“Days to Sync” gone. Deleting mail instead

Upon attempting to look up an email I couldn’t find but knew was surely there, I noticed the search wouldn’t extend past a few weeks. I tried looking for the sync option in the mail settings without luck. With some digging discovered that ALL EMAILS BETWEEN 5/4-5/24 and 5/26-7/22 ARE PERMANENTLY DELETED?! Trash folder empty.

Frustrated and confused, unsure whether to upgrade my 14.6 software to the new 14.7.1 in fear I won’t be able to recover them.

any ideas, answers, or solutions are welcome.

Posted on Aug 4, 2021 10:14 PM

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Posted on Aug 4, 2021 10:18 PM

This is nothing to do with an iOS update.


Where were your email accounts that you had Google, iCloud, AOL, Exchange, Outlook, Yahoo or any Other. Log into the account using a web browser.


It does sync automatically. If you added IMAP email accounts, iOS mail app does add IMAP by default.


When you set up an email address in an email client, you will need to decide if you want to set it up as POP3 or IMAP. Both of them are ways to connect to the mail server so you can read your emails through an email client.

  • IMAP is short for Internet Message Access Protocol. With IMAP, the message does not remain on the local device, such as a computer, it remains on the server.
  • POP3 is short for Post Office Protocol. With POP3 mail, it will connect and attempt to keep the mail located on the local device (computer or mobile).


Pop3 vs. IMAP: Which is better?

  • IMAP is better if you are going to be accessing your email from multiple devices, such as a work computer and a smart phone.
  • POP3 works better if you are only using one device, but have a very large number of emails. It is also better if you have a poor internet connection and need to access your emails offline. For most people, IMAP will suit their needs better.


Note: If emails start disappearing from your inbox without you deleting them, it almost always means one of your devices is on POP3. Backing up the emails and then resetting up the email account as IMAP will fix the problem.




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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 4, 2021 10:18 PM in response to akanataliea

This is nothing to do with an iOS update.


Where were your email accounts that you had Google, iCloud, AOL, Exchange, Outlook, Yahoo or any Other. Log into the account using a web browser.


It does sync automatically. If you added IMAP email accounts, iOS mail app does add IMAP by default.


When you set up an email address in an email client, you will need to decide if you want to set it up as POP3 or IMAP. Both of them are ways to connect to the mail server so you can read your emails through an email client.

  • IMAP is short for Internet Message Access Protocol. With IMAP, the message does not remain on the local device, such as a computer, it remains on the server.
  • POP3 is short for Post Office Protocol. With POP3 mail, it will connect and attempt to keep the mail located on the local device (computer or mobile).


Pop3 vs. IMAP: Which is better?

  • IMAP is better if you are going to be accessing your email from multiple devices, such as a work computer and a smart phone.
  • POP3 works better if you are only using one device, but have a very large number of emails. It is also better if you have a poor internet connection and need to access your emails offline. For most people, IMAP will suit their needs better.


Note: If emails start disappearing from your inbox without you deleting them, it almost always means one of your devices is on POP3. Backing up the emails and then resetting up the email account as IMAP will fix the problem.




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“Days to Sync” gone. Deleting mail instead

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