Why are some emails re-downloaded from Verizon (AOL) server to Outlook 2016 causing doubles?

[wookiegear]

A strange problem has started about two months ago, and it happens randomly.

I have been running Outlook 2016 (version 16.0.9029.2253) and have 4 Verizon email accounts.  All converted without any problems from Verizon to AOL servers.  I have my Outlook parameters set to deleted email from server if over 90 days and/or when Deleted from "Deleted Items" inside Outlook 2016.

For some reason, those emails that are still on the Verizon / AOL server (and already had been downloaded and read but NOT deleted), get re-downloaded onto my Outlook 2016 at random times.  Maybe once every 2-3 weeks.

I have double checked all of my Outlook settings and it all looks correct.   Attached are 3 screenshots showing the latest issue.   Outlook downloaded these on March 27, I read them, decided to keep them and for some reason, they were re-downloaded again on March 31 (today) as new emails (but in reality, repeats).

The only way that I can deal with this is when these double emails shows up, I then choose to put them into the DELETED ITEMS, meaning when it's deleted, it's gone from the SERVER too -- which kills the whole idea of having a back-up of the needed emails for 90 days on the server. 

I also check my email on my Samsung S7 phone, and I DO NOT have these re-download issues.   So, I am assuming it's an Outlook 2016 problem?

This issue has happened (again randomly) to all 4 of my Verizon/AOL accounts.

Anyone have any input as to what is happening?    And possible solutions?

[Purrl]

I have the same problem, and I'm running Thunderbird on a mac, so I'm guessing it's an issue with AOL, not Outlook.

As you, this only happens on my desktop, not my phone or iPad.

Would very much like to know the answer and solution to this as well. It's incredibly annoying.

[RonRo]

I experienced the same problem yesterday with Outlook 2010 on my PC desktop. I don't know if it's occurring on my iPhone or iPad, as the multiple copies only occur with very old messages.  Interestingly, deleted messages - some even permanently deleted from my hard drive - were downloaded and restored to my inbox. Also downloaded was junk mail that was never previously delivered to my Outlook junk mail folder, but I knew was in the web mail's junk mail folder.  I migrated my Verizon email over to AOL's server for Verizon probably a year ago.  At that time, I received multiple copies that had to be manually deleted.  Messages that were read appeared duplicated as unread; and messages previously moved to local folders appeared as an unread copy in the inbox.  Yes, it's annoying to manually delete all of these messages once again. Did AOL move messages over to a new server, causing this problem again?

[PJ231]

Has anyone found a fix for this annoying problem?

I just deleted a thousand emails only to have them come back 2 fold.

I called AOL and they said I must upgrade to a Premier account to get email support.

There has got to be a way to delete old emails off the AOL server.

[daveo714]

aol just downloaded 9091 verizon.net old emails dating back to 12/14/2017.  This is the 3rd time and when I call aol they want me upgrade to get technical support and state this is a " free" account with no support.  Thanks alot Verizon!  Has anyone found a solution?

[Edg1]

Over the years I've dealt with lots of people using Outlook/Thunderbird with emails like verizon, comcast, Yahoo, gmail or whoever. And there always something wrong. Whether it email no sending or receiving. Or emails not deleting off the server. There's always some issue whether its comcast or verizon or whatever email they have. I know it's no really a fix but all email providers have an app for smartphones and tablets. And they always work. And if you are on your PC. Go to aol.com or whatever.com and it will always work. Outlook is always a headache. 

[jpcarro11]

This all started after the switch from Verizon hosted email to AOL hosted email.  I had no problem before with Outlook.  This also happened to other family members with their own accounts.  I don't buy the "this is the way it is everywhere with all hosting services"...that's **bleep**.  This is an AOL problem AND by defacto, a Verizon problem.

[RonRo]

Agreed. I’ve used Outlook for well over a decade without incident.  The problem only started recently, about a year after AOL acquired the Verizon email server.  Previously, I never had a problem with Outlook when email was hosted by Verizon, or previously when Yahoo hosted Verizon email.  I suspect part of the problem is the protocol for accessing email.  With AOL, it’s now POP3, whereas previously it was IMAP, which synchronizes the server with Outlook.  Nevertheless, I’ve been getting messages that were deleted, in some cases years ago. Recently, a multitude of deleted ICI files, reminders that integrate into the Outlook calendar, have been downloaded; as well as duplicate or triplicate copies of messages still in my Inbox, some read, others unread.  This has occurred three times in the past 2 months; but with each occurrence, fewer extra messages are being downloaded.  It’s too soon to know whether it’s helping, but I started permanently deleting these messages, bypassing the recycling bin, with Shift Delete.

[rbwriter11]

I have been experiencing this problem now for several months and it's getting worse. Random downloads of hundreds I email on my .verizon.net (now AOL) account that come into my Outlook 2016 Inbox. It is so disruptive. I tried shortening the length of time email stays on the server; I also get the mail on my iphone. This is definately an AOL problem and they won't do anything unless you pay them $$$. I have almost had it and am ready to bail.. Come-on Verizon~~ step up and help out. there has to be a solution...

[Richard572]

In the Settings for group "All Accounts", if the "Schedule an automatic send/receive" is set to 1 minute, try changing it to 3 minutes.  This selection can be found in the File tab under "Options > Advanced > Sens/Receive".  From what I have read, this will prevent the server/Outlook communication from getting stuck in a loop which can cause this problem.  It worked for me with Outlook Professional Plus 2010.

