Why is an IMAP Inbox Only Displaying 10,000 Items When There are Many More Emails on the Server?

Anonymous
2022-05-04T04:23:15+00:00

I have an IMAP email account that is hosted by AOL Mail, which I download into Outlook 365. The AOL Account has emails going as far back as 2015, and until recently all of those emails were visible (and searchable) through Outlook. About 2 weeks ago, I noticed that I could no longer search for emails going back farther than 6 months ago. Those emails are still on the AOL server; I can see them if I use AOL's webmail interface (which is pretty mediocre). But they are no longer downloading into my IMAP inbox. Indeed, at the bottom of the inbox it now says I have 10,000 items. 

                                     [!\[\](https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/40c12e9d-b5a2-4a30-8bc4-4503de01cbbc?platform=QnA

That's the maximum. If I delete say 100 emails, another 100 emails will download from the AOL server but the downloading will stop when I hit 10,000. (When new emails download from the account, older emails are deleted so I'm just about always at 10,000 items). The full set of emails remains on the AOL server.
In my IMAP Account Settings for this email account, I have the "Keep Mail offline" setting pushed all the way to the right at "All".
[!\\ I can't find any setting in Outlook that limits the number of emails. Nor does there appear to be any setting in the AOL account that limits 3rd party IMAP mailboxes to only 10,000 items (at least not one that I can find). New emails are downloading and syncing with the AOL server, so my connection settings appear to be correct.
Is there some kind of Registry setting that is limiting the number of items that will load into this email inbox? I used to have access to all of the emails that were on the AOL server. Is there any way to get that back? One last note. I deleted the AOL account from Inbox, rebooted and then reinstalled the AOL account. It still only downloaded 10,000 items in the IMAP inbox. Also I'm using the most recent version of Outlook 365.
Thanks for any help anyone can provide.](https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/e4efa42d-54c3-4fa7-b54a-ae7d93efb421?platform=QnA)](https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/40c12e9d-b5a2-4a30-8bc4-4503de01cbbc?platform=QnA)

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For business

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

315 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2022-08-09T21:22:53+00:00

    Agreed. I have noted in prior posts that the 'fix' may be temp, ongoing issues persistent, new ones occurring, etc. All of which I've experienced firsthand.

    I pointed out the bulk folder issue in my first post, early June; I think the prevailing attitude was it was a secondary concern. 2 months later, I no longer have a bulk folder. It has reverted back to my original junk folder w/o me having initiated a single change, including updating the server settings. Spam is virtually nonexistent once again. But now... I have issues with my trash folder.

    So while I realize it is an imperfect solution, in many instances, it can get ppl back up and running.

    And, allow ppl to revert back after they have copied/backed up older emails.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2022-08-09T20:14:32+00:00

    The solution has been discussed more fully throughout this thread. It's just a matter of changing the IMAP server settings for 3rd party mail apps. 

    Pls. try the below and see if it remedies the issue you, Joel and others are experiencing:

    Add 'export.' in front:  

    Aol:

    **export.**imap.aol.com  instead of  imap.aol.com (current)

    Yahoo:

    **export.**imap.mail.yahoo.com

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2022-07-25T18:45:37+00:00

    I told you that AOL had posted this update on their site for IMAP as of Jun 22 2022. You responded to my post in this thread.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2022-07-25T18:23:49+00:00

    Hmm, that is news to me. Good information, thank you chatch73. I wonder when it was put there.

    Still want to see what the Corporate management has to say

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2022-07-25T17:44:31+00:00

    It's neither unsupported nor a hack, it's a solution from Yahoo!'s help page:

    https://help.yahoo.com/kb/new-mail-for-desktop/download-email-yahoo-mail-third-party-sln28681.html

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments