Disappearance of Smart Mailboxes

HELP! I have just returned to the USA from Italy. At some point ( I think it happened during the flight to Italy 2 weeks ago) all of my Smart Mailboxes disappeared. I had all of the emails from a recent survey I had done for a research paper in one of those Smart Mailboxes. They have all disappeared. I thought they would return when I returned to USA soil, but no luck. Can anyone help?

Just finding this, and it's probably no help to you now, but for the sake of others with this problem that has now occurred for many with their iCloud conversion: My smart mailboxes disappeared with my iCloud upgrade, but I rewrote the same smart mailbox (created a new one with the same criteria), and it appears that all the e-mail with matching criteria must be up on the cloud, because the e-mails all reappeared in my new (redone) smart mailbox, even from a year or more in the past. These e-mails were gone from my local Mac completely, but "summoned" by the creation of a new, identical smart mailbox.

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Mail: smart mailbox contents disappears/search doesn't work & fix is only temporary

Since installing Mavericks (including the Mail update), the contents of my Smart Mailboxes disappears (the Mailboxes themselves are listed, there's just no content) and my ability to get results from Search within Mail disappears.
I have done a lot of searching here and via Google and read other people with similar problems. I have done the usual magical stuff: resetting permissions (including the version that involves the command "resetpassword"), deleting caches, etc. - but to no avail.
Spotlight clearly knows about all this mail, because I can find it with HoudahSpot, which uses the same database, but somehow Mail is not able to read what Spotlight knows.
Now there is a commonly recommended fix, which is to go to Terminal and type some version of:
mdimport ~/Library/Mail/V2
This works (as does reindexing the entire disk)! But only for about a half-hour to an hour, at which point Mail reverts to its previous state. Running the command again works again, but once again the cure goes away shortly after. Once again, the Smart Mailboxes are empty and search in Mail stops giving reslts.
Can anyone suggest a real, permanent solution to this problem, besides switching to another email program?

Okay, I think I understand better now. So I just ran a test, by creating the following rule:
I specifically chose an address (obviously not the one shown) that I had a message from in my Inbox, and a word that was present in the subject line of several messages in my Inbox. When I ran this rule on my Inbox, it copied exactly the messages I would have expected into the test mailbox. Are you seeing different behavior with the same rule, or is your rule constructed differently?
If the difficulty is with running the rule, note that (as I said earlier) rules only run automatically on unread incoming messages. It won't run automatically on existing messages or on messages on an IMAP mail server that you have read on another device using (in which case they will have been marked as read). If you need to run this in such conditions, you'll have to either run the rule manually or run it via an AppleScript or something similar that is somehow (via something other than Mail) made to execute at certain times/intervals or under certain conditions.
And you're correct, a smart mailbox would be totally inappropriate for what you're trying to do! It would behave exactly as you guessed.

Creating Smart Mailbox Folders in Mail.app (Lion): they do not save and disappear every time the application closes....

Hello there -
Hopefully someone can help, because this is just frustrating and weird. In Mail on Mac OSX Lion, I can create all the Smart Mailboxes I want, but if I try to create a Smart Mailbox folder, it shows up just fine in the sidebar. But, as soon as I close Mail, then re-open, the Smart Mailbox Folder is gone as if it never existed. This happens whether or not I actually put any Smart Mailboxes in the folder. Anyone else seen this issue and have suggestions?

Okay, I think I just discoverd a workaround. This will work if you're lucky enough to already have a smart-mailbox folder that persists after close. (Somehow I had two such folders that already existed and weren't subject to the mysterious disappearances on closing the app; perhaps I created them in a previous OS X release?) Anyway, here goes:
Locate an already existing smart mailbox folder that's working properly. Select the folder (in the sidebar).
Duplicate that folder using the "Duplicate Smart Mailbox" Command. (It's on the contextual pop-up menu or available via the gear icon in the lower left of the window). This should produce and exact copy of the folder and the boxes inside, appearing at the bottom of the smart mailbox list.
Edit the duplicate folder to put the smart mailboxes you want in it, and delete the previous mailboxes (duplicates) that you don't want.
The new folder structure should now persist between launches of the app.
There you go. Not the most elegant process, but workable. Don't know if there's a method if you don't have at least one smart mailbox folder already though.

