IMAP sent mail for Outlook 2002 XP 2003

How to configure Outlook 2002 XP to store sent mail on the server for retrieval from another device. As default, Microsoft Outlook 2002 XP is not configured to allow for proper IMAP sent mail server processing; you will need to carry out a few steps to make sure that you give Outlook the necessary instructions for all IMAP features.

Step One

The first thing to do is make sure you have Service Pack 2 (SP2) installed for Outlook 2002 XP - You will already need to have SP1 installed before you can do this.

Download Service Pack 1

This link will send you to the Microsoft website to download the necessary update.

Download Service Pack 2

Make sure you have SP1 before installing this
This link will send you to the Microsoft website to download the necessary update.

Step Two - Creating an IMAP account

If you have already created your imap account you can safely skip to Step Three
Note: This is an example and may differ from the actual server settings required by your ISP.

1. Open Outlook, then click on Tools > Email Accounts > Add new Email account
2. Click Next
3. Select the option IMAP and select next.
4. Then fill in all your information such as your name, email address, username, and password.
5. For the incoming mail server enter mail.yourdomainname.com
6. For the outgoing mail server enter mail.yourdomainname.com
7. Click Finish.

Step Three - Subscribe to sent imap mail folder

Before you can tell Outlook to place the mail into the “Sent Items” folder you will need to subscribe to that folder.

1. Open Outlook and click and highlight the IMAP folder labeled Inbox.
2. Click Tools, then IMAP Folders.
3. Click Query, which should allow you to see all of the IMAP folders available for you to subscribe to.
4. Highlight Inbox.Sent Items and click Subscribe.
5. Click OK.

You should now see Sent Items in your list of folders.

Step Four - Setup Rules

In order to make this work you need to set up your Rules to work properly.

1. Go to the Tools > Rules or Rules Wizard or Alerts option from the menu bar and choose E-Mail Rules.
2. Click New Rule.
3. Choose Start from a blank rule.
4. Click Check Messages after sending.
5. Click Next.
6. Put a check mark in the second item: “through the specified account”.
7. In the lower half of the box you will see: “Apply this rule after I send the message through the specified account, and on this machine only.”
8. Click on the word Specified. A box will appear with a drop down list of the email accounts.
9. Choose the IMAP account you created and click OK.
10. It will now show the account in the lower half of the box. Click Next.
11. The rules Wizard asks “What do you want to do with the message?”.
12. Look at Step 1: Select Options. Put a check mark in the box that says: “Move a copy of the specified folder”.
13. Now in the bottom half of the box you will see: “Move a copy to the specified folder”.
14. Again click on the word Specified. A new box will open with all of your email accounts and folders.
15. Scroll down to the IMAP account that you have created, and click on the “+” sign.
16. Click Sent Items.
17. Click Next.

Now you can use Outlook 2002 XP for your IMAP folders properly. This also works for Outlook 2003.
If you have more than one IMAP account, repeat the rules the same way. You may also want to disable “place copy of sent items in sent items folder” to avoid having a duplicate placed in the “Sent Items” box of the “Personal Folders”

If you have any problems, questions or would like to add to these instructions, then please add a comment / suggestion below.