(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?

Similar Messages

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.

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??

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.

Apple Mail smart mailboxes no longer work

Well, the subject says it all.
I am running Mail 7.3 under Mac OS X 10.9.5 and have 8 smart mailboxes set up. However, as of this morning, none of them are displaying any emails, along with all the VIPs. However, all other folders etc are working normally.
Any suggestions anyone?
Joe.

Ok, so I was right about the Combo updater - wouldn't install on my system.
So I tried all your other suggestions (well, except for installing Yosemite) and no go, although I'm not sure that resetting my file and folder permissions worked properly (I waited 15 mins and still didn't get the 'reset' button back again, so I just continued on with the rest of the steps).
Here is my Etrecheck results:
EtreCheck version: 2.1.8 (121)
Report generated 23 March 2015 9:59:21 pm AEST
Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck
Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.
Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.
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        BANK 0/DIMM1
            4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
        BANK 1/DIMM1
            2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
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    Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
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    Mar 23, 2015, 09:47:31 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/com.netputing.handyPrintProDaemon_2015-03-23-21 4731_[redacted].crash
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Anyway, I'm gonna try the whole reset of my files and folders again and leave it a lot longer this time and see what happens.
Joe.
PS. Thanks again for all your help!

How do I transfer old mail & smart mailboxes from old iMac to Macboook Pro?

Hello. I just got my new Macbook Pro with Mac OSX version 10.5.2. I set up my mail account on the computers mac's mail application but I am having trouble transferring my old mail and smart mailboxes from my old computer (iMac with version 10.4.11). I transfered over everything in the "Mail" folder in the "Library", but my old mail and smart mailboxes with that mail are not showing up on my new computer. Any advice of how to do this please!?

Hi raenn, and a warm welcome to the forums!
The easiest way is to either network the 2 Macs, or use FW Target Mode on the older one..
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583
Then use Migration Assistant in Applications>Utilities to import all that.

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).

Using Mail smart mailboxes

I know this sounds a bit silly, but how do I save messages to my smart mailboxes (an idiots guide would be helpfull)
Thank you in advance

Hi Stephen
You can't actually save messages in a Smart Mailbox.
Think of a Smart Mailbox as a view (or a filter) of all of your emails, ie your Sent, Inbox, Drafts, Trash, Junk etc.
When you create a Smart Mailbox you set up the filters or criteria that you want to use to screen all of your mail and the emails meeting those criteria "show up" in the Smart Mailbox.
as an example I have set one up with your name
the parameters set would show all the email that either come from "[email protected]" or have the phrase "Smart Mailboxes" in the Subject line.
You can add as many "rules" as you like using the + sign (or remove them ising the - sign) so the filters can be very specific.
Remember the drop down on the second line "Any" or "All" if you set "All" the email would have to have to match all of the parameters.
The example above would show all emails from [email protected] as well as any emails (from anyone) with the phrase "Smart Mailboxes" in the Subject line. If you chose "All" it would only show the emails from [email protected] with "Smart Mailboxes" in the Subject line.
Hope that helps

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.

OSX 10.9.2 mail smart mailbox no longer work.

I have 4 smartmailboxes, unread, Today, This Week & Last Week.
They have been working fine until today. Now they remain empty no matter what.
I have : deleted and recreated the smart mailboxes
             deleted and recreated the email accounts - one by one (there is an iCloud account + an Exchnage account)
              created a new user and setup both accounts individually, each time creating new smartmailboxes
              deleted the accounts and tried an alternative iCloud account, again creating a new smartmailbox
Nothing I do gets the smartmailboxes to function. They remain empty no matter what I do.
OS X 10.9.2 (13C64)
Mail Version 7.2 (1874)
Mac Mini 5,2 8 i7 , 8 gig   Boot= 240gig SSD 103gig free 2nd drive = 480 gig SSD 300gig free

Java SE Runtime Environment 7 1.7.0_51

Need Help with Mail Smart Mailboxes

I'm just getting started with Smart Mailboxes and seem to be stuck on a key feature. Once I've set up the criteria for the mailbox and the incoming mail goes into the Smart Mailbox, how can I delete it from my inbox without losing it in the Smart Mailbox? Am I missing something here with the concept? I'm tired of moving mail into specific mailboxes and thought this might be the solution but now I'm not sure. Anyone have any suggestions on this?

A Smart Mailbox is just a search. Messages are not "in" the Smart Mailbox, it is a list of messages that satisfy the search criteria. The messages must reside elsewhere.
If you want to automatically move messages to regular mailboxes, use Rules, rather than Smart Mailboxes.

Mail hangs , mailboxes disappear

My mail has been hanging up several times a day. The mailboxes disappear and the application hangs. When I force quit it comes back as good as new until the next time it hangs. I noticed this happening before with the mobileme sync. I turned that off and it seemed to solve the problem but now it has returned and mobileme is not set to sync. Any ideas?

You may have to reimport the mailboxes. Try this
1. Go to ~/Library/Preferences, and trash the com.apple.mail.plist. (don't empty the trash yet). Restart.
2. Restart Mail, and Import From Mailboxes. Navigate to the ~/Library/Mail folder, and look for your accounts. They will start with "POP" or "IMAP". Import each one. Move the mailboxes out from the "Imported" folder.

Apple Mail SMART Mailboxes

I am looking for a way to more effectively use SMART Mailboxes.
I send many emails to about 20 different recipients and would like a way to more easily track both sent messages to each recipient and received messages from each recipient. This includes messages that the recipient as been copied on from other contacts. I cannot figure it out. It is almost as if SMART mailboxes need and "and"/"or" option.
Please help!

Why not mark each person as a VIP? Then you get a VIP mailbox for them that will show you messages you have sent to them as well as those received from them.

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.

How do I include sub-folders in a Smart Mailbox?

I've set up a Smart Mailbox using the following rules (ALL) :
1. Message is in Mailbox XXXX
2. Subject contains YYYY
3. Contains attachments
But only 3 messages were found! I then realised that although I carefully selected a high-level mailbox (XXXX), it hasn't looked in the large and very complex set of sub-folders.
Obviously, I don't want a smart mailbox for every sub-folder below XXXX. How do I force a Mail Smart Mailbox to look not only in a selected mailbox, but all its sub-folders too?

Never mind. I worked it out for myself.
Step 1. I created a new Smart Mailbox for any messages in mailbox XXXX, and all its lower level sub-folders, using the Match ANY rule.
Message is in Mailbox XXXX
Message is in Mailbox XXXX-AA
Message is in Mailbox XXXX-BB
Message is in Mailbox XXXX-BB-1
(etc)
Step 2. I then recreated the original Smart Mailbox (OP), but this time I stipulated
1. Message is in Mailbox (new Smart Mailbox). Rules 2 and 3 were unchanged.
It meant I had to create two Smart Mailboxes instead of one, and cost me ten minutes extra work, but it works. That's the main thing.

(Mail) Smart mailboxes disappeared

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