# Help!!  How do I stop duplicate emails on 3 computers?



## pwrshift (Sep 5, 2013)

I have a PC, an iPad and iPhone.  If I get 100 emails a day, I get 300 as they are all repeated.  I hate it...delete, delete, delete three times for every email I get.

The fix for this was in a TUG post some time ago but I couldn't find it on a lengthy search.

When i opened an email on my old Blackberry, it asked if I wanted to delete it on all computers or save it, but the iPhone/iPad doesn't seem to have that feature.  Or at least I don't know how to fix.

Can you help me?

Brian


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## SMHarman (Sep 5, 2013)

Questions before answers 

What email provider are you using?

Right now, it sounds like you are using POP protocol on all your devices, rather than IMAP.  With POP the mail is delivered to each device, a bit like a letter is delivered to your home (however in this instance each is taking a photocopy of the letter  ), so you have to shred each copy of the letter.

With IMAP, the letter stays at the sorting office and each of your devices just looks at the letter.  Then one device can tell the sorting office to shred the letter and as a result it will dissaper from all devices.


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## ronparise (Sep 5, 2013)

Why not use someting like gmail 

Forward your current email addresses to a new g mail address. And when respond to an email you can set the return address any way you want.

But more important to you see your mail on any device


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## LUVourMarriotts (Sep 5, 2013)

You could set all of your devices (iPad, iPhone, and computer) to Delete mail from the server.  This means, if you delete the mail on one device, when you go to the other devices, it will not be there.  But, to make sure this works all the time, you also need to disable fetch on your iPad and iPhone and set fetch to manual.

On iPad/iPhone:
Go to Settings, Go to Mail, Contacts, Calenders
Click Fetch New Data - Turn Push Off; set Fetch to Manually
Go to Advanced from here - Select your mail account and switch to Manual
Go back to Mail, Contacts, Calendars
Click on your mail account and go to Advanced - Change Delete From Server from Never to When removed from Inbox

On your computer:
Depends on whether you are using a web client, Outlook, or some other tool.  But you need to get to the server settings for your mail server and select the option to delete mail from the server when you delete it in your app.

There are some gotchas with this approach.  You will no longer get any notifications on your phone or iPad when you get mail, because your mail is only received when you open the Mail app.

What I do is leave all mail on the server, except for my computer config.  Then, I use my computer as the repository for emails I want to save.  So I still need to do the delete, delete, delete.  But, once you go to your computer and delete any mail, it will never show up on your iPhone/iPad after that.  So if you used this same approach, but left the computer as is, you would only get mail when you opened the mail app on the iThings.

HTH


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## SMHarman (Sep 5, 2013)

pwrshift said:


> I have a PC, an iPad and iPhone.  If I get 100 emails a day, I get 300 as they are all repeated.  I hate it...delete, delete, delete three times for every email I get.
> 
> The fix for this was in a TUG post some time ago but I couldn't find it on a lengthy search.
> 
> ...





ronparise said:


> Why not use someting like gmail
> 
> Forward your current email addresses to a new g mail address. And when respond to an email you can set the return address any way you want.
> 
> But more important to you see your mail on any device



That still does not change the POP / IMAP or even with GMail, Exchange mail sync decision.  Though GMail has far more server storage space than your average personal mail account.

https://support.google.com/mail/troubleshooter/1668960?hl=en


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## PigsDad (Sep 5, 2013)

SMHarman said:


> That still does not change the POP / IMAP or even with GMail, Exchange mail sync decision.



Actually, if the OP used the GMail app on their iPad and iPhone, then the email would always be sync'd across all devices and his PC (assuming he uses the GMail web interface on the PC).  The GMail app will give him the notifications on the mobile devices, so it gets around the limitations listed in post #4 above. This would be a very workable solution, IMO.

Kurt


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## pwrshift (Sep 6, 2013)

I am using Outlook, provided by my ISP Bell Canada.  

You guys are great...thanks for your suggestions.

Brian



SMHarman said:


> Questions before answers
> 
> What email provider are you using?
> 
> ...


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## tompalm (Sep 6, 2013)

It might have been stated above, but I didn't see it.  You can go into the gmail settings and have all mail forwarded from your ISP Bell account to your gmail account.  Therefore, you will never miss an email.  

I did this about five years ago and still get emails sent to my roadrunner pop 3 email.  However, I never need to check that.  I can read it on my gmail account and delete that on my gmail account.


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## pwrshift (Sep 10, 2013)

*How I corrected the email duplication problem.*

Solution...I think.....!

I got hold of my Bell Canada tech person and a solution was quite simple. She suggested forcing my PC to be the main place for emails and in order to stop them from being duplicated on the phone and tablet, I made changes as follows:

On the iPHone and iPad she had me go to:

SETTINGS --- MAIL, CONTACTS, CALENDARS --- Click on my account name, then scroll down to ADVANCED --- Click on DELETE FROM SERVER and there were 3 choices (Never, Seven Days, When removed from inbox) and had me select 'When removed from inbox' on both the ipad and iphone. (they were both set to NEVER).

