called Thunderbird....But it's just hard to deny Outlook.

[#11]

Yeah, thanks for your comments, Swiftechkevin @swiftechkevin , we're on the same page. I've been looking at that $69 option, it seems to fit my needs. (Not sure what I'd do with Wordpress, it breaks more often than Microsoft.) My cloud-storage deal at I-Drive -- I got 5 (five!) terabytes for one year at literally $4! -- may have a larger total storage bin, but the interface is so klunky and inept that I can't admit that it's a for-real piece of software. So, in fact, I've now tried the alternatives (Thunderbird included, I think I mentioned that in a post-edit, sorry for the chat overlap; and free MS Mail App included, this thread; and free GMail included, this thread as well) and yet I have discovered ... have beome horrified to admit ... the Microsoft products seem to be better, both for function and for price! Who would have guessed ...

[#12]

Have a look to https://enzocontini.blog/2020/05/10/how-to-set-up-a-gmail-account-on-outlook-and-what-to-do-if-any-a...

[#13]

Yeah good blog-post there, Enzo @enzocontini , I think I had already seen it. It's not exactly germane to my situation because my concern isn't so much about bypassing the (false) security concerns, as, it is about preventing messages from evaporating, or, at least, finding them after they do.

More important, I'm not excited about going through a lot of the rigamarole which you suggest in order to prevent the problems. The steps would probably work, but I've learned something about dealing with tech-giants -- don't force them. If you can't easily cause what you want, it's smarter to (a) figure out how to change your own goals and methods in order to better mesh with whichever options the tech-giants will readily give you, than (b) figure out how to force the tech-giants' options to somehow conform with your intended original goals and methods. Maybe you'll do otherwise. :)

Here's an interesting development. My two-GMail solution has stopped working. (I had created two identical log-ins to the MS Mail App, one through "other" and one through "Google" method, but both getting the same GMail address's messages.) Somehow GMail noticed that an extra log-in on MS Mail App was taking place and it flagged it as insecure. (This would probably be remedied by the steps in your blog.) It didn't flag BOTH as insecure, only the one created by "other". And it didn't initially flag that one as insecure when I first created it, but rather it allowed that one to run normally for almost a full day.

I'm scared of messing with it. I deleted the extra and have put things in a "normal" state, and I intend to follow my edict above (I change to accommodate their options, and I don't try to force them to accommodate mine).

Weird how it didn't "notice" the (false) insecurity until after a long delay, though ... right now, all the missing messages have been restored properly to the In-Box. Wonder when they'll start disappearing again.

[#14]

@Phil Coldrick 

The solution that I have found is simple. Just add a new app password in Google Account Security settings. This new app password you can use instead of gmail password to authenticate with "less secure apps" like Mail from Microsoft.

Enjoy!

[#15]

@FruitKing this worked for me.

Thanks so much.

[#16]

I have tried so many things and nothing worked.  I suggest that you download MOZILLA THUNDERBIRD.  It works, its free and you can integrate of your email accounts to one place. 
Thunderbird — Make Email Easier. — Thunderbird
@Phil Coldrick 

[#17]

This works support showed it to me, so you want to click on ur pfp on gmail or google or whatever and click manage your google account, click on security and click 2 step verification, scroll all the way down to app passwords, make one called whatever you want to call it it doesnt matter, it will give you a password, copy and paste that password into the password section when you click other accounts. it should work, it worked for me