Working with folders

If you have a POP account, you work with folders stored on your computer, sometimes called local folders. Any new folders you add will be local folders. Incoming messages appear in the Inbox folder created by Outlook Express, after which you can read or delete them, and move or copy them to and from other folders.

IMAP accounts use online or server folders. These folders and their contents are stored on your mail server, not your computer. Because they are stored on the server, you can gain access to them from any computer at any time. In addition, you can create local and server folders. Incoming messages are received to an Inbox folder located on your server. This Inbox is created by your IMAP server and is not the same as the Inbox folder created by Outlook Express for POP accounts. Your IMAP Inbox folder is located underneath the IMAP server in the folder list.

IMAP servers can store hundreds of both private and public folders. Private folders, as their name suggests, are folders whose contents can only be read by an individual or a selected group. The contents of public folders can be read by anyone who connects to the IMAP server. Because there can be hundreds of public folders on an IMAP server, you wouldn't want to display all of them, so you can subscribe to folders that interest you. Each folder has a subscription status: subscribed or unsubscribed. The Outlook Express folder list displays only those folders to which you have subscribed. You can use the right-hand pane to view all available folders so that you can update your subscriptions.

To display the folder list

By default, IMAP servers are also displayed in the folder list, but you can set up a POP server account to display in the folder list. When an account is displayed in the folder, you have online access. With online access, you can click a server in the folder list, and Microsoft Outlook Express will download only the message headers stored on the server. Downloading message headers is less time consuming and you can use the message header information to determine whether you want to download the complete message.

• On the View menu, choose Folder List. A check mark appears beside the command when it is turned on.

Related Topics
Using Outlook Express when you are not connected to the Internet
Setting up a POP mail server for online access
Working with folders (overview)

To add a folder

1. On the File menu, point to New, and then choose Folder.
2. Type a name for the new folder.

• To add a subfolder, click the main folder and then on the File menu, point to New and choose Subfolder.
• You are automatically subscribed to your IMAP Inbox and any folder you create on an IMAP server.

Related Topics
Deleting a folder
Moving or copying a message to a folder
Renaming a folder
Working with folders (overview)

To move a folder

• Drag the folder to its new location.

Note

• IMAP servers do not allow you to move a local folder to the IMAP Server or vice versa. Read the Tips & Tricks section to see how you can move a local folder to an IMAP Server and move a folder on an IMAP server to a local folder.

Related Topics
Deleting a folder
Glossary (local folder)
Moving or copying a message to a folder
Renaming a folder
Working with folders (overview)

To move or copy a message to a folder

• To move a message, drag it to a folder in the folder list.
• To copy a message, hold down the Option key while you drag the message to a folder in the folder list.

Note

• When you drag a message from a local folder to an IMAP folder or vice versa, the message is always copied to the folder.

Related Topics
Adding a folder
Glossary (local folder)
Saving a message as text
Working with folders (overview)

To rename a folder

1. Click the name of the folder you want to rename.
2. Type a new name for the folder.
3. Press the Return key.

Notes

• You cannot rename the Outbox, Inbox, Sent Mail, Drafts, or Deleted Messages folders.

• If you have an IMAP account, you cannot rename your IMAP Inbox or any public IMAP folder.

To delete a folder

1. Click the folder you want to delete.
2. On the Edit menu, choose Delete Folder.

• You cannot delete the Outbox, Inbox, Sent Mail, or Deleted Messages folder.

• If you have an IMAP account, you cannot delete your IMAP Inbox or any public IMAP folder.

• When you delete a folder you also delete its contents. The folder and its contents will be permanently deleted.

To compact a local folder

• On the Tools menu, point to Compact, and then choose the folder you want to compact.

To subscribe and unsubscribe from a folder on an IMAP Server

1. Click the folder. To select multiple folders, use the Shift key to select a range of folders, or use the Command key to select specific folders.
2. On the Tools menu, choose Subscribe or Unsubscribe.

Notes

• Only the subscribed IMAP folders are displayed in the folder list.

• If you unsubscribe from a folder that contains subscribed subfolders, the main folder will continue to be displayed in the folder list until you unsubscribe from all subfolders contained in it.

• You cannot unsubscribe from your IMAP Inbox.

To empty the Cache folder

• On the Tools menu, point to Empty Cache, and then choose an account.

• When you empty the cache of an POP account, the next time you download messages, all messages on the server including messages that you have already read will be downloaded.
• When you empty the cache of an IMAP account, the next time you connect to the account it may take longer to receive folders on the server.