To test, she sent me an email when both the phone and tablet were off. When I deleted it from the PC, they didn't appear on my phone and tablet when I turned them on. If I didn't delete it on the PC they would appear on the other two.

But, if I delete them from my iPhone when the PC and table aren't on, they will be deleted from the other two devices. If I don't delete it, the email will go to all 3 as before.

Not a perfect fix, but I think it will work and for unimportant mail it will only have to be deleted once.

This fix seems a lot different from your suggestions above and I sure hope it works as described. 

Would like to know what you think about this fix.

Brian


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## TUGBrian (Sep 10, 2013)

id definately suggest in this case to convert to gmail or yahoo or hotmail (whichever you prefer)

this way you can configure a single client to retrieve all of your email and store it within gmail...and configure those settings to delete the mail off the bell canada mail server whenever its retrieved by gmail etc.

this way whatever client you use to log into gmail will always display the same mail as its now on gmail...vs bell canada.

the added benefit is that you can access your mail from any machine on earth with an internet connection.


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## SMHarman (Sep 10, 2013)

pwrshift said:


> Solution...I think.....!
> 
> I got hold of my Bell Canada tech person and a solution was quite simple. She suggested forcing my PC to be the main place for emails and in order to stop them from being duplicated on the phone and tablet, I made changes as follows:
> 
> ...



Do what Brian said. 

You know where your mail settings are in outlook now so you put them in gmail. 
Gmail sweeps up the mail and then everything looks to gmail. 

You can set your other email address as a from in gmail. So the change is seamless to your contacts. 







TUGBrian said:


> id definately suggest in this case to convert to gmail or yahoo or hotmail (whichever you prefer)
> 
> this way you can configure a single client to retrieve all of your email and store it within gmail...and configure those settings to delete the mail off the bell canada mail server whenever its retrieved by gmail etc.
> 
> ...





Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk 2


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## x3 skier (Sep 10, 2013)

TUGBrian said:


> id definately suggest in this case to convert to gmail or yahoo or hotmail (whichever you prefer)
> 
> this way you can configure a single client to retrieve all of your email and store it within gmail...and configure those settings to delete the mail off the bell canada mail server whenever its retrieved by gmail etc.
> 
> ...



That's my setup although I have both a gmail and yahoo account. Works fine on the iThings and the PC is just Yahoo.

Cheers

Cheers


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## Passepartout (Sep 10, 2013)

+1 (or 2 or whatever) on what Brian said. All my emails come through gmail. Only one place to delete, all mail available from any or all of them- or any internet connected machine. Searchable. One spam filter. Piece of cake. 

Jim


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## Born2Travel (Sep 10, 2013)

Wow... I'm trying to follow this post as I have somewhat the same issues but I think I got lost somewhere around Bell Canada.   I have a Gmail account, but I read it in Outlook on my PC primarily.   When I delete something in Outlook it doesn't delete it in the Gmail account.  I prefer the interface and the options in Outlook.  I think it is POP, right?   I also read Gmail on my Android phone.   Will using the instructions above work on an Android?   I don't quite get the connection with Bell Canada.   Do I need to check with my internet provider for instructions?


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## SMHarman (Sep 10, 2013)

Born2Travel said:


> Wow... I'm trying to follow this post as I have somewhat the same issues but I think I got lost somewhere around Bell Canada.   I have a Gmail account, but I read it in Outlook on my PC primarily.   When I delete something in Outlook it doesn't delete it in the Gmail account.  I prefer the interface and the options in Outlook.  I think it is POP, right?   I also read Gmail on my Android phone.   Will using the instructions above work on an Android?   I don't quite get the connection with Bell Canada.   Do I need to check with my internet provider for instructions?


Right now you are pulling your mail from gmail by pop but you can change that in outlook to pull it by imap.  Then when you delete the mail in outlook it deletes it in gmail.
https://support.google.com/mail/troubleshooter/1668960?hl=en


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## Passepartout (Sep 10, 2013)

Born2Travel said:


> I also read Gmail on my Android phone.   Will using the instructions above work on an Android?   I don't quite get the connection with Bell Canada.   Do I need to check with my internet provider for instructions?



It was my ISP who set up ALL the email accounts with their domain to gmail and distributed the instructions, so I surmise yours will be able to the same for you. And yes, it will work with Android or any other platform that access the internet.


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## SMHarman (Sep 10, 2013)

Born2Travel said:


> Wow... I'm trying to follow this post as I have somewhat the same issues but I think I got lost somewhere around Bell Canada.   I have a Gmail account, but I read it in Outlook on my PC primarily.   When I delete something in Outlook it doesn't delete it in the Gmail account.  I prefer the interface and the options in Outlook.  I think it is POP, right?   I also read Gmail on my Android phone.   Will using the instructions above work on an Android?   I don't quite get the connection with Bell Canada.   Do I need to check with my internet provider for instructions?