Content of all smart mailboxes in 10.9 disappeared

Hello,
After installing 10.9 (upgrading) on my Macbook Pro all the content of my various smart mailboxes in my Mail 7 have disappeared.
Why, and especially, how I'll revived the content?
TIA

Hi, I'm not sure but maybe you disabled spotlight ? I do not see smart mailboxes in case of disabled spotlight.
Check this page http://osxdaily.com/2011/12/10/disable-or-enable-spotlight-in-mac-os-x-lion/

(Mail) Smart mailboxes disappeared

I have been running a fairly comprehensive set of smart mailboxes to organise mail since August 2002. Today I noticed all my smart mailboxes have disappeared.
Oddly enough they have disappeared on both of my user accounts on this mac, although it's only one of those user accounts where their loss would be disastrous. They may not actually have disappeared today, just merely that I noticed it today.
I keep regular back ups of the library/mail folder, but rather than start to fiddle and experiment with replacing files from my back ups, I'm assuming someone here can tell me exactly which files from the backed up library/mail folder I should move to my actual library/mail folder. I'm guessing it will be one or more of the files in the MailData folder.
My back ups are incremental back ups but assume the smart mailbox data is held in a single file, so I don't need to hunt down lots of files.
This what I have in my actual library/mail folder.
And this is what I have in a recent back up
I'm assuming the size of the backed up SmartMailbox property list indicates all my lost data is safe, but I don't really know whether that property list is the only file I should replace.
Thanks in advance guys.

The same thing just happened to my smart mailboxes. I noticed that you did not receive an answer....Did you find the file or another way to resolve this?

New Smart Mailboxes Disappear (again & again)

There are two smart mailboxes setup in the "Mail" application on my desktop Mac ("All Mail" & "Newspaper"). These mailboxes also exist on my laptop. On my desktop, I deleted the "Newspaper" mail box and created several new smart mailboxes. The next time I looked, the new mailboxes "self-deleted" and restored the "Newspaper" mailbox. I tried this several times with the same result. I then created a new smart mailbox on the laptop and deleted the "newspaper" mail box. Same thing happed; the new mailbox disappears and ther "newspaper" mailbox returns.
I use use IMAP with my Gmail account and forward my "iCloud" mail to my Gmail account. The "Mail" setting is "checked" in my iCloud system settings (but not sure what impact that has on my setup).   I thought this setting may allow the smart mailboxes to synchronize between the Mac and possibly my iPhone. I am using OS X 10.9.3. I recently returned to mac "Mail" after several years of simply using the Gmail web interface on the Mac (plus iOS Mail) and am a bit unclear how the iCloud sync should work. I am pretty happy with the newer IMAP capabilities after using POP in the past.
Any suggestions on how I can create (and keep) my smart mailboxes?
Thanks,
Dave

WHAT DIDNT WORK for me:
I have the problem, but I never had Docs & Data switched on, so Sheppard's solution does not apply for my case (there are no such files as mentioned there). Neither did Beda's move work for me. Causing fresh copies of the two files he mentioned to be created does bring back the Smart Mailbox category and a default Today smart mailbox, but putting the original files back in position, puts the problem back to square one -- no smartmailboxes appear.
WHAT DID WORK for me:
What I found worked was moving smartmailbox specifications from SmartMailboxes.plist into a clean SyncedSmartMailboxes.plist file.
Steps: (This procedure requires something that enables you to open and edit plist files (e.g. Xcode). As always, keep safeties of everything before you mess around.)
0) Before starting, check this file and confirm your smart mailbox specifications are actually still in there. If not, this won't work.
    ~/Library/Mail/V2/SmartMailboxes.plist
1) Taking a tip from Beda, move the following files out and then launch Mail and quit it, to force creation of new copies of these files.
    ~/Library/Mail/V2/SmartMailboxesLocalProperties.plist
    ~/Library/Mail/V2/SyncedSmartMailboxes.plist
2 ) Open the new SyncedMailboxes.plist. It contains a single item (a default Today smartmailbox specification). Delete that.
3) Open your SmartMailboxes.plist. It contains a sublist called 'mailboxes' where all your smart mailbox specifications reside. Copy each of these items over to (the top level of) SyncedMailboxes.plist. You have to do this one at a time if you are using Xcode, because there is no multiple selection available.
4) Save and close SyncedMailboxes.plist (and close any other plists for good measure).
5) Launch Mail and your smart mailboxes should be back.
Hope it works for you as it did for me.

How do I get my old smart mailboxes back?, annoyingly disappeared after an software upgrade overnight!

My smart mailboxes with a lot of important info have disappeared following a software update, im not terribly computer literate so a step by step answer would be enormously helpful!

