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Sent emails appearing in sent items and inbox

Erla Rabe 0 Reputation points
2026-04-28T06:43:43.57+00:00

I am using Outlook Version 16.108.1 on a Mac and for the last week my sent emails appear in my inbox too. How do I stop this from happening so that sent items only appear under Sent Items?

I look at previous replies to the same problem but none of the solutions works for me or I can't find it as my settings options aren't the same as in previously posted answers.

Outlook | MacOS | New Outlook for Mac | For business
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  1. Teddie-D 14,810 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-04-28T07:36:54.2933333+00:00

    Hi @Erla Rabe 

    To help narrow this down, could you clarify the following: 

    -Are the sent messages actual duplicates stored in Inbox, or do they only appear within the same conversation thread when Conversation View is enabled?  

    -Is your email account a Microsoft 365 / Exchange account, or an IMAP account such as Gmail, Yahoo, or another custom mail provider? 

    -Does this happen when sending from your main mailbox only, or also when sending from a shared mailbox or delegated mailbox? 

    -Does the same behavior occur in Outlook on the Web (browser), or only in New Outlook for Mac?  

    -Have you recently created any inbox rules, forwarding rules, or automatic replies that might copy sent messages back to the Inbox?

    -What troubleshooting steps have you already tried? 

    Please know that while our initial response might not resolve the issue right away, your input is incredibly valuable. With a bit more detail, we’ll work together to find the best solution for you.

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

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  2. Q&A Assist
    2026-04-28T06:43:57.0633333+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    Sent messages appearing in both Inbox and Sent Items usually indicate that the account is configured as IMAP and the server is already storing a copy of sent mail, while Outlook is also saving its own copy.

    For IMAP accounts in Outlook for Mac, disable Outlook’s own sent‑item saving so only the server copy is used:

    1. On the Tools menu, select Accounts.
    2. Select the IMAP account that is affected and choose Advanced….
    3. Open the Folders tab.
    4. Select Don’t store a copy of sent messages.
    5. Choose OK.

    After this change, new sent messages should no longer duplicate into the Inbox; they will appear only in the server’s Sent folder that Outlook shows as Sent Items.

    References:

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