Inbox and sent mail gone after re-entering account settings in preferences

Tech support for my provider had me delete and re-enter my account settings in preferences as I was unable to send or receive mail. It wiped out my inbox and sent mail (smart mailboxes and archive folders are fine) I tried to import the mailboxes in the mail folder in the library, but these were created when I re-entered my information and were empty. AND I was in the process of reformatting the time machine drive so my backup were lost. Duh. I did a global search for "inbox" but nothing is coming up and tech support at comcast was at a loss. Any ideas where these messages could have gone? I verified my HD, as was recommended, and it is fine. Thanks!

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Inbox and Sent Mail GONE

Tech support for my provider had me delete and re-enter my account settings in preferences because I was unable to send or receive mail. It wiped out my inbox and sent mail (smart mailboxes and archive folders are fine) I tried to import the mailboxes in the mail folder in the library, but these were created when I re-entered my information and were empty. AND I was in the process of reformatting the time machine drive so my backup were lost. Duh. I did a global search for "inbox" but nothing is coming up and tech support at comcast was at a loss. Any ideas where these messages could have gone? I verified my HD, as was recommended, and it is fine. Thanks!

My friend and I are having just the same problem on an old iMac running OSX 10.4.11 and Mail 2.1.3. I've located the lost messages on my friend's external HD. They were in the directory Users-->(username)-->Library-->Mail-->POP-(username@ISP address@incoming mail server).
The folders were copied to the iMac's desktop from HD. The problem is that using the Import Mailboxes function under File in the Mail menu produced the following error message, "No valid Mail for Mac OSX files were found".
The folder contains several mailbox folders, (name.mbox), including INBOX.mbox, Sent Messages.mbox, etc. They probably are the old default folders. Within each is a Messages folder. Their contents can be read individually by clicking on each .emlx file BUT how do we import them back into Mail?

Main in inbox and sent folder gone after recreating mail account in prefs

I called my ISP when I was getting outgoing mail server error messages. Their tech person said that I had to recreate that email account. They had me delete the existing account then basically make the account again. Expletives deleted. The result for this brilliant advice was that all the mail in my inbox (800 messages) and sent mail copies (maybe 4000 messages) is gone. Apparently over written by a new account with the same name as the old one. I didn't expect that the mail messages themselves would be removed, just the account settings. Is there any sort of trash place that I might be able to recover them from? I've checked the obvious places in myuseraccount>library>mail.

Hello David.
Your ISP gave you some not so good advice without being familiar with the Mail.app account and associated mailbox filing structure at the Finder level. Not good news but don't shoot the messenger.
Before deleting an account in Tiger Mail, the following warning message is provided:
Are you sure you want to remove the (account type here) account “XXXXXXXXXX”?
This will permanently delete the account setup information, mailboxes, and messages from your computer. Copies of messages on the mail server, if they exist, are not affected.
This is usually ignored or not completely understood but is based on the Mail.app filing structure so now the long winded answer for the reason.
Many other email clients utilize a single large database which is not dependent on individual account and associated mailbox filing.
When creating an account in Mail, an account named folder (named by the user name and incoming mail server for the account) is created in the Mail folder at Home > Library > Mail using the Finder.
For POP type accounts, the following mailbox (mbox) folders are created within the account named folder when the function is used by the account: INBOX.mbox, Drafts.mbox, Sent Messages.mbox, Deleted Messages.mbox and Junk.mbox (when Junk mail is set to automatic). The mbox folders within the account named folder represent the account named mailboxes under In, Drafts, Sent, Trash and Junk (when Junk mail is set to automatic) in the Mail.app mailboxes drawer.
When deleting an account in Mail, the account named folder at Home > Library > Mail is deleted at that time and as the warning message indicates, the associated account mailboxes within the account named folder are also deleted. You must select OK after the warning message appears.
It would be preferable for the account named folder to be moved to the hard drive Trash can which requires an additional step to delete but this is not what occurs.
To have any hope of recovering your data, you need to immediately stop using your system and then purchase a copy of a recovery tool such as Tech Tool Pro (Micromat) or Data Rescue (Prosoft Engineering), both of which have data recovery tools. I've not used Data Rescue, but I've seen reports that it recovers files that the others cannot, so it might be your best hope. The chances generally aren't really good even so, but short of sending your drive to a data recovery service (expensive), such utilities are your only hope.
Note that the more you use your system before you attempt recovery, the more likely it is that the system will overwrite the sections of the drive where the data you want to recover is stored, rendering it unrecoverable by any means. You should therefore stop using the system completely until you get and try to use one of the file recovery tools.
This also emphasizes the importance of maintaining a regular backup of the Mail folder and other important data.

