gmail server not syncing properly with apple mail

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Level 1

15 points

gmail server not syncing properly with apple mail

I use Apple Mail for all my email (email servers- iCloud, MS outlook, gmail). I have all the newest updates. Everything works except since 2021 my rules with the gmail server do not work (it worked before for a few months). Some of them work but many emails just remain in the main inbox and the rules are not applied. When I move an email manually it syncs fine (it tells gmail the right thing). But when a rule is applied (right click: apply rules) then it moves the email the right way/it applies the rule but it does not tell the gmail server that it did that and the server syncs it again into the main inbox without applying the rule.

I did clean all the rules and none of them says: stop evaluating rules. I restarted/logged out-logged in everything in any combination, I played around with the rules themselves, I checked in gmail filters but I cannot find any place where I can improve anything. Should I mess around with .plist ? RulesAcitveState.plist or anything else? My emails from gmail are all unread (coming in unread) so there is no problem with that. That is not the reason.

Does anybody sync Apple Mail with gmail server here and has the same problem?

I asked in this forum before. But nothing helped (and very few answers).

Aren`t rules one of the most important aspects of an email programme? I don`t understand why Apple moderators here do not have solutions. I have to use gmail filters online in order to have rules in Apple Mail.

Any new ideas are appreciated! Thanks!

Mac mini, macOS 15.5

Posted on Jun 29, 2025 05:41 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

andysims

Level 2

227 points

Jun 30, 2025 12:25 AM in response to iFelix0504

The key thing here is that Apple Mail’s rules are applied locally, meaning, they only affect what’s happening on your Mac, not directly on the Gmail server. So when a rule moves a message to a folder, Gmail doesn’t always recognize that change unless it’s done through its own system (like Gmail filters) or manually by you in Apple Mail. That’s why moving emails by hand works and syncs fine, but when a rule does it, Gmail kind of ignores it and puts the email back in the inbox, because it still thinks that’s where it belongs.

It’s definitely not about unread status, and it sounds like you’ve already ruled out all the usual stuff, like logging out, cleaning up rules, checking Gmail filters, etc.

While messing around with .plist files might feel like the next step, honestly, that’s deep-level troubleshooting and often doesn’t fix the sync behavior because this is more of a design issue between how Apple Mail handles rules and how Gmail expects messages to be handled.

The most consistent fix most people have is exactly what you mentioned, setting up the filters directly in Gmail through a browser. Those get applied server-side, which means the emails land in the right place before they even get to Apple Mail, and everything stays in sync.

It’s definitely not ideal, but when it comes to Gmail, the sync quirks are just something many users have run into.

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Answer 2

iFelix0504 Author

Level 1

15 points

Jul 4, 2025 04:02 AM in response to andysims

Hi. Thank You so much for your answer/your thoughts. How did you get into contact with users who have the same problem in Mail? Is it just hearsay or actual work with people (where can they be found)?

There must be a solution! I can almost not find any questions in this forum. Do people not use Rules or do they not use Apple Mail? There must be at least a few million people who use the rules. I don´t think it is such a big thing to sync/ping back to the Google server that an email has been moved by an automatic Apple Mail rule instead of manually (manually works). But maybe the problem is from the Google side (I don`t think so).

This should be an easy to repair bug which is not worth of being neglected for so many years (or I am doing something wrong but what?).

Rules have worked with Outloook (and even Outlook Express at that time) 20 years ago without any problems.

It works with Google without any problems EXCEPT that you cannot arrange the rules alphabetically or move them at all. In Apple Mail you can move the rules around but you have to do the alphabetical order yourself.

Now, if anybody is interested, I have removed these .plists:

They reappear and it does not change anything for me except that the rules are de-activated. So when I copy the old RulesActiveState onto the new one (replace) my rules are activated again.

It still does not solve the problem that Apple Mail cannot properly sync certain automatic rules with Gmail.

I truly hope for a solution to make this work. There must be a workaround.

Thank You in advance for any further input.

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