Samsung e-mail app not updating read/unread status to/from IMAP server anymore

[kriegaex]

E-mail app version 6.1.30.30, latest version according to app "about" info dialogue.

Lately my IMAP accounts which I use in parallel on multiple devices (Samsung S7 phone with Android 8, 2 PCs, tablet) are not longer in sync because the Samsung app neither fetches not pushes read/unread status changes from/to the IMAP server. I double-checked with other IMAP clients, they always sync correctly.

Another problem is that e-mails deleted (i.e. moved to the trash folder) on the server via another app are kept in the inbox on the Samsung client forever, i.e. I have to delete them there a second time. If I look into the trash folder from the Samsung app, I actually see the deleted message there and after deleting the copy from the inbox I even see it twice.

I think that a recent update broke the IMAP support somehow. My typical workflow of reading messages on the phone, marking important ones in need of a reply as unread and then replying from the PC later, focusing on unread messages, just does not work anymore. It used to work for ~4 years, i.e. since I own my S7.

[Bradles]

I too have this same issue and wish Samsung would fix it.  It is also no longer syncing the moving of emails into other folders either.  Similar to the delete issue you mentioned, if you move a message to another folder, it places a copy in the new folder but still leaves the original in the Inbox.

[kriegaex]

no longer syncing the moving of emails into other folders

Well, I said that already:

e-mails deleted (i.e. moved to the trash folder) on the server via another app are kept in the inbox on the Samsung client forever

So your problem is exactly as I described mine.

[phier61]

I am seeing the read/unread status issue in the Samsung email app (using IMAP). For me, the Samsung app does fetch the read/unread status if changed elsewhere (e.g. if I mark an email as read in Gmail, refresh Gmail then refresh email on Samsung, the Samsung app will show the email as read as expected). However, if I mark an email as read in the Samsung app, refresh email on Samsung then refresh Gmail, I won't see the updated read status in Gmail.

Interestingly, if I delete an email from the Samsung app, refresh email on Samsung and then refresh Gmail, all emails above the deleted email will now show the correct read/unread status in Gmail (and, the email deleted from Samsung is also removed from Inbox in Gmail).

Galaxy Note 9, Samsung email app version 6.1.31.2 (shown as latest version installed)

[Vasco Moreira]

Removing Gmail account from Samsung Email app and adding it again seems to solve the sync issue.

[kriegaex]

More than 1.5 years later, and nobody from Samsung even reacted to this. Shame on you, Samsung! You have millions of users for this e-mail app, they probably all suffer from the same problem. I hate having to mark everything as read twice and having to delete already deleted messages on the mobile device again.

[gbauer12]

I have the same issue with an Exchange account in the latest mail app.

Read status is not always being pushed to the server but persists in the app.

[BusterT]

I have the exact same problem - read marks initiated from Samsung email app do not sync elsewhere, and deletions elsewhere do not sync to my Samsung email app.  It has been frustrating me for a long time.

The issue is only with the Samsung email app on my Galaxy s21 phone.  No issue with this app on my Samsung tablet, as it fully syncs with my email that shows on the website version of my inbox, but not with the Samsung email app on my phone. 

This is a comcast/xfinity email account, and it's set to use IMAP.  

I cleaned cache and data in Samsung email app on my phone, and reset the email account in the Samsung app, and everything worked fine for a short while, now not all deletions elsewhere are syncing to my phone on Samsung email app.  Unread marks initiated from the phone are however syncing elsewhere, at least for now.

Does anyone have a solution for this syncing issue?