Folders in your mailbox: Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Trash, Junk and Archive

Your mailbox always has a few standard folders: Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Trash, Junk and often Archive too. On your phone they sometimes have different names than on your computer, and sometimes a folder shows up twice. In this article you'll learn how mail programs know which folder is for what, how this works at WebOké and how to fix the most common problems.

The standard: special folders with a fixed label

Your mail program talks to our mail server via IMAP. There is a worldwide agreement for the standard folders, the IMAP extension SPECIAL-USE (RFC 6154). The server gives each standard folder a label that says what it's for:

The Inbox doesn't need a label: in IMAP it's always called INBOX. \All and \Flagged aren't real folders but overviews, like ‘All Mail’ in Gmail. If you want to see all your flagged mail together, your mail program does that itself, for example with a smart folder.

A mail program that follows the standard looks at the label, not the name. It then shows the folder with a name in your language. That's why you see Junk on your iPhone, Junk Email in Outlook and Spam in the Gmail app, while on the server it's one and the same Junk folder. So whatever you do in that folder is reflected everywhere.

Which name do you see in which program?

The names below are those of the English versions. They may differ slightly between versions.

Classic Outlook doesn't always follow the standard. It may then create extra folders of its own, such as Junk Email or Deleted Items, alongside the folders that already exist on the server. You'll read how to fix this further on.

The folders one by one

Inbox. All new mail arrives here, except spam and mail you send to another folder with your own filter. This is the only folder that is downloaded with POP3.

Sent. When you send an email, your mail program saves a copy in Sent on the server. That way you can also see your sent mail on your phone and in the webmail. In most programs you can choose whether and where that copy is saved. Always choose the folder on the server, not a folder on your own computer.

Drafts. An email you haven't sent yet goes into Drafts. That way you can start on your computer and finish on your phone.

Trash. When you delete an email, your mail program moves it to Trash. It's only really gone once you empty the trash. Until then, it counts towards your mailbox storage.

Junk. Spam that our server recognises ends up here. It's also the folder where you put spam yourself. You can read how the spam filter works and how strict it is in How does WebOké stop spam?

Archive. With the Archive button you remove mail from your Inbox without deleting it. The folder is on the server, so you'll find the mail on all your devices. It does count towards your storage. If you'd rather get old mail off the server, read Saving mail locally to free up space on the mail server.

How it works at WebOké

• All standard folders follow the standard. Sent, Drafts, Trash and Junk exist in every mailbox and are always visible. Your mail program creates Archive as soon as you archive something for the first time.
• Spam goes to Junk. Spam caught by the server lands in the same folder where you mark spam. There's no longer a separate spam folder under Inbox.
• The spam filter learns from you. If you drag a message to Junk, or use the junk mail button, the filter learns that it's spam. If you drag a good message from Junk back to Inbox, the filter learns that it isn't spam. More tips in How do you train the spam filter?
• Webmail uses the same folders. What you see in webmail is exactly what's on the server. See Going to webmail and what to do if you can't log in.
• Use IMAP, not POP3. With POP3, your program only downloads Inbox. You won't see Junk, sent mail from other devices or any other folders. Read IMAP or POP3: what's the difference?

Showing or hiding folders: subscribing

A mail program only shows the folders you're subscribed to. A folder you're not subscribed to still exists, with all its mail, but doesn't appear in your folder list. If you can see a folder in webmail but not in your program, or the other way around, this is almost always the cause.

• Webmail: Settings, Folders, and then the toggle next to the folder.
• Thunderbird: right-click your email address, Subscribe.
• Classic Outlook: right-click your email address, IMAP Folders.

You don't need to turn on Junk and the other standard folders yourself: they're always visible in every mailbox.

Common problems

I have two folders for sent mail, such as Sent and Sent Items. This means one of your programs is using its own folder instead of Sent. In each program, set the sent mail folder to the folder with the label, drag the mail from the extra folder into it and delete the empty extra folder. The same goes for Trash and Deleted Items. If there are also folders like Sent Messages or Sent Items on the server, for example from an old device, our server gives those the \Sent label too. In that case, pick één... one of them, preferably Sent.

Classic Outlook creates its own Junk Email folder. Outlook has its own spam filter, separate from ours. Turn it off so all spam stays in one place: click Home, Junk, Junk E-mail Options, and choose No Automatic Filtering. Then move whatever is in Junk Email to Junk and delete the empty folder if Outlook allows it.

Classic Outlook doesn't save sent or deleted mail on the server. Open File, Account Settings, choose your address and click Change and then More Settings. There, if your version offers it, choose the folder on the server for sent and deleted items (Sent and Trash). Leave the root folder path field empty. If that doesn't work, remove the account and add it again as IMAP. See Outlook for Windows (new and classic).

My sent mail doesn't show up on my phone or in webmail. First check whether you're using IMAP. With POP3, sent mail is only stored on the device you sent it from. If you're using IMAP, check which folder your program uses for sent mail. In Thunderbird, that's Account Settings, Copies & Folders. On the iPhone, go to your account, Advanced, and under Mailbox Behaviors choose the folders on the server. See also Thunderbird and iPhone and iPad.

I can't see the spam. Check whether you're using IMAP, and look in the folder your program calls Junk, Junk Email or Spam. You can set how strict the filter is and whether spam with a very high score is deleted right away in Setting up SpamAssassin.

How long are Trash and spam kept?

Our server doesn't automatically delete anything from Trash or Junk. Mail stays there until you or your mail program empties the folder, and it counts toward your mailbox storage in the meantime. So empty both folders now and then. To find out how full your mailbox can get, read Storage per mailbox and what happens when it's full.

Want it to happen automatically? Set it up in your mail program. On the iPhone, go to your account, under Advanced, and choose after how long deleted messages can be removed. In Thunderbird, under Server Settings, turn on emptying the trash on exit. You can also remove old mail in one go in DirectAdmin: read Cleaning up a mailbox to free up space in DirectAdmin.

Switching to WebOké or migrating

If you migrate your mail with the email migration tool or with IMAPSync in DirectAdmin, all your folders come along, with the names they had at your old provider. As a result, after the migration you may sometimes have a folder like Sent Items or Deleted Items next to Sent and Trash. That's not a problem: nothing gets lost. Want everything in one place? Drag the mail to the standard folder and then delete the empty old folder. Also set up your devices again so they use the standard folders on our server.