JavaMail reading recent unread mails using IMAP

Make sure to use the IMAP protocol, as it supports for flagging.

Do following changes to your code:

1. replace inbox.open( Folder.READ_ONLY ); by inbox.open( Folder.READ_WRITE );

2. Then after reading the message, set the flag like so:

   message.setFlag(Flags.Flag.SEEN, true);
   

Full example:

    import javax.mail.*;
    import javax.mail.search.FlagTerm;
    import java.util.*;

    public class GmailFetch {

      public static void main( String[] args ) throws Exception {

        Session session = Session.getDefaultInstance(new Properties( ));
        Store store = session.getStore("imaps");
        store.connect("imap.googlemail.com", 993, "[email protected]", "password");
        Folder inbox = store.getFolder( "INBOX" );
        inbox.open( Folder.READ_WRITE );

        // Fetch unseen messages from inbox folder
        Message[] messages = inbox.search(
            new FlagTerm(new Flags(Flags.Flag.SEEN), false));

        // Sort messages from recent to oldest
        Arrays.sort( messages, ( m1, m2 ) -> {
          try {
            return m2.getSentDate().compareTo( m1.getSentDate() );
          } catch ( MessagingException e ) {
            throw new RuntimeException( e );
          }
        } );

        for ( Message message : messages ) {
          System.out.println( 
              "sendDate: " + message.getSentDate()
              + " subject:" + message.getSubject() );
              message.setFlag(Flags.Flag.SEEN, true);
        }
      }
    }

I think this might help to access read/unread/recent mails change your variables according to your needs.

// search for all "unseen" messages

Flags seen = new Flags(Flags.Flag.SEEN);// try changing this SEEN to RECENT 

// set it true or false for seen & unseen mail

FlagTerm unseenFlagTerm = new FlagTerm(seen, false)
Message messages[] = inbox.search(unseenFlagTerm);

JavaMail gives you an array of Message objects. The messages are in the order received. If you want to look at the most recently received messages first, go through the array in the reverse order. If you want to look at the most recently sent messages first, you'll need to sort the array, as described in the other answer.

Here is example. Do not forget to add javax.mail in your classpath.

import javax.mail.*;
import javax.mail.search.FlagTerm;
import java.util.*;

public class GmailFetch {

  public static void main( String[] args ) throws Exception {

    Session session = Session.getDefaultInstance(new Properties( ));
    Store store = session.getStore("imaps");
    store.connect("imap.googlemail.com", 993, "[email protected]", "password");
    Folder inbox = store.getFolder( "INBOX" );
    inbox.open( Folder.READ_ONLY );

    // Fetch unseen messages from inbox folder
    Message[] messages = inbox.search(
        new FlagTerm(new Flags(Flags.Flag.SEEN), false));

    // Sort messages from recent to oldest
    Arrays.sort( messages, ( m1, m2 ) -> {
      try {
        return m2.getSentDate().compareTo( m1.getSentDate() );
      } catch ( MessagingException e ) {
        throw new RuntimeException( e );
      }
    } );

    for ( Message message : messages ) {
      System.out.println( 
          "sendDate: " + message.getSentDate()
          + " subject:" + message.getSubject() );
    }
  }
}