Will deleting an IMAP folder in Mail delete that folder on the server?

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Level 1

28 points

Will deleting an IMAP folder in Mail delete that folder on the server?

Kinda long story short:

I was looking at one of my email accounts in Outlook and noticed all but spam had initial caps. So I renamed and actually created a new folder named Spam. I have spam and junk working as expected, but alos have this Spam folder listed under the IMAP folders in Mac Mail and IOS.

If I delete this in Mac Mail, will it delete the folder on the server or only locally? Either will work if I know what to expect.

Thanks!

I won't even bring up the two Archive folders :)

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 15.7

Posted on Nov 26, 2025 9:23 AM

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Answer 1

AlWeir

Level 5

4,820 points

Nov 27, 2025 6:36 AM in response to BobUlius

Why don't you delete the email account from Mail and then re-add it to Mail. See if it changes the Capitalization the folders. From looking at the screenshot I an not sure why you would have two Archive folders unless your created one yourself as well as having two Junk folders and "email" folder. On most email servers if you create a folder in Mail it is mirrored on the email server and visa versa.

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