Archived messages in Apple Mail desktop app reappear in inbox

Question

Archived messages in Apple Mail desktop app reappear in inbox

update to this longstanding issue I'm having with a fresh post and more appropriate title.

In the past, with Gmail and OSX Mail, deleting an email would result in that message being removed from the inbox and living in the All Mail folder (as it was essentially archived). This was wonderful and worked as intended.

Sadly, ever since Catalina all archived or deleted messages in Apple Mail desktop app reappear in my inbox. It's as if the archive and or delete command isn't hitting the server or something. Even though they are removed momentarily from the inbox, they will re-appear after a refresh. [this does not happen when deleting on IOS].

The only workaround I've found thus far is to change the "trash" mailbox from "none" and instead select my local trash, but while this does remove messages from the inbox, it also removes them from all mail and isn't optimal.

Current settings below.

Any help would be absolutely incredible.

Thank you in advance!

Posted on Jun 2, 2020 3:22 PM

Reply

Answer 1

i_rina

Community Specialist

Jun 4, 2020 6:50 AM in response to Evan Taubenfeld

Hi Evan Taubenfeld,

I understand your deleted emails are reappearing in your inbox unexpectedly.

Thank you for providing screenshots for clarity.

I would recommend you rebuild your mailboxes. You can learn how to do so here: Rebuild mailboxes in Mail on Mac.

If the issue persists, I would recommend removing the mail account from your Mac and re-adding it. You can learn how to do so here: Use your internet accounts on Mac.

Hope this helps! Feel free to write back if you require further assistance.

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

Cheers!

Reply

Answer 2

brenden dv

Community Specialist

Jun 4, 2020 7:45 AM in response to Evan Taubenfeld

Hello again Evan Taubenfeld,

As this issue persists, I recommend booting your device in Safe Mode to test. You can learn how to do so here: How to use safe mode on your Mac.

If the issue persists, the next step would be to test in a new User Account. You can learn how to do so here: How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac.

If you continue to have the issue, I recommend you ensure you have a backup of your data, then reinstall macOS. You can learn how to do so here: How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery.

Thanks again!

Reply

Answer 3

MoonJ.

Community Specialist

Jun 4, 2020 1:32 PM in response to Evan Taubenfeld

Hi Evan Taubenfeld,

As the issue was temporarily resolved in Safe Mode, there may be a startup process that is conflicting with Mail.

At this point, I would recommend reinstalling macOS. You can learn how to do so here: How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery.

If you have a Time Machine backup, refrain from restoring it completely. Instead, I would encourage you manually copy over the data you need. I understand this can be a lengthy process, though it is the best way to ensure you rectify the issue.

Thanks again.

Reply

Answer 4

Jun 4, 2020 7:37 AM in response to i_rina

Thanks Less

i have indeed rebuilt the mailbox many times to no avail. I’ve also tried removing and re-adding which sadly also did not help. The behavior is the same on both of my MacBook pros.

any more help would be awesome !!

Reply

Answer 5

Jun 4, 2020 12:07 PM in response to brenden dv

quick update, removed ALL gmail accounts (I had three) and booted into safe mode.

re-added one account and all seemed to be working well. I was ecstatic. archived/deleted messages disappeared and did not return!

10 minutes later I re-added the second and third gmail accounts and then sadly all went haywire again and archived messages are now appearing back in the inbox for ALL accounts (not just the 2nd and 3rd gmail).

I've also got a slew of recovered messages folders now totaling nearly 3000 messages.

Any additional tips would be incredible.

Reply