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One of the things we have improved in Outlook 2010 is IMAP accounts. IMAP is a protocol that is used by many e-mail services, including Gmail and AOL. If your e-mail service supports IMAP, you can use Outlook to access your e-mail.
Here are some of the IMAP improvements in Outlook 2010:
Automatic configuration
If you have an e-mail account that supports IMAP, your account can be automatically configured in Outlook 2010. All you need to set up your account in Outlook 2010 is your e-mail address and password. Outlook uses the Sent Items and Deleted Items folders on the e-mail server automatically so that you can view items in those folders from other computers and devices.
Better deleting
In prior versions of Outlook, a deleted IMAP message appeared in the message list with a strikethrough to indicate that the message was marked for delete. To delete the message from the mail server required a purge command. In Outlook 2010, when you delete a message it moves to the Deleted Items folder — the same behavior as with other account types.
(For you IMAP experts out there — if your server supports UIDPLUS, the message is immediately purged from the source folder using UID EXPUNGE. Without UIDPLUS support, the message is marked for delete, hidden from view, and then purged automatically the next time you exit Outlook or switch folders.)
Full messages
Instead of initially downloading only message headers, in Outlook 2010, full messages are downloaded by default. This enables you to work with all of your mail items, even when a connection to the mail server isn’t available. For performance reasons, headers are downloaded immediately, and full messages are downloaded every 30 minutes.
Better performance
We have heard loud and clear that you want a quicker, snappier IMAP experience in Outlook. We improved IMAP performance in Outlook 2010 in several ways. For example, if you click a message header, Outlook remains responsive while the full message is downloaded. We have also optimized scenarios like marking messages as read.
We are proud of our IMAP improvements in Outlook 2010, and we want to hear what you think. If you have been using the Outlook 2010 Beta with IMAP, how has your experience been?
Andy Brauninger Outlook Program Manager
More info on Outlook IMAP:
Demystifying email protocols: Crabby's Daily Tip
Comments: (103) Collapse
I'm using IMAP on Outlook 2010 with GoDaddy. I'm trying to find out how to delete the message from GoDaddy once they have downloaded to Outlook 2010. The problem that I am having is that I delete/file a lot of email only to have the reappear later and it fills my inbox up again with mail that I have already addressed. GoDaddy says to turn on Delete messages from server. Their troubleshooting slideshow shows a different snap shot than what I see in Outlook 2010. They then tell me that they really aren't any Outlook 2010 experts there at GoDaddy. Really!?
Interesting posts. I have seen the Outlook 2003 issue where all IMAP emails delete and then restore...many many times. GoDaddy says this is an outlook issue. I am surprised that Outlook 2010 would not fix it.
I'm using IMAP on Outlook 2010 as our web server was changed and we now have a different system in place. Each of us in the office may have more than 1 email account, depending on their job. However, when i went to reinstall their email accounts, they would only install separately. In the Pop system, I could install all email together under Personal Folders and have one inbox for all accounts. Now I've got separate accounts and lots of files. Is this something that can be fixed, or do we have to live with it?
I have to disagree with the above. I am using IMAP with my AOL accounts in Outlook 2010 and it does not work smoothly at all. When I click in Outlook 2010 from one IMAP AOL account to another the program stall, tells me Outlook is not responding and in about 30 to 45 seconds takes me to where I want to go. This also sometimes happens within the same IMAP AOL account switching between inbox and sent or inbox and spam. I am also getting IUD failure messages when I open up some emails. So I'm not a happy camper with this Outlook 2010. I would hope that Andy or someone on his staff would get back to me with some explanation.
Andy - I must disagree with you. I am using Outlook 2010 IMAP with 3 AOL accounts that I maintain. Most of the time when I switch from the inbox of one account to the next, Outlook 2010 stalls, telling me the program is not respnding and then 30 to 45 seconds later takes me to where I was going. This sometime happens when clicking between inbox and sent mail or spam within the same account. I am also constantly getting a message that "the uid of a message changed unexpectedly.this typically indicates a server bug.your program may not function properly". So I am not a happy camper with Outlook 2010. I would appreciate a response as to why this is happenning.
Performance of IMAP is still atrocious. Switching messages, deleting, switching folders all take whole seconds. Absolutely dreadful, compared with (eg) Thunderbird, which is also FREE!
I just downloaded the Office 2010 trial to see whether Outlook 2010 was usable. It's not. So No Sale MS!
Does anyone from Microsoft ever look at these posts and post an answer?
My original post is now 22 days old with not even a hint of a reply.
I have Outlook 2010 and I have established an IMAP account. The account will access the server and send mail however it fails to save on the server the E-mail that was sent. The mail is saved in the designated folder on my computer. I called the server customer support and they reviewed setup parameters. They indicated that everything seems properly setup to them and there must be a problem with the Outlook 2010 software. What am I missing?
just logged into hotmail, and it asked me to upgrade to outlook. i've been using an @msn.com account fo ryears.
Will this outlook upgrade FINALLY SYNC OUR OUTLOOK Contact IMAGES with other outlook systems, and Cellphone ACCOUNTS?
Thank you.... It Is Due Time!
Changed to IMAP last week (Outlook 2010). Problems include uber slow (or 'hanging') when deleting an email, sometimes it won't even send an email, has become almost unworkable. HELP? I need to use Outlook because our office calendar depends on it to sync to phone.
Any idea why the Forward icon now displays exactly the same as the Reply icon?
Only a problem with IMAP accounts. Doesn't matter if I reply of forward a message only the purple left arrow icon is used.
Not good when I'm checking that I replied to a message.....
I have two systems with Outlook 2010. On one the messages are deleted instantly when I hit the delete button, on the other it lines through. Any idea on how to make it delete instantly like my first system. Both are running XP
Hello. I have just setup a gmail account in Outlook 2010 with imap and Outlook is very slow and very often shows 'Not Responding'. It seems as though I have the same issue as MaryH below. My laptop is an Asus with Intel i7 and Windows 7. Can anyone advise a solution or should I delete the Imap account and go back to Pop3? If I go back to Pop3 will I lose my personal folders setup? Please help. Many thanks. Baden
Comments: (loading) Collapse