Keep IMAP mail on server when delete locally

Peerapol Thakolsuvech 1 Reputation point
2021-01-17T06:39:40.927+00:00

Now, I am using Microsoft 365 mail on both Outlook on web and Outlook on PC.
For security reason, I want to set something up so that if I delete mail locally on my PC ( also in trash folder), my Outlook on web still keeps the message.
I know, I can do it by using POP3 on outlook on PC, but are there any other ways that I can do this.

Also, what if I copy all incoming mails into a separate folder, can I set my IMAP Outlook to not sync that folder into my PC

Thank you

Outlook Management
Outlook Management
Outlook: A family of Microsoft email and calendar products.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
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  1. Jade Liang-MSFT 9,956 Reputation points Microsoft Employee
    2021-01-18T03:00:01+00:00

    Hi @Peerapol Thakolsuvech ,
    Please kindly understand that Outlook client is just a tool that could sync your messages or folders with your mailbox server, and what would be synced depends on your account type, it's by design that IMAP account would sync all your messages and folders with the server(web mail) automatically. So we may not be able to change it in Outlook or server except we change the account type to pop.

    For your requirement, I also have tried to search for an alternative, if you are just worried about delete your item accidentally on your PC, we could try to back up your message via exporting them to a .pst file (File>Open&Export>Import/Export>Export to a file), then you could import the file after you delete the messages accidentally.

    Also, it's suggested to use exchange account, there's an option that could recover deleted item in your server , so that we could recover the message that was deleted accidentally.

    Hope that would be helpful to you.

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  2. Peerapol Thakolsuvech 1 Reputation point
    2021-01-19T11:45:53.577+00:00

    @Jade Liang-MSFT Thank you for your kindly reply

    My major concern is about security, not about delete item accidentally.
    If my staff send/receive company's confidential information over the mail, he or she may not want to leave the evidence in their mailbox.
    So I think, it would be nice to have a back-up mailbox in the server for tracing.

    Anyways, I know that Microsoft 365 does have some security features that may suite my need. Could you please recommend one for me?
    Thank you