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Outlook 365 - Trash and Bin folder in Gmail (IMAP)

Anonymous
2022-06-02T16:29:31+00:00

Gmail uses the 'Trash' folder to move deleted items to. I am using Outlook 365 to access my Gmail mailbox via IMAP.

Besides the 'Trash' folder, Outlook has created a 'Bin' folder and it is placing deleted items there. How can I instruct Outlook to place deleted items into the standard Gmail 'Trash' folder?

I am aware that I can access mailbox properties via Control Panel / Mail. That way one used to be able to set the location for deleted emails. In the current version of Windows 11 this dialogue has been reduced and it is not longer possible to set the deleted items location.

One thing that is special about my setup: I have set the IMAP root path to [Gmail] in Outlook.

How can I solve this issue?

Thanks a lot for any hints.

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For business

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-06-04T09:01:58+00:00

    Solved (at least until further notice)

    It seems to be a language issue indeed. I had to clean up the languages in several settings

    • I had already set the Gmail display language to English (US), but that did not do the trick
    • The primary language of the google account had been set to English (Switzerland). I set it to English (US) and the 'Bin' Folder in Gmail was renamed to 'Trash'
    • The folder or rather label that had been [Gmail]/Trash became [Gmail]/Bin and I was able to remove that label without issues
    • Removing the IMAP folder path of [Gmail] and re-subscribing the IMAP folders in Outlook then brought things back to normal. Trash now seems to be trash, with the empty folder option in the right-click context menu

    Diane, thanks for all your help!

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-06-03T21:02:49+00:00

    Check the languages on all of the devices -

    >> * Right clicking the 'Bin' folder in Outlook does not give an 'empty folder'

    This means Outlook doesn't recognize it as the folder to use for trash. The folder Outlook uses will have the trash can icon (in the folder list module).

    >>

    Besides the 'Trash' folder, Outlook has created a 'Bin' folder and it is placing deleted items there. How can I instruct Outlook to place deleted items into the standard Gmail 'Trash' folder?

    <<

    Under what circumstances is outlook putting deleted mail there?

    In Outlook desktop, the trash should be going into the folder with the trash icon (if you look at it in the folder module). Normally, you won't have the All Mail folder (as in my screenshot) in Outlook unless you took steps to add it (it makes outlook's data file 2x larger and is not added in outlook) - but I'm now thinking Bin might be the All Mail folder.

    Is there a folder in Gmail.com called Bin?

    >>

    * In the android and iOS Gmail app there is a setting to change the message swipe behavior between archiving and deleting. Setting it to archiving puts swiped emails into the 'Bin' folder. Setting it to deleting puts swiped messages into the 'Trash' folder

    <<

    So Gmail sees it as the Archive... which in Gmail should just be All Mail with the labels removed.

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-06-03T07:03:00+00:00

    Thanks Diane, you seem to know all the annoyances! A book with your knowledge would be a bestseller for sure.

    Smile

    My Gmail language has been set to US English for as far as I can remember.

    I found the following changes affect the behavior (in my specific case):

    • In the android and iOS Gmail app there is a setting to change the message swipe behavior between archiving and deleting. Setting it to archiving puts swiped emails into the 'Bin' folder. Setting it to deleting puts swiped messages into the 'Trash' folder
    • Outlook seems to alternate between putting them into 'Trash' or 'Bin'. Yesterday I set the Gmail IMAP root folder path to blank and then Outlook went back to putting deleted emails into the 'Trash' folder. Before it had put them into the 'Bin' folder
    • Right clicking the 'Bin' folder in Outlook does not give an 'empty folder' context menu (because 'Bin' is a label, not a standard Gmail folder. Right clicking the 'Trash' folder in Outlook gives an 'empty folder' context menu item. This lets me easily distinguish between the two

    To me it seems the behavior of Outlook is not consistent in this respect. The behavior of the android and iOS gmail apps looks consistent.

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-06-04T19:38:27+00:00

    Thanks for the update! You're welcome.

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-06-02T17:09:47+00:00

    Hello jacobacci

    I'm Diane, an Office Apps & Services MVP specializing in Outlook, and I’m happy to help you today.

    The Trash folder is renamed to Bin when you have Gmail set to UK English. Because Outlook is using it for trash, it should be named Bin in gmail.com too.

    Open Gmail's Settings and look on the general tab. Switching to US English will change the name to Trash.

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