Lost my Mailbox

Help. Just started a new job, brought home my mac and changed something where now when I click on mail I get the screen to set up an account. Not very savvy here, obviously. Would rather fix this before going back to work tomorrow... Please help.

Welcome To  Discussions Billy!
"...changed something where now when I click on mail I get the screen to set up an account."
Do you have any idea of what you may have changed?
Is Mail the only thing that was affected, or have other things disappeared as well?
If other settings and applications are also different, then you may have changed the Short Name on your Home account.
If that is the case, then the info in one or more of the articles linked to below, May be helpful.
Recover from renaming your Home folder, authored by Dr Smoke
My home folder and desktop are different than before
Return to Default Desktop, Apparent "Loss" of Home Directory
ali b

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Lost my mailboxes

I was trying to fix a problem on my dad's powerbook and I have completely lost his mailboxes (I am in trouble). He was having problems with his password not being saved on his pop account. To fix it I followed Apple instructions and deleted his account and set up a new account (instructions said I would not loose emails). When the new account was set up, the old mailboxes were gone, and even when I went to the user>library>Mail>etc and tried to import what was there, there was nothing to import. Blank boxes. Any ideas on how to restore the old boxes? I have not emptied the trash or done anything else.
thanks to all
Luca
PB titanium 667mhz 512mb os x 10.4.8

Hi Allan.
Which instructions are you referring to that indicate messages will
not be lost when deleting an email account with the Mail application?
There is an article in Mail Help titled “My password is not saved” that says this:
If your password still isn't being saved, choose Mail > Preferences and click Accounts. Delete the mail account that is not saving your password. Add the account again, using the correct settings. You will lose account-specific settings, but not messages. Your messages will be downloaded again from the server. If you have a slow connection, this could take awhile. To test this, send a message to yourself.I always warn users about this article when troubleshooting password issues. Months ago, I reported to Apple that this part of the article was utterly wrong and could lead to irretrievable data loss, but it’s still there. Interestingly enough, the same article in Mail 1.x’s Help did at least give the impression that that part of the article was meant for IMAP or .Mac accounts only, but the reference to those account types was removed from Mail 2.x’s Help. Go figure!
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=151532
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mail/2.0/en/ml1047.html

LOST EAMIL MAILBOXES AND INFORMATION

Yesterday I accidently disconnected my computer from the electrical power point. I reconnected and found I had lost my entire saved email and mailboxes on the left hand side of the page. I had a lot of valuable reference information stored there as I run a business and keep all my clients info in the email "mail boxes." This is not the first time I have had this problem. Is there anyway I can restore this lost information and is there anyway I can prevent a "disaster" like this happening again. I am not very clued up on Computer Jargon and systems other than how to operate and store emails etc.
Many thanks
Kay Brooks

and is there anyway I can prevent a "disaster" like this happening again
If you use MobileMe and have syncing turned on, all of your Contacts and Calendar data will be backed up on the Apple Servers.
If you use dot Mac or MobileMe, your email is already backed up on the Apple Servers. Make sure that your subfolders (mailboxes) are set on on ME, (not "On my Mac"). Then all of the data in the folders are copied on the Mail Server. So you not only have a back up, you also have access to those mail box folders from any internet connected computer!
Pretty cool, huh?
(Of course, many other mail services also maintain the subfolders on the service's servers. Read the instructions for your email provider to figure out how to put your subfolders on the server rather than on your local machine.)
(jk)

Mail quit and I lost 1 mailboxes

Hello,
Mail quit on me last nite, and it asked me if I wanted to keep old settings, or use new settings ( I clicked new, cuz it kept doing this 3-4 time in past couple of days, so I thought it would correct the problem) and it re launched but one of my mailbox was gone. I had ovr 600 e-mail combined between the .mac and Gmail acount. Now I'm down to 80 with the .mac account only. Where did my Gmail account go?
I had a .mac and Gmail mailbox and the gmail account has disapeared.
Where can I get that mailbox back with all it's content?
if it's lost forever, I had just created a clone of this HD yesterday, so all the content of those 2 mailboxes should be in the clone HD, but what do I look for and how do I import it back in this copy of Mail on my internal HD?
Michel

Hi Michel,
Was gMail POP3 or IMAP?
Search you drive for .emlx files to see if they are any there.
Not certain, but this can fix myriad Mail problems...
Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), it will try to repair your Disk Directory while the spinning radian is happening, so let it go, run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, then move these folder & file to the Desktop.
Move this Folder to the Desktop...
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Caches/Mail/
Move this file to the Desktop...
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Mail/Envelope Index
Reboot.

Mac Mail has lost my mailboxes!