Mail deleted account lost inbox and sent mail

I was editing an account with on IT(not a MAC user) person yesterday to check my work mail from a diferent server. In the process my old work account got deleted so I lost all of my incoming and sent mail from the account that was deleted.
After that happened I started reading info on mail accounts and it says that will happen.
The question is is there any way to recover those email? I purchased Prosoft data recovery II today and have been looking thru recovered files but can not find what I am looking for.

Since you’ve already read other threads on this subject, I’ll spare you the details.
If the messages are not on the server, and you don’t have a backup, your only option in the case of Mail 2.x is to try to salvage as many deleted *.emlx files as possible with a data recovery tool such as Data Rescue II, TechTool Pro, or FileSalvage (the files to be recovered would be different in the case of Mail 1.x). Of these, the only one I know for sure that can recover deleted *.emlx files is FileSalvage.

Inbox and sent messages gone

I was trying to recharge my Nokia N97 with a blackberry USB charger. It worked but then I realized all my inbox and sent messages have disappeared!! What happened? Can I find them back?

Hi,
Firefox and other browsers can only display the emails. All the content, emails, settings etc. are stored at and received from the remote site/server. If an add-on is being used with Firefox, you can try to check its '''Options''' in '''Tools '''('''Alt '''+ '''T''') > '''Addons''' > '''Extensions'''. Otherwise you may have to check the mail archives in Gmail and Windows Live sites. You can also check the trash/deleted folders in the respective mail sites for any mails that may have been manually deleted within usually 30 days.
[http://support.google.com/mail/?hl=en Gmail Help]
[http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=6576 Gmail Archive]
[http://windowslivehelp.com/ Windows Live Help]
For Thunderbird issues please see [https://getsatisfaction.com/mozilla_messaging/topics/new this].

Lost inbox and sent mail only

There are lots of posts on this but not exactly as it's happened in this case. I have read thru all the posts and was able to recover some files but not all. Apparently MAIL was quiting and when data was imported, acct settings were changed. There were over 8,000 emails in INBOX and as much in SENT. Here's what's in the mail folder:
default counts
envelope index
LSMMap@
Mailboxes (folder)
messagesrules.plist
messagerules.plist.backup
messagesrules.plist
messagerules.plist.backup
POP-(email address) (folder) >
...deleted messages.mbox
...drafs.mbox
...junk.mbox
...MessagesUidsAlreadyDownloaded
...MessagesUidsAlreadyDownloaded2
...Sent Messages.mbox
POP-(same email address) (folder) Same except inside only has > INBOX.mbox, Junk.mbox, MessagesUidsAlreadyDownloaded2
signatures (folder)
smartMailboxes.plist
I assessed that most of the emails that are not coming thru to MAIL were in the first POP listed. I can see the emails if I open each one for the years missing 2005 and 2006.
I cleaned out dups of imports and rebuilt mailboxes. it was 6.6Gigs now down to 3GB.
I used "other' to import what did get imported via copying mbox file onto desktop and retrieved 2004 and some 2005 files.
How can I get them to show up in MAIL?
thank you
G4 powerbook Mac OS X (10.4.8)

