Outlook 2010 cannot see messages in the Sent folder

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I have an odd problem that has just started on Outlook 2010, after many years of relatively smooth running.  I am running Outlook 2010 32 bit under Win 7 64 bit Home premium. I have two main accounts in Outlook, my ISP account running under POP which operates via the normal Outlook.pst file and the main account in my own domain running on IMAP, which I access on my PC and also on an Android tablet and Android phone.

A few days ago, Outlook stopped being able to see the messages in the Sent folder within the IMAP account. They are there on the server, because I can see them on the tablet. There are two relevant folders, for some weird reason – Sent  and Sent Messages.  I have tried directing the saved messages to both, with the same result, but on one occasion, the Sent Messages folder briefly showed one unread message, before going to nothing, which indicates there is some action occurring.

In the Options menu of Outlook, it is set to Save copies of messages in the Sent Items folder.

If I direct Outlook to “save sent items in the Sent Items folder on this computer” in the account properties dialogue of the IMAP account, then they go into that folder in the Outlook.pst file. That works, but is less than ideal for me because I have to move them elsewhere before I can see them on my tablet or phone.

If I use the ISP POP account, then messages are saved properly, but of course that account is not available to me on mobile devices.

I have not installed any of the Feb 2019 patches, either Windows or Office. The only other change I have made in my system is to upgrade from Acronis True Image 2011 to 2019, but the system was running smoothly for a week after the upgrade before this problem arose.

Does anyone have any bright ideas?

 

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

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Chris, it’s been a while since I ran Outlook 2010 on Win7 [always POP accounts], so these are just guesses:

1. Change whichever is set as the default account.

2. Use a separate profile for each account—this should work, but may be unpalatable to you.

Lugh.
~
Alienware Aurora R6; Win10 Home x64 1803; Office 365 x32
i7-7700; GeForce GTX 1060; 16GB DDR4 2400; 1TB SSD, 256GB SSD, 4TB HD

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Lugh

Thanks for your thoughts.

Setting up a separate profile for each account would, as you suggest be a pain – worse than the work around I have going at the moment (the setup in the 4th para of my original post).

Changing the default account – if I interpret properly what you mean, that would just mean that all my outgoing emails would go from my POP account at my ISP, and is much the same as the current workaround.

I think I am going to set up a new email account with identical setup to my current IMAP account, see if that works and, if it does, delete the old account. My son tells me that worked on my wife’s machine on Outlook 2007 some time ago. I’ll post back here with the results.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

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Chris B wrote:

Changing the default account – if I interpret properly what you mean, that would just mean that all my outgoing emails would go from my POP account at my ISP, and is much the same as the current workaround.

Sorry Chris, I should have been clearer. I meant just the physical act of changing the default account, and restarting Outlook. Sometimes that kind of thing ‘kickstarts’ a function which has become ‘stuck’.

Chris B wrote:

I think I am going to set up a new email account with identical setup to my current IMAP account, see if that works and, if it does, delete the old account. My son tells me that worked

Yes, that’s definitely worth a shot too.

Lugh.
~
Alienware Aurora R6; Win10 Home x64 1803; Office 365 x32
i7-7700; GeForce GTX 1060; 16GB DDR4 2400; 1TB SSD, 256GB SSD, 4TB HD

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Lugh

Lugh wrote:

Sorry Chris, I should have been clearer. I meant just the physical act of changing the default account, and restarting Outlook. Sometimes that kind of thing ‘kickstarts’ a function which has become ‘stuck’.

Nice idea but, for me, no cigar.

I rebuilt my mail account. By that I mean:

1 I backed up the pst file in my current IMAP account.

2 I built a new email account with identical parameters to the original IMAP account.  This account can now see the missing messages in the Sent and Sent Messages folders.

3 I restarted Outlook to force it to sync the new account and rebuild the pst file.

4 I set the new account to be my default, and removed the old account from the send/receive groups.

5 I will also need to rebuild my email rules that filter incoming mail. Also my Favourites, short-cuts, Outlook today and perhaps the odd other convenience factor that I have currently forgotten.

6 After a testing period of untroubled running, I will delete the old IMAP account, the pst file behind it and the backup.

So the problem appears to be solved. The conclusions I reach are:

Sometimes Outlook gets its unmentionables in a royal twist. When it does so, there is no point in trying to untwist them – that road leads to insanity and assured failure. The only thing to do is to rebuild, and delete the mess that Outlook created!

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

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Elly

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