Hey Grr,

I don't use all the features of gmail, but here's what I know:

1. If you use POP to set up your email client, then when you check your mail through it, it will download everything in your Gmail Inbox (and only what's in there) and will a copy on your web Gmail (for some reason, Gmail ignores any settings related to keep or not copies on the Google server so, look at it as some sort of a backup). This means that you'll have to log in to your web Gmail to clean your folders (or Labels as Google calls them). This setting is good enough if you access your email from only one email client and one device. And if I'm not mistaken, Gmail doensn't redownload email you've already downloaded.

2. If you use IMAP, then you get two-way sync between your mail client and your web Gmail. This means that when setting your email client up to use IMAP, it will recreate your Gmail folders and what ever you do in your email client will reflect in your web Gmail and vice versa. That's because emails aren't really stored locally. This setting is prefered when you access your email from more than one email clients and devices. The disadvantage to this is that if you mistakenly delete an email, it will be lost for ever as you actually delete it from Google's server.

See pics at the University of Minnesota: http://www1.umn.edu/adcs/guides/email/imapvspop.html).

If you google "set gmail in MS Outlook 2010" will return a large number of links to more or less guides on how to set your email client either way.

Hope this helps.

EDIT: I added the original link to the pics, but couldn't delete them from my post. Sorry.

Hey Grr,

If you use POP, only the emails that are in your web Gmail Inbox get downloaded to your email client. If you save emails in other folders/ labels in your web Gmail, those emails will remain on Google's server unless you move them to the Inbox and then download them to your email client. Carefully read #1 of my previous post again.

The only way to maintain the structure of your folders in your email client exactly like your web Gmail is to set your client up with IMAP. This comes with the advantages/ disadvantages I mention in #2 of my previous post.

Here's a good guide to do so: http://www.lytebyte.com/2009/08/11/guide-to-setup-gmail-imap-in-outlook-2010/.

Cheers