You’re welcome.
The reason I post your entire quote is so that you have
complete info again
I see the entire thread every time I read any of the posts, so the only thing quoting everything accomplishes is actually reducing the amount of relevant information I can see on the screen.
Did you get a chance to read all of my replies?
Yes, and none of them explained what prevents you from solving the problem doing what I suggested in my first post...
I don't feel that you understood that I have done the easy import
as per your email several times which did not resolve my problem.
The only place where you mentioned having already tried importing anything is your first post, and the first thing I said in my reply to that post is precisely that I didn’t understand what you said there. So yes, you’re right that I didn’t understand it. Moreover, I still don’t understand it...
I am here because NOT all emails were recovered
And I’m trying to help you recover them, but I cannot do so if you don’t explain what’s the problem exactly.
Email stored in the individual MAILBOXES did import.
This, for example, doesn’t make sense. All the messages are stored in one mailbox or another. It doesn’t make sense that you can import the mailboxes but not the messages. Mail’s mailboxes in the filesystem are folders with an .mbox suffix, e.g. INBOX.mbox. Maybe you’re calling ‘mailbox’ something else?
ps. when I import using OSX I get the following error:
"No valid mail for OSX files were found"
Ahhh! Now, this makes sense. This is the first thing you’ve said in this thread that allows me to understand what’s the problem exactly. Wouldn’t it have been easier if you had reported from the very beginning any error messages you were getting?
Pay attention to the instructions that Mail displays when choosing Mail for Mac OS X as the data format. Mail wants you to select the folder that contains the mailboxes to be imported (i.e. the POP account folder in your case), not the *.mbox folders themselves. If you select the *.mbox folder itself, Mail says “No valid Mail for Mac OS X files were found” because it cannot find any *.mbox folders within the folder you’re selecting.
I was able to recover some emails using the "other" radial in import.
If you could recover any messages importing as Other, that means those mailboxes have files used by Mail 1.x (Mac OS X 10.3) that Mail 2.x (Mac OS X 10.4) leaves there after the conversion to the new *.emlx format. The only messages you would find there would be from before upgrading that computer to Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger).
Maybe it’s one of those files (mbox) what you’re calling ‘mailbox’? If that’s the case, wouldn’t it have been clearer referring to those files by their name instead of (or in addition to) interpreting what they are?
The only items within a mailbox (i.e. within an *.mbox or an *.imapmbox folder) used by Mail 2.x are Info.plist and the Messages folder. Any other files you may see there are almost certainly Mail 1.x files that Mail 2.x leaves there after the conversion. This is poorly explained in Mac OS X 10.4 Mail: Some mailbox files used by Mac OS X 10.3 are not deleted after importing. The article only talks about mailboxes in ~/Library/Mail/Mailboxes/, but the same can also be said about mailboxes in “POP-”, “IMAP-”, or “Mac-” account folders.

Switching accounts deleted old inbox and sent mail

I switched internet service providers. In Mail I went to Preferences and deleted the old account. I didn't realize this would cause my old e-mails that were still in the inbox and sentmail to disappear. I see that some attachments that came with old message are now in the trash. Is there a way I can recover the old inbox and sentmail contents?
Thank you.

Before deleting an account in Tiger Mail, the following warning message is provided:
Are you sure you want to remove the (account type here) account “XXXXXXXXXX”?
This will permanently delete the account setup information, mailboxes, and messages from your computer. Copies of messages on the mail server, if they exist, are not affected.
This is usually ignored or not completely understood but is based on the Mail.app filing structure so now the long winded answer for the reason.
Many other email clients utilize a single large database file which is not dependent on individual account and associated mailbox filing. When creating an account in Mail, an account named folder (named by the user name and incoming mail server for the account) is created in the Mail folder at Home > Library > Mail using the Finder. For POP type accounts, the following mailbox (mbox) folders are created within the account named folder when the function is used by the account: INBOX.mbox, Drafts.mbox, Sent Messages.mbox, Deleted Messages.mbox and Junk.mbox (when Junk mail is set to automatic). The mbox folders within the account named folder represent the account named mailboxes under In, Drafts, Sent, Trash and Junk (when Junk mail is set to automatic) in the Mail.app mailboxes drawer.
When deleting an account in Mail, the account named folder at Home > Library > Mail is deleted at that time and as the warning message indicates, the associated account mailboxes within the account named folder are also deleted. You must select OK after the warning message appears.
It would be preferable for the account named folder to be moved to the hard drive Trash can which requires an additional step to delete but this is not what occurs.
To have any hope of recovering your data, you need to immediately stop using your system and then purchase a copy of a recovery tool such as Tech Tool Pro (Micromat), Data Rescue (Prosoft Engineering) or FileSalvage (subrosasoft) which have data recovery tools. I've used FileSalvage with good results.
http://subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftware/index.php?mainpage=product_info&productsid=1
The chances generally aren't really good even so, but short of sending your drive to a data recovery service (expensive), such utilities are your only hope.
Note that the more you use your system before you attempt recovery, the more likely it is that the system will overwrite the sections of the drive where the data you want to recover is stored, rendering it unrecoverable by any means. You should therefore stop using the system completely until you get and try to use one of the file recovery tools.
This also emphasizes the importance of maintaining a regular backup of the Mail folder and other important data.

