How to Prevent Duplicate Updates Posting in Ticket

Duplicate updates in support tickets can cause confusion and inefficiency in managing customer inquiries. This article provides guidelines to help you identify the causes of duplicate updates and implement strategies to prevent them.

Preventing Duplicate Email Updates Caused by Gmail IMAP Configuration

In some cases, duplicate updates may occur when a support email address is configured using IMAP. This is particularly common with Gmail, which handles labels as folders within IMAP.

Why This Happens

Gmail tags emails with labels like ‘Inbox’ and ‘Important’, which IMAP treats as separate folders, causing duplicate updates when an email has multiple labels, especially in [Gmail]/Important and INBOX.

How to Fix It

To reduce or eliminate duplicate updates, we recommend disabling the Important label in IMAP. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open Gmail and click on the gear icon to go to Settings.

2. Click on See all settings.

3. Navigate to the Labels tab.

4. Find the “Important” label in the list.

5. Uncheck the box labeled Show in IMAP.

   

This change will prevent Gmail from displaying the Important label as a separate IMAP folder, thereby helping to avoid the processing of duplicate messages in your ticketing system.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1) What does “duplicate updates” mean in a ticket?
It means the same inbound email appears twice on the ticket timeline (two identical updates within seconds/minutes), creating noise and confusion for agents and customers.

2) Why do duplicate updates in tickets happen with Gmail + IMAP?
Gmail uses labels (e.g., Inbox, Important). IMAP exposes many labels as separate folders. If a single message carries multiple labels (e.g., INBOX and [Gmail]/Important), your help desk can fetch the same message twice—once per folder—resulting in duplicate ticket updates.

3) How do I confirm that Gmail IMAP labels are the cause of duplicate updates in tickets?

• Check the ticket’s activity timeline for pairs of identical updates posted almost at the same time.
• In the mail headers (if available), note that both copies reference the same Message‑ID.
• Verify the mailbox is connected via IMAP (not simple forwarding) and that Gmail does not show Important in IMAP.

4) What’s the quickest fix for the duplicate updates in tickets problem?
Hide the Important label from IMAP for the affected Gmail mailbox:

1. In Gmail, click the gear icon → See all settings.
2. Open the Labels tab.
3. Find Important.
4. Uncheck Show in IMAP.

5) Will hiding “Important” in IMAP remove the label from Gmail?
No. The label still exists in the Gmail web/app UI; it simply won’t be exposed as an IMAP folder. Your day‑to‑day Gmail experience remains intact.

6) Do I need to repeat the process of hiding “Important” in IMAP for every support mailbox?
Yes. The setting is per mailbox. Apply it to each Gmail account used as a support inbox that syncs via IMAP.