The K-9 app for Android does not store sent messages in the Sent folder

[Halfspider]

Checklist

• I have used the search function to see if someone else has already submitted the same bug report.
• I will describe the problem with as much detail as possible.

App version

6.804

Where did you get the app from?

Google Play

Android version

14

Device model

honor x7a

Steps to reproduce

1. Writing an email
2. Sending

Expected behavior

Each message sent via K-9 should be saved in the Sent folder

Actual behavior

After you type or unsend a message, the message is not saved in the Sent folder. The email is delivered, but there is no information about sending anywhere.

Logs

No response

[fereshtehamiri]

hi @Halfspider
This bug didn't happen to me in 6.804 version. i test it with samsung a32,android 13.

[gedakc]

Using k9-6.804.apk from github releases I confirm the problem with sent messages not being stored in the sent folder.

My phone is a Motorola Moto G Fast with Android version 11.

I tested multiple email addresses and have additional information that may help.

Email Provider	Message Sent Properly	Message stored in Sent Folder
gmail.com	Yes	No [Edit 2024-09-25: gmail uses "Sent Mail" for folder name, not "Sent"]
hotmail.com	Yes	Yes, but there are two copies
Yahoo.com	Yes	Yes, one copy as expected
nucleus.com[1]	Yes	No

1: nucleus.com is a third party ISP providing IMAP email services.

Hopefully this helps to triage this issue.

Regards,
Curtis Gedak

[gedakc]

The issue with two copies of a sent message appearing in the sent folder for Hotmail (also Microsoft mail) appears to have been reported as follows:

Mail sent two times with office 365 #7938

It appears that Microsoft is using non-standard email behaviour and automatically storing a copy of all sent message in the sent folder.

This minor issue can be worked around for Hotmail by de-selecting the option under Settings → [Account] → Sending mail → Upload sent messages.

The issue of sent message not appearing in the sent folder remains for gmail and also third party ISP email providers such as nucleus.com.

[gedakc]

I finally found the solution!

It involves manually setting the folder for sent for the email account.

Go to Settings → [Account] → Folders, and change Sent folder from Automatic (None) to Sent.

You might wish to do similar actions for folders like Drafts, Spam, and Trash.

See also:

• Issue: K9 doesn't copy a new sent mail in the sent folder using IMAP #6779
• Forum: “Upload sent messages to sent folder after sending” not working with IMAP

[gedakc]

There appears to be an enhancement request to notify the user if a sent folder is not automatically detected when k9 email accounts are set up. See:

Issue: Warn if Sent folder not found #6276

[cketti]

As @gedakc mentioned, the folder that messages are uploaded to after sending can be configured under Settings → [Account] → Folders → Sent folder. If Automatic (None) or None are selected, or the setting Settings → [Account] → Sending mail → Upload sent messages is unchecked, sent messages won't be uploaded to the Sent folder by the app.

When adding an account, the app asks the user to configure special folders if the server doesn't provide values for all of them.

Closing this issue because this is most likely a configuration problem, not a bug.