Mac Mail Inbox and Sent folders empty after recreating my identity

Recently my ISP mail server may have been hacked, as I found that I was spamming my contact list with links to ads. In the course of troubleshooting this and the aftermath, I found myself following a tech support person's advice and deleting my wife's profile, then recreating it from scratch.
When my wife next logged in to her account, she found that "All the mail is gone!
Needless to say, this is my fault. Apparently, deleting the profile made this happen. I looked at the account on the server using the online (web) app that she refuses to look at, and it appears that all her mail is there.
I marked it all as Unread, and tried to re-DL it from the server, but no dice.
I have restarted the app and tried again, restarted the machine and tried again, put it down and walked away, running errands and looked online for answers and still nothing.
Anyone know how to do this? It can't be impossible. It just can't be.

In the Finder, open Home/Library/Mail and locate this POP account folder -- open the account folder, and then open the INBOX.mbox folder. In the Messages folder found within (is there only one) are there numerous xxxxx.emlx files?
Ernie

Z10 automatically loses any e-mail from inbox and sent box immediately after being read or not

Hi Everyone, just need some advice on how to cure my Z10 from losing anything/e-mail in my in-box or sent box (even deleted items)
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hello Victor,
As I suspected, your mail client is likely downloading messages and deleting them from the mail server on which they are stored. When this occurs, the message is also being deleted from your BlackBerry Z10 smartphone.
Set your Microsoft Outlook to leave a copy of the message on the server using the steps in the following article and let us know if this addresses the issue for you: http://www.blackberry.com/btsc/KB12283
-FB
Come follow your BlackBerry Technical Team on Twitter! @BlackBerryHelp
Be sure to click Kudos! for those who have helped you.
Click "Accept as a Solution" for posts that have solved your issue(s)!

Inbox and Sent emails just disappeared

45 minutes ago I went to check my mail on my computer and my inbox is empty! There was mail in it an hour ago, and then it just disappeared. I didn't change or move anything, the inbox was just empty. I then checked my sent box and all my sent emails were there, checked back 5 minutes later and their gone! The emails in my deleted and junk folders are still there. I checked online through icloud.com and Inbox and sent mail are empty there too, as well as my phone.
I say again, I didn't delete, move or change anything in my mail, it was there and then it was gone. Is anyone else having this happen? Where did my mail go?
I am running a intel Mac Pro tower with Lion 10.7.2 and a iphone 4 with IOS 5.1

For two or three days now, I've had to go online and log into www.me.com to check my Apple mail account because ALL the folders in Mail on my iMac were showing empty. When looking at preferences to see if maybe something had gotten messed up there, I "registered" for MobileMe again, even though I'd chosen to "move to the iCloud" a few weeks ago. Suddenly my mail reappeared on my iMac. In Safari I was told I needed to "move to the iCloud" by June 30 (which I'd already done, as mentioned above) so I clicked it again. So far, my mail folders and their contents are showing up on my computer, but who knows how long it will last.
I've also been having problems with my iPod Touch - accessing my mail. I keep getting a message that my password is incorrect, but it's the same password that I've been using to log in online. Weird.

Inbox and Sent messages are gone?

Messages in both inbox and sent messages prior to mid-November of 2011 are gone. I had thousands of messages going back several years, and they're gone. I didn't delete. This is the case for both gmail webmail and for Windows Live. I have no idea what has happened. Is there any way to recover these messages? Thank you

Hi,
Firefox and other browsers can only display the emails. All the content, emails, settings etc. are stored at and received from the remote site/server. If an add-on is being used with Firefox, you can try to check its '''Options''' in '''Tools '''('''Alt '''+ '''T''') > '''Addons''' > '''Extensions'''. Otherwise you may have to check the mail archives in Gmail and Windows Live sites. You can also check the trash/deleted folders in the respective mail sites for any mails that may have been manually deleted within usually 30 days.
[http://support.google.com/mail/?hl=en Gmail Help]
[http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=6576 Gmail Archive]
[http://windowslivehelp.com/ Windows Live Help]
For Thunderbird issues please see [https://getsatisfaction.com/mozilla_messaging/topics/new this].