I created three mailboxes to file some of my e-mails under "On My Mac", and now two of them have disappeared. I think it happened inadvertently when I tried to delete the Yahoo inbox (which I've since learned how to do correctly). The odd thing is that the mailboxes show as existing when I try to create a new mailbox. And if I try to create a new one with the same name I'm told that the mailbox already exists. So why can't I see it?

If you are running OS 10.5 then post here:
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1223
If OS 10.6 post here:
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1338

Mail and 10.4.5 upgards LOST entile mailbox

I just upgraded to OS 10.4.5 from 10.3.9
when i opened my mail app for the first time
I expected everything to go fine. The mail mailbox imported alright as did the sent mail archive (as near as I can tell)
but my past mail archive was dumped... I get the subject line but the e-mail contents request that I "download again from the server"
that's not quite do-able as some of the messages are 3+ years old.
when quit mail and reopened the mailbox all the subject lines for that archived mail were now gone.
Any ideas on how to recover?
I've looked in the library file and saved what I could from the archive (a gig of data) but the mail doesn't seem to want to take it.
System: quicksilver G4 DP 533 a gig of RAM
moving from OS 10.3.9 -> 10.4.3 > 10.4.5
alltheflavors Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Hello,
If you check the Discussions, you will find numerous topics about this message. It is caused by incomplete conversion of the mailbox structure from pre-Tiger to Tiger basis. It is also caused by leftover files from the Panther mailboxes.
Since your mailboxes originated in Panther, I want you to read the article at the link below, and perhaps get back to me with some observations, before attempting any changes:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301315
This issue of leftover files applies not only to mailboxes you have previously created (which are in the Mailboxes folder the article mentioned) but can also apply to those mailboxes in account folders created prior to the upgrade to Tiger.
Also, please report the size of each file or folder. Do not, however, try to list the files that are within the folder named Messages, that is found in each and every mailbox. It is very important to compare the size of any file named "mbox" with that of the Messages folder. If the mbox is greater in size than the Messages folder, then not all messages have been converted to be in the Messages folder.
The path to the Mail folder is Home/Library/Mail -- within the Mail folder are one or more account folders and the Mailboxes folder.
It might be best to post about what you find and observer, since several different situations can result.
Ernie

OS X Mail not showing Archive mailbox (and lost Flagged mailbox)

Recently I notice the Archive mailbox in Apple Mail has dissappeared. I can find messages in that mailbox using Searchlight if I know the exact contents of the message or subject but I use this mailbox to store application licenses, etc., and do not always know the right subject. I used to browse, knowing roughly the time when I bought the licese. Also the Flagged mailbox is grayed out in the favorites line and not shown in the left hand mailbox side bar.Also a pain because I set reminder messages and conference call emails with colored flags.
Any help?

Next to the On My Mac there is a hide function. Did you select it? If you go to the same place, see if there is a Show function.

Lion Mail lost Smart Mailboxes after reboot! Any hints?

Hello,
i created several SmartMailBoxes in Apple Mail.
After reboot they are gone.
~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData rights are correct (644 for owner and grp staff)
And no messages at the console.
System: MBA 2011 with 10.7.3 and an exchange and MobileMe account.
Any hints?

Are they gone or just hidden? Place your cursor on the Smart Mailbox title in the sidebar and text should appear to show mailboxes if this is the case.

More dissapearing mailboxes - 10.4 migration "lost" local mailbox

I recently got a new iBook running 10.4, and transferred my old user account across (from a 10.3 system). I had all the IMAP stuff come across OK, but I also had a local mailbox, called Archive, with an archive dating back to 2001. Mail now thinks that's an IMAP mailbox which isn't in sync with the server (You need to take this account online in order to download it blah blah). All the messages are listed, but unopenable. In ~/Libarary/Mail/Mailboxes I have a folder called Archive.mbox, which is about 800M. About half of that is an mbox file. So the data is there. How do I get this new version of mail to recognise it as a local mailbox and not an IMAP one?
iBook 1.3Mhz Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Tiger Mail doesn't think the Archive mailbox is an IMAP mailbox stored on the server. This error message indicates an "overstuffed" mailbox issue that was brought over from Panther Mail or brought to the surface with the mailbox conversion process to Tiger Mail.
Did you create a backup copy of the Panther Mail folder at Home > Library > Mail before upgrading to Tiger?
If not, try the following.
Quit Mail first and using the Finder, go to Home > Library > Mail > Mailboxes > Archive.mbox. Copy the Archive.mbox folder and place the copy on the Desktop for backup purposes.
Within the original Archive.mbox folder at Home > Library > Mail > Mailboxes, delete all files/folders except for the Info.plist file and the Messages folder. The mbox file and any other files/folders within the Archive.mbox folder are left over from the mailbox conversion process to Tiger Mail. These are no longer required by Tiger Mail and are not deleted after the conversion process is completed.
Launch Mail and select the Archive mailbox in the drawer. At the menu bar, go to Mail and select Rebuild.