You can ditch bell Canada email altogether and get a new gmail address and tell your contacts about the change. 

Or you get a gmail account. Tell gmail to pick up your bell Mail and then delete from the bell sever. Then gmail becomes the focal point for all your Mail processing. (better)

Then you change the mail settings on your three devices to get Mail from gmail. Gmail keeps all 3 in sync. 

Bell> gmail > pc and phone and tablet. 

Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk 2


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## TUGBrian (Sep 10, 2013)

sorry, i assumed your email was an @bellcanada.com one...

if its just a gmail account, this is merely a settings issue.


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## SMHarman (Sep 11, 2013)

pwrshift said:


> Solution...I think.....!
> 
> I got hold of my Bell Canada tech person and a solution was quite simple. She suggested forcing my PC to be the main place for emails and in order to stop them from being duplicated on the phone and tablet, I made changes as follows:
> 
> ...





Born2Travel said:


> Wow... I'm trying to follow this post as I have somewhat the same issues but I think I got lost somewhere around Bell Canada.   I have a Gmail account, but I read it in Outlook on my PC primarily.   When I delete something in Outlook it doesn't delete it in the Gmail account.  I prefer the interface and the options in Outlook.  I think it is POP, right?   I also read Gmail on my Android phone.   Will using the instructions above work on an Android?   I don't quite get the connection with Bell Canada.   Do I need to check with my internet provider for instructions?





TUGBrian said:


> sorry, i assumed your email was an @bellcanada.com one...
> 
> if its just a gmail account, this is merely a settings issue.


Brian, The OP is the Bell Canada one, Born2Travel is just Gmail.


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## Queen (Sep 11, 2013)

I am having the same issues as stated in post #1.  I use Outlook on my Rogers Canadian email system with the same frustration.  A friend told me that I need to use IMAP instead of the POP email which is the system my mail through the Rogers system.  I spoke with Rogers tech folks after reading these posts but Rogers tells me that they do not support IMAP, I would have to do it myself or through Rogers paid services.  I am just not technical enough to try it my self as I am afraid of loosing all my mail and associated folders.  I do want to continue using Outlook as it is still the system that is used in the business world.

Thanks for all the feedback to post #1 which has been educational for someone who is so frustrated with technology.


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## TUGBrian (Sep 11, 2013)

there should still be a setting within your POP mail account that lets you delete the message off the server once downloaded.


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## SMHarman (Sep 11, 2013)

TUGBrian said:


> there should still be a setting within your POP mail account that lets you delete the message off the server once downloaded.



But then you are only getting it in one place. 

Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk 2


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## Ken555 (Sep 11, 2013)

TUGBrian said:


> there should still be a setting within your POP mail account that lets you delete the message off the server once downloaded.



Great answers so far to a seemingly simple issue that often isn't. Just a few points I think worthwhile to emphasize for those still confused:

1. You may setup multiple devices (computers, phones, coffee pot, tv, whatever) to connect to your existing POP email.

2. You may configure one device (I suggest a computer) to automatically delete the email from the server after x days. When I used POP, back in prehistoric times (~5 years ago), I used the setting "remove copy from server after retrieving a message [after one week]". Some apps allow you to select "immediately", "after one day", "after one week", "after one month", or "when moved from inbox". 

3. IMAP or better is definitely the way to go; POP is not great and never was. POP is cheap for the ISPs to run, especially these days (IMAP actually costs them more). I don't like POP at all anymore, and - fwiw - we don't offer it to our clients for good reason, not least is the perception that the system is hard to use due to the multiple copies of email arriving on more than one device.

4. Migrating from POP to IMAP is not difficult. Here's how I would do it:


Download all email
Disable POP email account (but do not delete it)
Backup
Create IMAP account 
Test IMAP account
Move email from POP account (on your computer) to IMAP account, as needed.

You may keep an IMAP account and a POP account on the same email application simultaneously. Just be sure to disable the POP account so it won't receive (or send) any emails - but you may keep it for historical purposes. I sometimes rename those accounts to make it more obvious (as in, "DO NOT USE").


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## nygiants11991 (Oct 18, 2013)

LUVourMarriotts said:


> You could set all of your devices (iPad, iPhone, and computer) to Delete mail from the server.  This means, if you delete the mail on one device, when you go to the other devices, it will not be there.  But, to make sure this works all the time, you also need to disable fetch on your iPad and iPhone and set fetch to manual.
> 
> On iPad/iPhone:
> Go to Settings, Go to Mail, Contacts, Calenders
> ...



I am going to try this because I have my pc, my droid phone and my ipad. Thanks Brian


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