Mail Inbox and Sent box disappeared

The Inbox and Sent boxes appear empty and do not respond. Trying to move messages from other boxes to the Inbox results in a message saying the box does not exist.
Not able to send or receive mail to the computer. MobileMe works.
Have recovered the last inbox, but cannot move the recovered msgs to the Inbox.
Cannot rebuild the Inbox as that item in the menu is grayed out.
Reindexing the boxes does not solve the issue.
Questions: Is there a fix within the current configuration that does not lose the contents of either box? Would downloading a new Mail app fix the problem and recognize the old mailboxes? If I have to install a new Mail app, where do I get it?
Appreciate any help

all the mail content (but not the headers) in my Inbox and Sent box disappeared.
Setting up the same account twice in Mail is probably what got you into trouble. I suspect Mail simply removed all mailboxes associated with that account without checking to see whether they belonged to the original or the dupe.
Do the disappeared messages from my Inbox, and their attachments, all exist somewhere on my Mac even though I can't see them (I have searched the Library)?
Very unlikely. Try looking in the ~/Library/Mail/ folder (where '~' means "your user folder). See if there are any mailboxes still there that might be appropriate, and try duplicating them to the desktop and then import them into a new mailbox. That's unlikely to work, but you never know.
Is there any utility out there that might help me to find them?
If they're really gone, no. If you have backups, you can restore them from the backup, of course. But without backups, the best you'll be able to do is try a data recovery tool, which is unlikely to give very good results in this case, but would be worth a try if there's no other option.
And what happens to attachments in Mail nowadays, when there seems to be no separate Attachments folder?
Attachments are stored with the message, just like they are sent across the internet as part of the message. They are not automatically decoded and saved as individual files somewhere. That happens when you either open them or tell Mail to save them somewhere.

My ipad mail is synced to my iMac mail account. On iPad, I can only see my inbox and sent messages. I can't see any of the folders I have created on my iMac. How do I do that? Probably a dumb question, but I know there's a lot of smart people out there!

My iPad mail is synced to my private email account, which I organise on my iMac. On iPad, I can only see inbox and sent messages folders, not any of the other folders in my email account I have created on my iMac. How do I get iPad to show my other folders? Probably a dumb question, but I know there's a lot of smart people out there.

If you select a mailbox, you should get an Edit button (easier to see in landscape mode). Clicking the button will provide you with check circles for the messages. You also get Delete and Move buttons at the bottom. Check the messages you want to move and then navigate to the mailbox you want to drop them into. I think as long as you can navigate to a mailbox you can move the messages to it.
In the Mac Mail application and probably Outlook on the Windows side, you also setup rules to move messages to specific mailboxes. If the mailboxes are stored on the server, then you can have the sorting done on the server and they should appear that way on the iPad. If your later messages do not show up, you may need to have the iPad app pulled down more messages until they are all showing.

How do i save all my mail in my inbox and sent box?

hello
i am going to upgrade my OSX to Snow Leopard
how do i save all my mail in my inbox and sent box then restore it when my new OSX is installed?
thanks in advance
tk

It's always good to have a backup, but Snow Leopard should leave all your data intact, just install new OS components & updated Apple Apps.
If you don't have room to back everything up...
On Mail...
First Quit Mail, then I'd backup these two Mail folders, by right clicking on them in the Finder, then choose Archive/Compress.
Users/YourUserName/Library/Mail
Users/YourUserName/Library/Mail Downloads
(Could be a different folder here if you chose such in Mail Prefs)
Right click on that Mail folder, choose archive, you'll get everything in the folder, and the folder itself in a file called Mail.zip, move it to a safe place, same for the Mail Downloads folder... only the plist is separate.
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist
For Address Book, quit AB...
Files...
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.AddressBook.plist
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.AddressBook.abd.plist
Folders...
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Application Support/AddressBook/
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Caches/com.apple.AddressBook/
If you do have room to back everything up...
Get carbon copy cloner to make an exact copy of your old HD to the New one...
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
Or SuperDuper...
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/

I have old QuickMail Pro on my old iMac OS 9. Can Quick Mail's inbox, outbox and sent mail be downloaded onto an external hard drive?

I have QuickMail Pro on my old iMac OS 9. Can Quick Mail's inbox, outbox and sent mail be downloaded onto an external hard drive? If so, how? I tried to drag and drop but that didn't work.

Ok, best to contact itunes then so they can look into it

Inbox and sent mail gone after re-entering account settings in preferences

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