Smart Mailboxes disappeared after Upgrade to Version 11.5.1 (20G80)

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9 points

Smart Mailboxes disappeared after Upgrade to Version 11.5.1 (20G80)

Hi all, I just realized that all of my Smart Mailboxes suddenly disappeared, I use the to keep my workflow organized.

Researched a bit and found a reference to the file "Users/<me>/Library/Mail/V8/Maildata/SmartMailboxesLocalProperties.plist" as the one storing all Smart Mailbox properties. It was down to 512 bytes.

I Quit Mail, restored the original file from TimeMachine (size 15kb) but when restarting Mail, same situation. File was replaced again by a new one (512 bytes) and empty.

I compared both files, same header.

I quit Mail, restored again a copy, copy/pasted the plist entries in the "new" file, restarted Mail, the copy/pasted entries were still there but my Smart Mailboxes were still gone ....

This is very annoying and is heavily impacting my work efficiency.

Any help or advice would be very appreciated.

Posted on Aug 17, 2021 4:09 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 18, 2021 6:04 AM in response to domenico140

Hello domenico140,

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities!

We understand from your post that your Smart Mailboxes have disappeared and restoring them from a Time Machine backup did not resolve the issue. If you use have used iCloud Drive, make sure it is still enabled.

Use Smart Mailboxes in Mail on Mac - Apple Support

"If you use iCloud Drive, your Smart Mailboxes are available on your other Mac computers that have iCloud Drive turned on and Mail selected in iCloud Drive options. See Use iCloud Drive to store documents."

Best Regards.

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Answer 2

Aug 19, 2021 10:54 AM in response to domenico140

domenico140,

Since restoring from a Time Machine backup and enabling iCloud Drive did not resolve the issue, you may need to Contact Apple Support for additional assistance.

Regards.

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Answer 3

domenico140 Author

Level 1

9 points

Aug 19, 2021 5:20 AM in response to Alwayswantingtohelp1

Hello Alwayswantingtohelp1,

many thanks for your reply and support, much appreciated.

Unfortunately your suggested approach did not resolve the issue. iCloud is active on all devices.

My other device Macbook Mail, (still) running Big Sur 11.4 (20F71) had exactly the same status. Smart Mailboxes disappeared, so apparently it took over via iCloud the settings of my main device.

I tried to do the same, by pasting the SmartMailboxesLocalProperties.plist file but it was replaced by an empty one.

I also tried to replace it on the Macbook after disabling the iCloud mail sync with the same result.

I think that one of those recent updates changed something in the data structure so that the related plist file cannot be interpreted anymore ...

In case I can't find a solution, I might try to go back to my older iMac running Sierra, untouched since the migration to the new iMac, so that might be my last chance to access the SmartMailboxes.

Best regards and thanks in advance for any additional insight :)

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Smart Mailboxes disappeared after Upgrade to Version 11.5.1 (20G80)

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