Lost my mailboxes, and then...

This morning, after Mail started, I got a message, did I want to update Mail. I said yes, and when Mail reappeared, all of my mailboxes were gone except .mac.
The mailboxes are still,hopefully intact, in Library/Mail. I copied the whole folder and put the copy on my desktop, then I backed everything up.
Then, I used Onyx, which detected a disk error. I tried to start up from my Tiger Install disk, but it would not start up from the disk (holding C down), nor did it show the disk as an option when I went to the Start-up disk preference. (when I clicked on Install, it told me it couldn't be used on this machine!) The TechTool disk was the same story.
So, two questions:
How do I correct the disk error, and why can't I start upfrom a disk;
and , How do I retrieve my mailboxes in Mail?
How do I

Bring the Mail browser window forward, then enter Time Machine. Scroll back in the time-travel view to the most recent snapshot containing the messages you want to restore. Select the messages, then click Restore. The messages will be restored to a new mailbox. From there you can move them wherever you like.

Has iSync Lost My Mailboxes and E-Messages?

After iSync-ing my Mail (OS10.3.9) account on my old iBook to the Mail (OS 10.4.2) account on my new PowerBook, it seems to have transfered only those files that were in my Inbox and the Trash container. All of my personalized mailboxes are missing in the PowerBook's Mail account, along with all the e-messages therein.
How can I successfully transfer my original mailboxes and the files inside them to my new PowerBook?
PowerBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.2)

(I enetered an answer minutes ago!)

Lost email mailboxes on iPhone

My iPone 5c suddenly stopped connecting to my email server, and all of my messages in my inbox disappeared as well as the sent items mail box. Reloading the email account settings fixed the connection problem, but the messages are still missing. Any tricks for recovering them or are they gone forever?

You might have to check on the webmail version of your email account to see if they've in an 'all mail' folder or another folder.

Missing mailbox and time machine

Somehow I lost a mailbox from Mail. No problem I thought, I've got time machine. So I go to the Mail folder in my library then to the mailbox and start Time Machine. I highlight the mail box and ask time Machine to restore. What I get when I open Mail is an empty mailbox folder.
Since the mailbox was more important than my recent mail, I opened applications and restarted Time Machine. I went back a couple of days until my mailbox was present and asked Time Machine to restore the Mail program. It did but still with an empty mailbox folder for my missing mailbox.
So I tried again with Time Machine and actually opened my missing mailbox where I could see all the e-mail and open individual letters. It was there. I highlighted the email and Time Machine said click restore. I did and I don't think anything happened. At least my mailbox folder was still empty when I opened Mail.
Is there any way to restore a missing mailbox with Time Machine?

Actually I must have done something right. If I searched Mail for an email address I knew was in my missing mailbox, it could find it and actually open the letter, but it didn't tell me where it was.
In looking under the mailbox menu down at the bottom it says "rebuild." So I opened my empty mailbox and clicked on rebuild. Like magic, my mail reappeared.

E72 screws up mailboxes

Adjusting a setting in Email on my E72 relating to Ovi Mail, my two non-Nokia mailboxes disappeared from the standby screen and apparently from the phone altogether.
The phone told me it couldn't set up the mail addresses I've lost, both of which I have used on the phone for over a year.
I had backed up the phone to the memory card a week ago, specifically because it was working 100% for the first time in ages.
So I backed up my messages, calendar items and contacts to my PC using PCSuite, restored the week-old memory-card backup and apparently got my e-mail accounts back. Then, when I restored the items from PCSuite I got eight-month old messages and lost my mailboxes again.
Any ideas why this kind of tomfoolery has to happen with this phone, which has also managed to combine e.g. my brother's UK cell number and the number of a hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark.
What is the use of a backup if it just screws up the phone again??
Less than two weeks ago I was advised to use PCSuite instead of Ovo Suite because my contacts got completely messed up, with some getting quitrupled and 50 % of them at least doubled up.
As the saying goes: This is getting silly!
hughm_nyksj_dk

I have just repeated the above - to me pretty darned logical - procedure. How can a backup of messages taken today and then put back on the phone the same day, give me messages that were not on the phone when the backup was made (they're from February)???
How do both Ovi Suite and PC Suite mess people about so badly???
I need a fix for this and Hard Reboot isd not in the equation - I am done reinstalling all my software every other week. My time costs me money and spending it on a phone that should function better than this keeps people waiting.
hughm_nyksj_dk

Missing Smart Mailboxes

I updated to OS X Lion and now I can't find all of my previously created Smart mailboxes. Am I missing something?

I upgraded to mountain lion today, lost some mailboxes, the searching and wonder ended with clicking
"on my mac" some boxes I'd even forgot. Thank-You pixel princess,

Lost my Mailbox

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