SOLVED Mail Problem

[AndreaM]

My email address was locked due to being hacked in someone's else's computer. I have managed to get it unlocked but when trying to resolve the issue, I deleted my account and re-entered it again. I have now lost the emails I had in my Inbox and Sent box and can't find how to get them back. I understand they will be sitting in a folder somewhere but I can't find it. The emails I had saved in other folders are still there. I've tried: Option, Go and Library but there's nothing there. Where are my Mailboxes and messages and how do I get them to show up again in Mail?

While trying to delete and set up again my email address, I seem to have acquired another mail account which I can't get rid of. I only have my proper email account showing in Accounts so I don't know where this other one is to delete it. Once I've downloaded all new emails it then asks me for my password for this other phantom mailbox.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

We'll need a little more info in order to help you out.

-What email service - Gmail, Yahoo, etc.?
-What version of Mac OS X?
-Do you have a Time Machine or other backup?

It sounds like the emails were lost when the email provider reset/unlocked your account.

C

 

[AndreaM]

Hi Cory,

It's a locally run broadband service who use a host server. The emails were still in my inbox even although my account was locked but I tried deleting the account and setting it up again to see if this cleared the problem. That was when the emails all disappeared. It's only the ones in my inbox and sent box. All the emails I've saved in various other folders are still there.

I've managed to sort the problem of the extra mail account and that is now deleted. All I need to do now is find where the missing emails are stored and restore them to where they should be but I can't find my mailbox folders.

My operating system is: 10.9.2

I do have Time Machine which will give me some of the missing emails but, again, I can't find where to look in TM to restore them.

 

[Cory Cooper]

-Does your ISP have web access - can you login to your account via Safari? If so, you could look to see if the missing emails are in your inbox there.
-How many days ago did this issue happen?
-Is it setup as POP or IMAP?

You could select the inbox in Mail and try rebuilding it to see if the lost emails show up again:

1. Click on Inbox in Mail
2. Click Mailbox > Rebuild in menu bar

I wouldn't try a restore from Time Machine yet, because you could lose the emails since the date of your last backup if you restore.

C

 

[AndreaM]

Cory,

I tried the rebuild procedure but it only displayed the couple of emails I kept after the others downloaded once the account was unlocked.

I know that it is possible to login to my account on Safari as the person responsible for helping run the BB service did it to check it was now working. I would need to ask them for the url to try it myself.

Have you any idea where to look for the mailboxes and messages in my files?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Sounds like it is setup as POP, which deletes emails from the server when read or moved.

Unfortunately, the only real user-accessible way to restore your email from a Time Machine backup is to do the entire Mail folder, which will replace/delete anything since the backup you use for the restore.

How many days have passed since the last Time Machine backup that could have the emails you are looking for and when the issue started and was resolved?

C

 

[AndreaM]

I did find the web login info and the lost emails are not there either. It is a POP account. I don't understand why only some of my emails would be deleted. Where do you find the message/mailbox folders on your Mac now? It was so easy before where you could look in folders and see all the messages listed. Now I can't find where they're located.

It's a couple of weeks since the last TM before today's one and four days since my email messages were lost. Of course, there are important emails between these times which I really want to get back.

 

[Cory Cooper]

If you logged in via Safari and they're not there, they are gone from the server. Since the last TM backup before they were lost was older than four days, they won't be in your backup.

Any emails that you still see in Mail in the folders on the left side of the Messages windows are emails you have copied from the server to your Mac's hard drive. That's why they are still there. If you can't see them listed there, make sure that the sidebar is set to visible in Mail by clicking View > Show Mailbox List from the menu bar. The Inbox emails that are gone were probably deleted when you deleted your account and re-added it.

Unfortunately, it sounds to me like they are lost forever. If you go rooting around in the folder that Mail stores things, you could actually lose more.

C

 

[AndreaM]

Cory,

Some of the emails in my inbox were as far back as 2012 so there should have been no reason to delete them. The ones in other saved Mailboxes are fine and many are more recent. The only difference is that I moved them from Inbox to other Mailboxes, included within the Mail pane.

Are you still able to point me to where I can locate Mailbox folders? I won't be doing anything silly as I sure don't want to lose any more! I just want to see if they are still there but now now connected to my Inbox. I'm sure I had a similar situation a few years ago and it was possible to get them back in place,

Thanks

 

[Cory Cooper]

Before doing anything, make sure your Time Machine backup is up to date. I don't recommend rooting around in your Library folder, but if you really want to, and understand the consequences of manipulating/moving/deleting files in it, then that is your prerogative. If something does get messed up, we may not be able to correct it.

You mail is stored in your User Library folder. To access it:

1. Hold the Option key down while clicking Go > Library in the menu bar.
2. You will see a folder named Mail. This is where Mail stores all your mailboxes.

Be careful and don't do anything you're not sure of.

C

 

[AndreaM]

That's just it Cory, I can't find my mailboxes in that folder. When I open the Mail folder this is what I see:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/100622627@N05/13563761964/

 

[Cory Cooper]

Search through the V2 folder, that's where your current mailboxes will be. You may see several folders in that folder.

Also, some could be in the Mail Lost+Found. That folder is created when Mail isn't shut down properly, like during a freeze/power off scenario.

C

 

[AndreaM]

Hi Cory,

Great - that's where my mailboxes are but, as feared, there's no sign of the lost emails, either there or in the Lost+Found folder.

Oh well - at least I now know where my mailboxes are!

Thanks for your help.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Not a problem at all, just sorry they were't there.

Going forward, I highly suggest not letting emails build up in the inbox. I would definitely copy them from the inbox to the folders you have setup on your Mac and make sure you keep your Time Machine backup up to date. The more you leave in the inbox, the slower it will be to retrieve your mail, and you could end up losing them again. By copying them to your Mac's email coders, you are removing them from the server and keeping them stored on your Mac, which Time Machine will backup.

Let us know if you need anything else.

C

 

[oldscribe]

Hi,

It's a locally run broadband service who use a host server

I find it strange that your service provider does not have a backup of your messages as your email is hosted on a server; I would defiantly recheck with the support team.

 

[AndreaM]

I may well check with them then,

Thanks again.