Syncing Gmail

[HighPeakFox]

Hello all, I'm hoping someone can help me with this. 

 

My aged mother has a laptop on Windows, and an iPhone and iPad. She has Gmail on all 3 but I cannot get them to sync. 

 

Am I being rubbish, or is this something that is just not possible? 

Edited 14 September 2024 by HighPeakFox

[Trav Le Bleu]

My guess is essentially you have a three way conflict of interests. Microsoft, Apple and Google, none of which are keen to make their products too compatible with the others.

[Zear0]

41 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

Hello all, I'm hoping someone can help me with this. 

 

My aged mother has a laptop on Windows, and an iPhone and iPad. She has Gmail on all 3 but I cannot get them to sync. 

 

Am I being rubbish, or is this something that is just not possible? 

What do you mean by not syncing? Can they be accessed on all three devices as, as long as you're logged in, it shouldn't matter what device/OS you're on?

[HighPeakFox]

56 minutes ago, Zear0 said:

What do you mean by not syncing? Can they be accessed on all three devices as, as long as you're logged in, it shouldn't matter what device/OS you're on?

Yes they can. But if, for example, I cull emails on her desktop, they remain on the other devices. 

[Zear0]

3 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

Yes they can. But if, for example, I cull emails on her desktop, they remain on the other devices. 

Going for the obvious fixes first... 

 

Are the below setting ticked? It's in Settings->email account and then quite near the bottom. 

 

[hebangsthedrums]

Just use gmail in the browser on each - I have a work iphone, personal android phone & mac and its pretty straightforward.

The gmail app used to be a bit crap (not used for years) and gmail via outlook is toss

[Daggers]

I use Outlook on the Android phone, the web browser on my Macs and PCs, and the mail app on my iPad. Synchs and I've never set anything up - so I'm going with Zear0's answers.

[String fellow]

Gmail is cloud-based, so deleting one (and emptying the trash can) from any device you're logged onto essentially sends a message to the server to delete it. Other synced devices won't know about the deletion unless they're freshly logged onto at a later time. The OS and browser on any of the synced devices shouldn't make any difference to the process. 

Edited 15 September 2024 by String fellow

[filbertway]

18 hours ago, HighPeakFox said:

Hello all, I'm hoping someone can help me with this. 

 

My aged mother has a laptop on Windows, and an iPhone and iPad. She has Gmail on all 3 but I cannot get them to sync. 

 

Am I being rubbish, or is this something that is just not possible? 

In my line of work sometimes the first question I have to ask is, "does this problem need to exist in the first place?"

 

If possible, can she just use one of the devices for accessing gmail? If so, problem no longer exists.

[HighPeakFox]

1 hour ago, filbertway said:

In my line of work sometimes the first question I have to ask is, "does this problem need to exist in the first place?"

 

If possible, can she just use one of the devices for accessing gmail? If so, problem no longer exists.

Yes, that's what I am trying to persuade her to do.

 

Unfortunately, she forgets/doesn't listen and is VERY prone to the convenience of the closest shiny thing to hand, and doesn't really understand why she gets in a pickle the whole time. Modern technology and a woman born before WW2 with failing mental acuity aren't a great combination, and she's not yet bad enough for us to take all her toys away and put her in a home. It's not an easy balance to strike.

[Daggers]

16 hours ago, HighPeakFox said:

Yes, that's what I am trying to persuade her to do.

 

Unfortunately, she forgets/doesn't listen and is VERY prone to the convenience of the closest shiny thing to hand, and doesn't really understand why she gets in a pickle the whole time. Modern technology and a woman born before WW2 with failing mental acuity aren't a great combination, and she's not yet bad enough for us to take all her toys away and put her in a home. It's not an easy balance to strike.

Remove the fuses from plugs.

[Dahnsouff]

Like @hebangsthedrums said, stick a URL link to gmail on the desktop/home screen for all devices, remove the app (its pish). Then the UI is always the same, no syncing problems

[HighPeakFox]

3 hours ago, Dahnsouff said:

Like @hebangsthedrums said, stick a URL link to gmail on the desktop/home screen for all devices, remove the app (its pish). Then the UI is always the same, no syncing problems

Correct solution, thank you all.