Apple Junk Mail folder, I wish I could quit you. Why can't I?
April 3, 2014 9:53 AM Subscribe
I have a Mac (Mavericks) and iPhone (iOS 7), and I use the Mac mail client for both. My email is hosted on Google for domains. Some time in the past few months, my mail has started putting perfectly legitimate mail into my Junk folder. It's not marked as junk- I've turned off junk mail filtering altogether, so I don't even have that option anymore, and by my logic nothing should wind up in my Junk folder at all at this point. How can I get my mail to behave properly?
All of the mail that gets routed to my Junk folder is either mailing list-related, or an otherwise automated email from an app. Some similar kinds of emails do make it to my Inbox, and sometimes mail from sources that usually land in Junk do make it to my Inbox.
When I look at my email through the Google web interface, those messages are not there- they're not in the Google junk folder, they don't exist there at all. My Junk folder does seem to be in sync across my Mac and iPhone, though.
All of the mail that gets routed to my Junk folder is either mailing list-related, or an otherwise automated email from an app. Some similar kinds of emails do make it to my Inbox, and sometimes mail from sources that usually land in Junk do make it to my Inbox.
When I look at my email through the Google web interface, those messages are not there- they're not in the Google junk folder, they don't exist there at all. My Junk folder does seem to be in sync across my Mac and iPhone, though.
There's three things you might want to check: Do you have any rules or filters set up anywhere? Rules would be in Mail, filters in Gmail. You could possibly have an errant rule out there doing this. I'm certain I've created rules by accident on occasion, so even if you don't think you've got any it might be worth it to check anyway.
Are there any other devices besides your browser, Mail and your phone that may be using the account? When you log in through the web, there's a Details link at the bottom right of the page that'll tell you what's accessed your account recently. It's unlikely that this is the problem but not impossible.
Finally, how are the Mailbox Behaviors set up for the account in Mail? Google will continue to filter spam into the Spam folder - you can't turn this off, other than by switching off of Google - and Mail essentially renames that folder to "Junk" in its interface. Mail can be set to delete stuff automatically out of that box (or at least remove it from the server). If you go into Preferences, then Accounts, then select the account, you should have a Mailbox Behaviors tab, which will have two options for Junk mail. One of the settings is store it on the server, and one setting sets when to delete messages. If the checkbox is not checked or if the time setting is set to anything other than Never, what may be happening is that Google is filtering messages into Spam, then Mail is picking them up and doing whatever it's set to do to them. The checkbox should be checked and the time should be set to Never.
Additional thing: you can also create a new folder and then make Mail think that it's the Junk folder instead. Once you create the folder, select it and hit the Mailbox menu. At the bottom there's an option to use the folder as something specific - if you choose Junk, Mail will use your new folder as the junk mail folder rather than the Gmail Spam folder. (This will affect Mail on your computer only, though you will see the folder on the web and on your iPhone too.)
FWIW, most of the things marked 'spam' in my Google Apps email accounts are really not spam; I've relegated myself to going through every so often and marking stuff as 'not spam' so that I continue to get some of that stuff.
posted by mrg at 2:00 PM on April 3, 2014
Are there any other devices besides your browser, Mail and your phone that may be using the account? When you log in through the web, there's a Details link at the bottom right of the page that'll tell you what's accessed your account recently. It's unlikely that this is the problem but not impossible.
Finally, how are the Mailbox Behaviors set up for the account in Mail? Google will continue to filter spam into the Spam folder - you can't turn this off, other than by switching off of Google - and Mail essentially renames that folder to "Junk" in its interface. Mail can be set to delete stuff automatically out of that box (or at least remove it from the server). If you go into Preferences, then Accounts, then select the account, you should have a Mailbox Behaviors tab, which will have two options for Junk mail. One of the settings is store it on the server, and one setting sets when to delete messages. If the checkbox is not checked or if the time setting is set to anything other than Never, what may be happening is that Google is filtering messages into Spam, then Mail is picking them up and doing whatever it's set to do to them. The checkbox should be checked and the time should be set to Never.
Additional thing: you can also create a new folder and then make Mail think that it's the Junk folder instead. Once you create the folder, select it and hit the Mailbox menu. At the bottom there's an option to use the folder as something specific - if you choose Junk, Mail will use your new folder as the junk mail folder rather than the Gmail Spam folder. (This will affect Mail on your computer only, though you will see the folder on the web and on your iPhone too.)
FWIW, most of the things marked 'spam' in my Google Apps email accounts are really not spam; I've relegated myself to going through every so often and marking stuff as 'not spam' so that I continue to get some of that stuff.
posted by mrg at 2:00 PM on April 3, 2014
Response by poster: mrg: "Do you have any rules or filters set up anywhere?"
Nope
mrg: "Are there any other devices besides your browser, Mail and your phone that may be using the account?"
Nope
mrg: "The checkbox should be checked and the time should be set to Never. "
This is how mine is set.
posted by mkultra at 5:19 PM on April 3, 2014
Nope
mrg: "Are there any other devices besides your browser, Mail and your phone that may be using the account?"
Nope
mrg: "The checkbox should be checked and the time should be set to Never. "
This is how mine is set.
posted by mkultra at 5:19 PM on April 3, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by epo at 10:45 AM on April 3, 2014