Could you give some examples of a smart folder you might have? It sounds like you had a lot.
To get you started...
VIPs are smart folders for a person. It's a quick option to view the emails from a person.
If you click on a persons's name in an email you'll see a down arrow. Select Add to VIP.
You can put contacts in groups. For example, friends, family, classmates, team members etc. Groups are created in Contacts.app.
Create a smart folder for a group:
Sender is member of group > family
Date Received is Today/This Week (example of additional criteria)
My favorite smart folder is named Unread Today.
Message is unread
Date Received is > Today
Tip: Once you create a smart folder, take a screen shot so you can recreate it in the future. I also recommend that you setup Time Machine backups.
Command-Shift-3 takes the entire screen
Command-Shift-4 takes a portion of the screen. <--use this one
Hope this helps!

Smart mailbox and signatures disappeared OSX Mountain Lion

I restarted Mail today and all of my smart mailboxes and my signature have disappeared.
I tried the Mailbox "Rebuild" command, but that didn't bring them back.
Will I have to re-do all of them from scratch? It takes about half an hour to set them all back up again...

I re-set up all of the smart mail filters yesterday from scratch and found them all missing again today...
I had dragged some of them up to the top nav of the mail client. They still appear there, but they are greyed out and nothing happens when I click them.
It seems serveral others are having this problem. I didn't see any official fixes for it though.
Thanks.

All The Notes and All my personalized Mailboxes and Smart mailboxes have disappeared

When I woke up my MacBook Pro and wanted to check email, all The Notes and All my personalized Mailboxes and Smart mailboxes have disappeared.
I only have the standard mailboxes like inbox, sent, trash, etc...
Anyone can help with this?
Thanks
Short background:
I have upgraded recently from Snow Leopard to Lion.
I have lost a lot of software (and had to re-purchase licences and re-install it) but then I have said to myself BE IT! great that I did not lose critical stuff.
I have also said that I will do the Time Machine back-up when everything is working fine....
Well, I think I was a bit too quick with my statement and too slow with the back-up...
Mugur

You are not getting them from there, you just verifying if you have a back up with notes (you will have to check the date and try to remember if had those at that date and time.) Then you have two ways to go - the apple way and third party way.
1 Apple way - restore from back up (downside is you going to lose changes to your phone since the last back up)
be careful - not to overwrite last back up when you connect your phone, I would find and copy back up file just in case to external drive. You can find location of your actual back up file using that article
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4946
if you expand where it says "where back ups are stored on the computer"
how to restore from itunes back up here
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1766
2. not Apple way.- there are programs for windows that allow you to look inside of actual back up file.
Google is your friend for that one.
If you don't like my results just adjust search to your liking.
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1_____enUS481US481&io n=1&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&safe=off&tbo=d&rlz=1C1_____enUS481US481&sclient=psy-ab&q=how% 20to%20look%20inside%20of%20iphone%20back%20up&oq=&gs_l=&pbx=1&fp=87ac1fa8918878 c8&ion=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.1357700187,d.aWM&biw=1280&bih=643

Smart Mailboxes: conditions disappear

Every now and then the conditions that I've added to control what some - not all - of my Smart Mailboxes do, disappear, leaving the SMbox empty. Can't see any pattern or reason; used Time Machine to restore Mail but still same issue remains - any suggestions? Am syncing 4 Macs via MobileMe inc the mailboxes.

I read it in the discussions:
Galb
Re: Smart mailbox for Unread messages doesn't update automatically. Jul 11, 2012 12:45 PM (in response to Jeffrey Jones2)
Thanks for the note, Jeffrey and trust me when I say I'm a die-hard Apple believer. But, at work I support Windows machines and Outlook has views to show only unread messages. As soon as a messages is read and we move on to the next messages, the read message drops out of the list. This is what I'm look for so that I can apply it to the few Macs I also support at work.
What Apple's Mail gives us is good, but what we were hoping was to have the smart mailbox work the same way that Outlook's feature does. However, I still much prefer working with Mail rather than with Outlook. So, we will adjust.
Thanks again.

Mac Mini: Smart mailbox items disappear after a month in one mailbox but stay for years in others. All settings are the same!

I have several Smart mailboxes set up on my Mac.
Some of them hold all mail for years and others delete after about a month.
All settings are the same on all mailboxes.

BDAqua Hi,
I have only 1 E-mail account, It is a POP and the one earlier account that I set up that works fine and saves all E-mails comes form a friend who also runs Apple. Don't know if that has anything to do with it.
All others are running Bill Gates stuff.
Even when I delete the "Friend Apple" E-mails his messages stay in the smart mailbox.
I deleted the other E-mails as I usually claen out once a week and get rid of junk and adds. I deleted the other smart mailbox E-mails from my main mailbox figuring that they would stay in the smart box like the other one.
Still perplexed,
Thanks for the help so far,
Ron

Help! My Smart Mailboxes disappeared from my computer.

