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From LifeHacker…. Google adds another opt-in feature to its roster of Gmail Labs experiments: Advanced IMAP Controls, a way to selectively decided which of your Gmail labels are available to your IMAP client plus other tweaks. With the new feature enabled, go to the Labels tab under your Gmail account’s Settings area to select and de-select “Show in IMAP” on a per-label basis. Google describes a few other “obscure” IMAP features you can configure, as well.

The IMAP protocol allows messages to be marked for deletion, a sort of limbo state where a message is still present in the folder but slated to be deleted the next time the folder is expunged. In our standard IMAP implementation, when you mark a message as deleted, Gmail doesn’t let it linger in that state — it deletes (or auto-expunges) it from the folder right away. If you want the two-stage delete process, after you’ve enabled this Lab, just select ‘Do not automatically expunge messages’ under the ‘Forwarding and POP/IMAP’ tab in Settings.

Similarly, most IMAP systems don’t share Gmail’s concept of archiving messages (sending messages to the [Gmail]/All Mail folder rather than [Gmail]/Trash). If you’d prefer that deleted messages not remaining in any other visible IMAP folders are sent to [Gmail]/Trash instead, Advanced IMAP Controls lets you set your preferences this way. In the ‘IMAP Access:’ section of the ‘Forwarding and POP/IMAP’ tab, find the ‘When a message is deleted from the last visible IMAP folder:’ option. Select ‘Move the message to the Gmail Trash.’ If you want to take it one step further, you can select ‘Immediately delete the message forever.’

Enable advanced IMAP controls in the Labs area; click the beaker on the top right bar inside your Gmail account to get there.

There’s a little known feature in GMail that can help ensure you account is not being hacked called Account Activity.

Recent activity includes any times that your mail was accessed, using a regular web browser, through a POP client, from a mobile device, etc. You’ll see a list of the IP address from which the access was made, as well as the time and date.

Here’s a screenshot from my GMail account:

(FYI… the reason my GMail is in grey is because I’m using the Better GMail 2 FireFox Extension, which adds all kinds of cool functionality (including some cool themes to GMail)

Clicking the Details link next to the Last account activity line at the bottom of any Gmail page shows information about recent activity in your mail.

The sweetness is that if at some point while you’re logged in someone else logs into your account the bottom line will change to something like:

This account is open in 1 other location at this IP (xx.xx.xxx.xx)

Again, clicking the detals link will provide a much more granualar level of detail about when, where, and how your account has been accessed.

Here are 3 things you should pay attention to:

1. IP Address - If you usually signin to Gmail using a single computer then your IP address should be the same. Or at least have identical first two sets of numbers (ex. 212.10.xx.xx).

2. Access Type - This column displays the way your account was accessed. For instance if you read your email ONLY from browser (Firefox, IE, Safari etc.) but one of the entries showing POP or IMAP access, there is a good chance your account is compromised.

3. Concurrent Sessions - If your mail is currently being accessed from another location, you’ll see it here.

In the example above you can see that I have Browser, Atom, and IMAP. The IMAP access is Outlook connecting to GMail, Browser is…well FireFox access it. Atom may look strange but that’s my GMail Counter Vista Sidebar gadget.

If you’re concerned about any concurrent access, you can sign out all sessions other than your current session by clicking Sign out all other sessions.