By the way, I never switched over to AOL.  I have always used the Yahoo server and it continues to work.

[RonRo]

My Outlook 2010 was set, apparently by default, to automatically send & receive every 15 min.  Regrettably, this setting didn't resolve the problem we've been experiencing.  I didn't know that Yahoo continued to host Verizon email.  When I first started with Verizon as my ISP a long time ago, I selected Yahoo to host my Verizon email.  After repeated problems in which the server went down, I persuaded Verizon to switch me to their server. Apparently that was mistake in hindsight.

[Richard572]

I had tried to switch to AOL after receiving an email from them.  I was concerned that I would lose my email address.  However, every time I tried to log into their website, my Verizon email address was not recognized.  So I have just continued to use Yahoo.

[RonRo]

Well, so much for my suggestion last week of permanently deleting extraneous messages, bypassing the recycling bin.  After about 2-weeks of no new occurrence, it just happened again. And I wasn't on either device that's using the Outloook email client when these extra downloads occurred.  But I did get a clue to what's happening! I erroneously marked one recent message with a red priority rather than a flag.  A few minutes later, I changed the marked message to a flag. Today, that message got downloaded again, marked as a red priority (and not flagged, as saved locally). My guess, AOL has redundant servers that are not synchronized.  AOL, are you listening? (Of course not) 

[Richard572]

Another thing that I did, before I changed the timing, was to more the messages in my Yahoo inbox to their "Already Read" folder.  That also kept the duplicate messages from being downloaded.  That is not a practical solution since you would have to do that on a periodic basis.  Good luck with AOL!

[VMP1]

Did you resolve this problem? I am having the same issue since the servers got switched to AOL. And when I call they want me to pay for technical support. I am so over this. I would like to keep my email address but it's not worth all this hassle. 

[Richard572]

As I indicated in my previous posts, I was able to minimize the problem but it still happens on rare occassions.

[quilt191]

Hi.  Nope, still have the same exact problem.  I have now upgraded to Office 2019 (Outlook 2019) and same issue remains.  I want to stay with POP3 and it seems like AOL doesn't seem to care.

I did catch what happens right before this re-duplication is downloaded.  Here is what I was seeing:

[dg332]

The ultimate problem is that instead of letting AOL go bankrupt, as it deserved to do, Verizon decided to buy them so that AOL servers could host its email system. Of course turning over something like that to a company with zero customer service has yielded the results we're experiencing. I signed up for their technical support (first month free) and of course they blamed Microsoft (Outlook) for the problem. I believe the problem is that there is a "flag" not being set in their software that indicates that a message has already been downloaded to the customer's email software on their computer. So periodically (for whatever the reason; the cycle is inconsistent) those same messages are re-downloaded.

The "fix" is to on a daily basis delete the messages in your AOL inbox and spam folder online and then delete them from the trash folder online. The duplicates will stop. It happened to me twice today. The first time I had 99 duplicates (only 99 because I've been deleting message every 2 or 3 days). The second time only a few messages were redownloaded since I just deleted those 99 message and only the few new ones that came in were re-downloaded. It's a kludge of a fix, not a solution, but that's all we can do other than only use gmail or some other email service.

I have Outlook 2010. It's not the version of Outlook it's an AOL problem. However, it never happens to my wife on her laptop so I can't explain why everyone does not experience the problem.

[Richard572]

Back in May (of 2018) I received an email from Aol asking me to review and agree to the switch over to Oath.  At that time, I clicked on the link, but their software didn't seem to know who I was (although some of their software knew enough to send me an email).  Anyway, my email address is @verizon.net and it is was (and still is) hosted by Yahoo (I guess).  I have had this email address and the Yahoo hosting for many years and it continues to work.

After reading about this problem, someone suggested that increasing the Send/Receive interval to 3 minutes (I also use Outlook 2010) would solve this problem.  It helped a lot, but it still happens occassionally.  I use a folder called "Already Read" as my transfer folder on the Yahoo server.  I haven't done a transfer in a couple of months, and the problem happened just two days ago.

The only thing that can be more annoying than a soltware bug is a wife who is a software engineer (I have one).

[glnzglnz]

This is also happening with my aol email account that came from my original verizon email account, on my Outlook 2003.  My email address is still [MyName]@verizon.net, which I want to keep.  

FYI - this is happening on my Outlook 2003 in my Office 2003 on my old XP machine.  It started happening a few weeks ago when I FINALLY moved all my 11 years of email from my original Outlook Express on the XP machine to this Outlook 2003 on the same XP machine -- I'd never used the Outlook 2003 before.  (I did this as a first step in moving my email eventually to Outlook 2016 in my Office 365 on my Win 7 machine, but I haven't gone past Outlook 2003 on XP yet.) 

My emails in Outllok 2003 also include emails in my wife's business account hosted by Network SOlutions, and these do NOT duplicate.

So it's definitely an aol tech problem, and they stink, don't they?

But aol is owned by verizon, so it's again verizon shirking responsibility.

[glnzglnz]

This is still happening, and it's much worse the past month than ever.

Hey, Verizon and AOL - do you want to help us work from home, or do you just not care?

(And I've been a Verizon - NYNEX - NY Telephone - Bell Telephone customer all my life.)