How do I view them from both my .mac account and my G5 using the stamp mail icon. I can't figure out to sync them.
thanks,
Kate

When creating a mailbox with the Mail.app (not a Smart Mailbox) your location choices are "On My Mac" which is stored locally on the hard drive only and if your have a .Mac or IMAP type account, you can select the account from the pop-up window for the location to create a server stored mailbox.
Any server stored mailboxes created should be available under the .Mac account icon in the mailboxes drawer.
I'm also having difficulty syncing data. For example, if I delete
an email from my G5 and then go to .mac, it's not viewable but
if i go back to my G5, i can see it in the trash.
Not sure why you want or need to keep messages marked for deletion synchronized with the server but in order to do so, go to Mail > Preferences > Accounts and under the Mailbox Behaviors tab for the account preferences, select "Store deleted messages on the server" in addition to "Move deleted messages to the Trash mailbox".
The server stored Trash mailbox for the account will then be available under the .Mac account icon in the mailboxes drawer.
For example, if I delete an email from my G5 and then go to .mac,
it's not viewable but if i go back to my G5, i can see it in the trash.
A .Mac type account is really an IMAP type account and behaves in the same way. Unless you select "Store deleted messages on the server" for the account preferences with the email client used, messages marked for deletion with the email client used (such as the Mail.app) will be stored locally on the hard drive and not on the server.
This behavior with an IMAP type account is the same regardless the email client used on any platform - Mac (OS X) or with a PC (Windows).

Smart Mailboxes - I use smart mailboxes on my mac pro without issue. On my iMac OS X v10.7.4 the smart mailboxes disappear when ever mail is restarted. This does not happen on my mac pro. Other functions work as intended.

The OS on my iMac is OS X v10.7.4. No issue setting up the smart mailboxes and they work fine until I restart the imac or restart the mail application. When I do this the all smart mailboxes (not folders) are gone. Can someone please point me to where I might look for resolution??

The OS on my iMac is OS X v10.7.4. No issue setting up the smart mailboxes and they work fine until I restart the imac or restart the mail application. When I do this the all smart mailboxes (not folders) are gone. Can someone please point me to where I might look for resolution??

All my Smart Mailboxes disappeared except a TODAY one. Is there a library file somewhere that may have been cleaned up?

I woke up this morning to find that all my Smart Mailboxes had fone. The generic TODAY was still there. I had severel hundred of them built up over the past few years of client emails.
All other Folders are still there ... just the Magic ones vanished.... Any thoughts!?

I am having this same issue, and it surfaced when I restarted my Mac. Mail starts up with the "Mail Upgrade" dialog ("Welcome to Mail, To use the new features in Mail...") which goes away quickly after clicking the continue button.
I am running Mavericks 10.9.2 on an Late 2012 iMac.

Number of messages in Smart Mailbox

A question & some relavent thoughts:
In Mail, the number of Unread messages is shown the right of each mailbox. But what are the total number messages?   Alternatively, how many Read messages are there?
I have many folders. I am trying to create separate mailboxes for each important (to me) Sender. Then it would be possible to find out how many messages were in 1 Smart Mailbox not contained in any other Smart Mail Box by
1. having a Smart Mailbox containing all mail, and
2. specifying conditions: From ... Does not contain ...   Sender
3. for each Sender
This would be very tedious if one receives mail from many senders. However, if
1. all senders belong to at least 1 Group,
this might be onerous but at least feasible.
If however,there were a Smart Mailbox condition:
2. Group ... Does not contain ...   Sender,
then this would feasible witnout being too onerous.
If anyone has any answers and/or suggestions, I would be very happy to receive same!
Chuck

I have had the same problem as well and could not find any way of fixing it! Also when I changed the name of the folder the message count disappeared for a while and then seemed to come back later... very bizarre.
Anyway, I may have found a solution after spending all afternoon searching the internet on macosxhints. [Link goes to the specific hint].
I would advise making a complete back-up of your ~/Library/Mail folder before trying this, though. When I did this it seemed to re-import some messages and mark them as unread for some unknown reason. However, I went through and marked them all as 'read', and I have the same number of messages in each mailbox as I did before I tried this, so I can only assume that things are the same as before.
One thing has changed, however! I no longer have a false number on the 'Flagged' messages smart mailbox! (Although if you have lots of messages marked as 'flagged' it may clear the flag - not sure).
2Ghz iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.4) 4G iPod

Disappearance of Smart Mailboxes

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