How to transfer Gmail messages between folders using Python's imaplib?

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1

Hey everyone,

I’m trying to automate some email management in my Gmail account using Python. My goal is to move messages from the inbox to a different folder, but I’m having trouble figuring out how to do this with the imaplib library.

I’ve managed to connect to my Gmail account and access the inbox, but I’m stuck on the actual process of moving emails. Has anyone done this before? What am I missing?

Here’s a snippet of what I’ve tried so far:

import imaplib

def move_email(email_id, destination_folder):
    mail = imaplib.IMAP4_SSL('imap.gmail.com')
    mail.login('[email protected]', 'mypassword')
    mail.select('inbox')
    
    # This is where I'm not sure what to do
    # How do I actually move the email?

    mail.close()
    mail.logout()

# Example usage
move_email('12345', 'Important')

Any help or pointers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

2

I’ve implemented something similar in the past. One crucial aspect to remember is error handling. Gmail’s IMAP can be finicky, so it’s wise to wrap your operations in try-except blocks.

Here’s a more robust version of the move_email function:

def move_email(email_id, destination_label):
    try:
        mail.select('INBOX')
        mail.store(email_id, '+X-GM-LABELS', destination_label)
        mail.store(email_id, '-X-GM-LABELS', '\Inbox')
        mail.expunge()
    except imaplib.IMAP4.error as e:
        print(f'An error occurred: {e}')
    finally:
        mail.close()
        mail.logout()

This approach ensures that the IMAP connection is properly closed even if an error occurs during the operation. It’s also good practice to use OAuth2 for authentication instead of storing passwords in your script.

3

hey dave, i’ve done this before. you need to use the COPY command to move msgs between folders. after copying, delete the original. here’s a quick example:

mail.copy(email_id, destination_folder)
mail.store(email_id, '+FLAGS', '\Deleted')
mail.expunge()

hope this helps! let me know if u need more info

4

I’ve had experience with this exact task. One important thing to note is that Gmail doesn’t actually use folders, but labels. This means you’re not really ‘moving’ emails, but applying a new label and removing the ‘INBOX’ label.

Here’s how I approached it:

  1. Use the STORE command to add the new label.
  2. Then remove the ‘INBOX’ label.
  3. Finally, expunge to apply changes.

Your function could look something like this:

def move_email(email_id, destination_label):
    mail.select('INBOX')
    mail.store(email_id, '+X-GM-LABELS', destination_label)
    mail.store(email_id, '-X-GM-LABELS', '\\Inbox')
    mail.expunge()

Remember to create the destination label in Gmail first if it doesn’t exist. Also, be cautious when automating email management to avoid accidentally deleting important messages.