1.5. Automatically subscribing users to IMAP mailboxes

Procedure

1. Update the inbox namespace section in the /etc/dovecot/conf.d/15-mailboxes.conf file:

   1. Add the auto = subscribe setting to each special-use mailbox that should be available to users, for example:

      namespace inbox {
        ...
        mailbox Drafts {
          special_use = \Drafts
          auto = subscribe
        }
      
        mailbox Junk {
          special_use = \Junk
          auto = subscribe
        }
      
        mailbox Trash {
          special_use = \Trash
          auto = subscribe
        }
      
        mailbox Sent {
          special_use = \Sent
          auto = subscribe
        }
        ...
      }

      If your mail clients support more special-use mailboxes, you can add similar entries. The special_use parameter defines the value that Dovecot sends in the special-use attribute to the clients.

   2. Optional: If you want to define other mailboxes that have no special purpose, add mailbox sections for them in the user’s inbox, for example:

      namespace inbox {
        ...
        mailbox "Important Emails" {
          auto = <value>
        }
        ...
      }

      You can set the auto parameter to one of the following values:

      • subscribe: Automatically creates the mailbox and subscribes the user to it.
      • create: Automatically creates the mailbox without subscribing the user to it.
      • no (default): Dovecot neither creates the mailbox nor does it subscribe the user to it.

2. Reload Dovecot:

   # systemctl reload dovecot