Sent emails missing from the Sent folder

You send an email from your phone or computer, but it doesn’t appear in the Sent folder in webmail or on your other devices. The email was still delivered. The problem is where your email app saves its copy.

Why it happens

When you send an email, your app sends it through the SMTP server and then saves a copy in a Sent folder. The copy only syncs across your devices if the app saves it in the Sent folder on the server using IMAP. It goes missing when:

• The account is set up with POP instead of IMAP. POP keeps everything on that one device.
• The app saves the copy in a local folder, or in a different folder such as Sent Items or Sent Messages, instead of the server’s Sent folder.
• Saving a copy of sent messages is turned off in the app.

Check whether you’re using IMAP

In your app’s account settings, look at the incoming server. Port 993 means IMAP; port 995 or 110 means POP.

If it’s POP, remove the account from the app and add it again as IMAP. Messages already downloaded by POP stay on that device. See Email settings for apps and devices.

Point the app to the server’s Sent folder

iPhone and iPad: Settings → Apps → Mail → Mail Accounts → your account → account name → Advanced → Mailbox Behaviors → Sent Mailbox, and choose Sent under On the Server.

Mac Mail: in the sidebar, select the Sent folder under your account, then choose Mailbox → Use This Mailbox For → Sent.

Outlook for Windows (classic): Outlook for IMAP accounts normally uses the server’s Sent folder. If it shows both Sent and Sent Items, right-click the account and choose Data File Properties or Account Settings → Change → More Settings → Sent Items, and select Sent on the server (option names vary by version).

Thunderbird: ≡ → Account Settings → Copies & Folders. Tick Place a copy in and choose the Sent folder on your email account.

Gmail app and Samsung Email (Android): these save sent mail to the server’s Sent folder automatically over IMAP. If they don’t, remove the account and add it again using IMAP.

Emails sent by your website

Emails sent by your website or a contact form (through PHP or SMTP) are never saved in a Sent folder, because the website doesn’t use an email app. To keep a copy, send a BCC to yourself from the form or plugin settings. See Sending website email with SMTP.

Related articles

• Missing emails
• Introduction to email protocols