How to Control GMail and Get POP Messages to Download on All Mail Clients

July 30, 2007 by Dan in Howto with 1 Comment

My biggest problem with GMail, besides it being owned by Google, is the fact that the service lacks IMAP support. If you want to check your GMail messages on several computers, using normal settings your SOL because of the POP3 protocol.

Little did we know that Google has a obscure “recent” feature that actually fetches the last 30 days of mail, regardless of whether it’s been checked on another POP client already.

To enable “recent mode,” you have to modify your login information in your POP settings on your email client with the recent prefix:

“recent:yourname@yourdomain.com”

Be sure to change your login credentials on ALL your email clients to fully enjoy this feature.

http://www.brandon-martinez.com Brandon Martinez

Awesome tip! I hope to get a laptop soon, so that should come in handy. However, until then, I find this setup to be convenient as well (though, it doesn’t work if you absolutely NEED two clients, such as if you have a laptop and a desktop):

1. When I’m home, I use Mail.app to fetch the email using POP3. That way, I have a backup on my computer (in the event that something happens to Gmail, God forbid) and can easily search through my e-mail via spotlight or Mail.

2. When I’m on the go, I just use gmail.com (whether by phone or some other computer). My inbox is clean from the last time I checked my mail via POP3, so only new messages appear there.

3. Since I always download my email from home, it archives everything on gmail.com (adding to the point that only new mail will show up when I’m on the go), keeping my mobile inbox clean :)

I’m sure many of you do something similar, just thought I’d share my practice…

How to Control GMail and Get POP Messages to Download on All Mail Clients

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