How to: Create mail folders on an iPhone (gmail)

If you’ve tried using Gmail on your iPhone you’ve probably been frustrated. Copies of sent and received emails end up in your inbox and read emails aren’t synced to the server, so if left unchecked the number of unread emails in the Gmail boxes on your iPhone grows rapidly.

The problems stem from the fact that Gmail has been using the POP (Post Office Protocol) for accessing email outside of their Web client and POP is lame if you check the same email account on multiple devices.

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) is the new kid in town and once you’ve mastered it, there’s simply no going back.

When setting up gmail on your iPhone don't use the add account wizard to setup your google mail account instead follow the steps below and you'll have access to all your mail folders (labels) and your mail will be fully sync'd with your online gmail.

To configure IMAP for your iPhone, follow these steps:
  1. Enable IMAP in your Gmail account settings. (UK o2 users will need to make sure they have the Language set to English US in your google mail setting to see the IMAP option)
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Mail.
  4. Tap Add Account.
  5. Tap Other. (Note: don't tap Gmail; if you do, you'll set up POP rather than IMAP. We are aware of this issue and are currently working to make setting up Gmail more intuitive for the iPhone.)
  6. Make sure that:
    • The IMAP tab is highlighted
    • Host Name is imap.gmail.com
    • User Name is your full Gmail address, including '@gmail.com'
    • For Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP), Host Name is smtp.gmail.com
  7. Tap Save.
And you're done. You can verify your Advanced settings by tapping Settings > [your Gmail IMAP Account] > Advanced.
Incoming Settings
Use SSL: ON
Authentication: password
Server Port: 993
Outgoing Settings
Use SSL: ON
Authentication: Password
Server Port: 587
Assuming that you have followed the iPhone IMAP setup instructions above, it is now time to properly configure your mobile Mail client so that Sent Mail, Deleted Mail, Drafts, and Junk are reflected properly after syncing back between the webmail client and any other desktop clients you may have.

1. Open ‘Settings’ > ‘Mail’ > [Your Gmail IMAP account] > ‘Advanced’
2. Select ‘Drafts Mailbox’ > ‘On the Server’ > ‘[Gmail] Drafts’. Return to the ‘Advanced’ view.
3. Select ‘Sent Mailbox’ > ‘On the Server’ > ‘[Gmail] Sent Mail’. Return to the ‘Advanced’ view.
4. Select ‘Deleted Mailbox’ > ‘On the Server’ > ‘[Gmail] Trash’. Return to the ‘Advanced’ view.

Any emails sent from your iPhone will appear in Gmail’s ‘Sent’ view, any saved drafts saved on your iPhone will appear in Gmail’s ‘Drafts’ view, and any deleted messages will be reflected in Gmail’s ‘Trash’ view.

Any questions please ask below.

Chris.