Mail smart mailboxes disappeared

Hello gvsteve,

It sounds as though the smart mailboxes within the Mail application are not appearing. You're in the right place to seek a solution, I'd be happy to assist!

Let's start with some basic steps to see if the smart mailboxes have become hidden, below is a resource that can help:

Use the sidebar or Favorites bar in Mail on Mac

When toggling the view options for the sidebar in the Mail app, do the smart mailboxes appear?

I hope this helps,

Cheers!

gvsteve,

Thank you for replying back with the updated information around what steps you've taken to resolve the issue.

Rebuilding a mailbox can resolve issues related to Smart Mailboxes, below is a resource that can help:

Rebuild mailboxes in Mail on Mac

Please note, when you rebuild mailboxes for IMAP or Exchange accounts, messages and attachments stored on your Mac are discarded, and then downloaded again from the mail server to your Mac. Your mailbox appears empty until the download is complete.

Before proceeding, you can create a backup which would be able to save the data and settings for the mail application. Here is a resource below that can help with backing up:

Back up your Mac with Time Machine

Have a great day!

gvsteve,

Thanks for the update!

If you previously used Time Machine to create a backup, you can restore your files from that backup or a local snapshot on your startup disk. Here is a resource for Time Machine below:

Restore your Mac from a backup

As you're looking to restore specific files, below is a resource that can help with that:

Use Time Machine to restore deleted files or older files

Cheers!

gvsteve,

Thank you for the updated information!

In this case, if you need further assistance feel free to reach out to Apple Support! Here is a resource to get started with Apple Support below:

Contact Apple Support

Have a great day!