Open Radar

 
SUMMARY:
The behavior of the Archive button and menu item in Apple Mail 5.2 (1257), which ships with OS X Lion 10.7.3, is incorrect when used with a Gmail account. The feature creates a folder called Archive and moves the message there, when it implies that it has the same functionality as the Archive button on iOS Mail and the Gmail web client, which both move messages to the All Mail folder.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE:
0. Create a Gmail account or use an existing one. Make sure it has at least 1 message in the inbox.
1. Add the Gmail account to Mail in Preferences > Accounts.
2. When the message in the inbox downloads, select it and press the Archive button in the toolbar. Or, use Message > Archive menu option.

EXPECTED RESULTS:
The message is archived by moving it to All Mail folder, causing it to stop showing up in Inbox. (This action is equivalent to pressing Archive in the Gmail web client when performed by an IMAP client.)

ACTUAL RESULTS:
A new folder named "Archive" is created, and the message is moved there. While the message is technically archived (i.e. it no longer shows up in the inbox), Mail is now using twice the disk space to store the message twice. Mail has also caused the Gmail web client to apply a superfluous new label called [Imap]/Archive or [Gmail]/Archive to the message, which the user must remove.

REGRESSION:
This issue almost certainly affects Google Apps email accounts too, but I was only able to test it with a Gmail account.

NOTES:
none