Problem
By default Outlook 2003 puts all of my Sent emails into the .PST folder "Sent Items". How can I make it put them into my IMAP folder "Sent Items" instead?
Solution
Subscribe to Sent Items
Before you can tell Outlook to place the mail into the "Sent Items" folder you will need to subscribe to that folder.
1. Open Outlook and click and highlight the IMAP folder labeled Inbox.
2. Click Tools, then IMAP Folders.
3. Click Query, which should allow you to see all of the IMAP folders available for you to subscribe to.
4. Highlight Inbox.Sent Items and click Subscribe.
5. Click OK.
You should now see Sent Items in your list of folders.
Setup Rules
In order to make this work you need to set up your Rules to work properly.
1. Go to the Rules and Alerts option from the menu bar and choose E-Mail Rules.
2. Click New Rule.
3. Choose Start from a blank rule.
4. Click Check Messages after sending.
5. Click Next.
6. Put a check mark in the second item: "through the specified account".
7. In the lower half of the box you will see: "Apply this rule after I send the message through the specified account, and on this machine only."
8. Click on the word Specified. A box will appear with a drop down list of the email accounts.
9. Choose the IMAP account you created and click OK.
10. It will now show the account in the lower half of the box. Click Next.
11. The rules Wizard asks "What do you want to do with the message?".
12. Look at Step 1: Select Options. Put a check mark in the box that says: "Move a copy of the specified folder".
13. Now in the bottom half of the box you will see: "Move a copy to the specified folder".
14. Again click on the word Specified. A new box will open with all of your email accounts and folders.
15. Scroll down to the IMAP account that you have created, and click on the "+" sign.
16. Click Sent Items.
17. Click Next.
Now you can use Outlook 2003 for your IMAP folders properly.
If you have more than one IMAP account, repeat the rules the same way. You may also want to disable "place copy of sent items in sent items folder" to avoid having a duplicate placed in the "Sent Items" box of the "Personal Folders" .PST file.