How To Set Up Your BB and Gmail with IMAP Services

[daver42]

Hey all, just wanted to impart how I got my BB and Gmail working with IMAP. This setup will sync your inboxes so when you read a message on your BB, it will also appear read in Gmail. You can decide too, if you want messages deleted on BB to be automatically deleted in Gmail. Keep in mind that the BB email client doesn't give you full IMAP features like saving messages to folders, so you can't sync folders with Gmail - just the inbox. Also, as far as I can tell, message status only syncs one way: BB to Gmail. If you read or delete a message first in Gmail, it won't affect the message status in your BB inbox. OK, four easy steps to make this work, but you've got to follow each step carefully :

Step 1. Enable IMAP in Your Gmail Account Settings

- Log in to your Gmail account.
- Click Settings at the top of any Gmail page.
- Click Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
- Select Enable IMAP.
- Click Save Changes.

Step 2. Add a Sent Items Label in Gmail

Your Gmail account has a label (folder) called Sent Mail. You know how it works, right? Instead however, BIS requires* that your IMAP account have a specific folder named Sent Items so sent mail can be copied there. If that folder doesn't exist, sent mail from your BB isn't saved. By the way, folders in Gmail are called Labels.

- To create a Label in Gmail, click on Settings...Labels.
- In the Create a new label field, type in Sent Items (exact case and spacing) and click on the Create button.

Now you've got a label (folder) in Gmail that will only archive messages sent from your BB. Plus, your responses are still listed in message threads in your Gmail inbox.

*For some backbground on BIS needing a Sent Items folder, look here at the BB knowledgebase.

Step 3. Add Gmail as an IMAP Account to BIS

- Log in to your carrier's BIS website and follow these directions from Google's help site.

If you've already added Gmail as a POP account, you'll have to delete it from BIS and re-add it as IMAP following the same directions in this step.

Step 4. Confirm your Reconciliation Settings on Your BB

- Open your BB email app and look for the confirmation email that your Gmail account has been registered with BIS.
- From your BB inbox, press your Menu button, click on Options...Email Reconciliation.
- Click on the Message Services field and select your Gmail address.
- Click the Wireless Reconcile field and select ON.
- Click the On Conflicts field and select Mailbox Wins.
- Click the Delete On field. If you want to have messages deleted from your Gmail inbox when you delete it from your BB, select Mailbox and Handheld. If you want to delete messages just in your BB inbox, select Handheld. If you want to be prompted everytime you delete a message, select Prompt.

Personally, I choose Handheld since Gmail gives you tons of disk space and archiving features.

That's it! Now only if RIM can get the email push delivery back up to speed.

[MisterB]

Thanks for the info.

As far as creating a sent folder, this may no longer be necessary. I just tested it, and if I send an email from the BB, it throws it in "All Mail" on gmail.com. I'm also not receiving my sent items back as new mail.

Why doesn't read/delete work both ways? Seems strange. If I read or delete an email from Gmail, I don't also want to have to do that on my BB. Seems like there's got to be some sort of workaround for this?

You're right about the speed. It's pretty slow as far as updates are concerned. I'm convinced it's a BB issue, and not a Gmail issue. I had Gmail IMAP on my Palm centro with a program called Chatter, and it had full sync capabilities that took place almost instantly in all directions. Any ideas on settings that could help with this?

[daver42]

Hmm, in the past it's always kicked back to my BB without a filter and sent items folder. You're right, now it's not doing that so I've edited my post. Without the Sent Items folder though, messages from my BB still aren't appearing in my Sent Mail or All Mail or Inbox. Not sure why it's just one way, but that's my experience so far.

[latinatwix28]

I followed all these steps and i sent an email but I dont see it on my sent items folder in the bb??

[joegoblyn]

I followed all these steps and i sent an email but I dont see it on my sent items folder in the bb??

same here.

-joe

[Helstar]

does this work if you have a college account
say students@school.edu

we have a students@schoolname.edu which is now gmail, and we tried everything to get it to push to my berry. Could not get it. they said I needed to download google apps to the berry then it would work, but I do not want a another program running killing my crappy battery life any more then it already is.

[jepilot]

Originally Posted by Helstar

does this work if you have a college account
say students@school.edu

we have a students@schoolname.edu which is now gmail, and we tried everything to get it to push to my berry. Could not get it. they said I needed to download google apps to the berry then it would work, but I do not want a another program running killing my crappy battery life any more then it already is.

I'm currently working with IT at my school on this. Of course all the hipsters with the iPhone have no problem (bitter)

[gieseja]

Originally Posted by jepilot

I'm currently working with IT at my school on this. Of course all the hipsters with the iPhone have no problem (bitter)

There is nothing to download to the berry for email on google apps. Go to "E-mail Settings" on the berry and you set it just like yahoo or gmail.

For calendar sync you do have to install the google sync application.

[pbuder]

Originally Posted by jepilot

I'm currently working with IT at my school on this. Of course all the hipsters with the iPhone have no problem (bitter)

Choose the 'gmail' option when creating an account but then erase the '@gmail.com' it fills in for you. Put in '<login>@<googledomain>' and it works just fine.

[weemdog]

Any idea if this can work for Yahoo and/or Hotmail also? I haven't investigated it in depth yet, just wondering.

[samrassam]

Originally Posted by weemdog

Any idea if this can work for Yahoo and/or Hotmail also? I haven't investigated it in depth yet, just wondering.

i have 2 hotmail and 1 yahoo setup and they all work great.

for all others about reconciliation.....i did all the steps in the first post and go to reconcile and nothing shows up.

[Zexel]

Wow thank you so much for that info. I've been trying to figure that out since 2007 when I had my Pearl(my first BB). I didn't understand why the cellular master of email couldn't do it when the iPhone does it perfectly..It was kinda disappointing. But everything works fantastic now...thank you again!

[miatapaul]

After following this why doesn't my new account show up on the BIS page under accounts like it used to when it was set up as POP?

That leaves me no way to edit my signature or to setup filters.

[mcspiffy6]

Hi,

I followed the steps above, but now I am not receiving any emails on my BB I do however get the emails on my gmail account.

[shadwone]

I have BB setup for BIS and BES. When deleting email that comes through BIS, it ask for confirmation

delete on handheld or mailbox, handheld or cancel...

where can I turn off the prompt.

under email reconciliation I have delete on mailbox and handheld