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 No comments

315 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
  1. Anonymous
    2022-08-09T18:40:16+00:00

    I too have the same issue. I have been going crazy trying to get it resolved. And yes, it started on my iphone and my outlook at the same time. The AOL web interface is terrible and I loved having the mail in Outlook for easy searching and organizing via date, sender, etc.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  2. Anonymous
    2022-08-02T21:13:02+00:00

    Thank you for the info. Yes, inconsistency is Yahoo's claim to fame, err, infamy.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  3. Deleted

    This answer has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The answer was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.


    Comments have been turned off. Learn more

  4. Anonymous
    2022-08-02T18:35:57+00:00

    I have not changed over to the new export server yet bc I can still search my Outlook Data file, as I have a separate Inbox, 2nd .pst, and bc I know it will be a slow slog and I've been traveling/busy.

    I am replying to note that although I haven't made ANY changes, I no longer have the Bulk folder, it has spontaneously disappeared and been replaced with my previous 'Junk E-Mail' folder. With the Bulk folder I had chronic spam; now it is once again, almost non existent.

    Too, now my trash folder will not delete all by clicking 'empty folder', instead a dialogue box pops up: The server responded: 'CANNOT] DELETE failed - Mailbox is reserved -".

    So, I highlight all the trash and hit delete instead.

    Just wanted to point out that inconsistencies continue... I hope you get an answer!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  5. Anonymous
    2022-07-31T19:07:54+00:00

    Can anyone confirm if changing the Yahoo server name also fixes the Bulk Mail folder issue that cropped up about the same time as the folder limit issue?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments