Cannot restore emails using Time Machine on Big Sur

Question

Level 1

9 points

Cannot restore emails using Time Machine on Big Sur

Can anyone recommend a method to restore old emails on a MacBook M1 Air that has had regular Time Machine backups? I can restore ordinary files, but when I open mail and then enter TM, the window only shows Mailboxes but does not contain any emails. The normal TM bars showing the backup dates are visible on the right hand side, but selecting any date does not result in the bar going bright red and the window fanning to the selected date data. Mail has not been excluded from the backups, and the TM backups are purely Big Sur from new. I note in another thread that others had the same issue when Big Sur was introduced, and I assume that if this was a Big Sur failure it would have been fixed by now (I am on 11.5.2). I have not been able to locate the Library/Mail folder in the TM backups that others have recommended for direct recovery access. I have followed as many suggestions that I have been able to find in the Forums (mail rebuilds, restarting, etc) but without success. Unfortunately an email from 6 months ago from a POP server, accidentally deleted weeks ago, has become very important so any advice will be gratefully received.

MacBook Air (2020 or later)

Posted on Sep 17, 2021 7:12 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Luis Sequeira1

Level 9

67,594 points

Sep 17, 2021 7:18 AM in response to kwmacs

It is not difficult to find the folder where your e-mails are.

In Finder, press Command-Shift-G and paste

~/Library/Mail

The V8 folder contains your e-mail.

You could restore the whole folder from backup.

Disclaimer: I have not done it. It should work in theory, but you should make sure to update your Time Machine BEFORE trying this. In case something goes wrong, you may restore the whole thing.

Reply

Answer 2

kwmacs Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 17, 2021 3:45 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

I have followed your instructions and have found the live mail folder (V8), thank you. Progress! I have also used option-Go to access the live Library. My problem is locating this folder in the TM backup. I have opened the dated TM backup folder on the desktop, but whenever I use the ~/Library/Mail it keeps finding and opening the live Mail folder. I have also tried the option-go method, but it too opens up the live folder. Is there a method of getting to this folder in the TM backup? The Library folder in the TM backup does not contain the Mail folder, screenshot below.

Reply

Answer 3

tbirdvet

Level 6

14,483 points

Sep 17, 2021 7:24 AM in response to kwmacs

Email with TM has not worked as in the past starting with Catalina. Like Luis stated you can restore an entire folder (e.g. Sent, etc.) by going into your library/mail/V directory and looking for the folder. I have done this successfully by exporting to the desk top then in mail importing back from the desktop. Very difficult to retrieve a specific email so the whole folder is required. I now use a program called MailBackupX to ensure I always can find an email if needed.

Reply

Answer 4

kwmacs Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 17, 2021 7:48 AM in response to tbirdvet

Thank you for your help; I am happy to restore all the emails to find the important one. Using the instructions from Luis I have located the mail folder on my Air bur still cannot find it in the TM backups. The only Library folders I can find there is one on the root level and one in the System folder, and neither contain the Mail subfolder. Is it possible that the TM backup has missed the mail folder?

Reply

Answer 5

tbirdvet

Level 6

14,483 points

Sep 17, 2021 4:35 PM in response to kwmacs

Try this:

Open TM

press shift-command-g

This should now show ~/library/mail/V2/ or something like that

click "go"

then this should show a directory and look for the V(V8) folder and expand. Your email folders should be in there. They may be in the folders that have various scripts/numbers which have to be opened to find the email folders

Reply

Answer 6

kwmacs Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 17, 2021 7:09 PM in response to tbirdvet

Thank you, Luis and tbirdvet. I have struggled with this issue but finally found a way to recover my email. I finally understood how to find the TM Library Mail folder and confirmed the backup did indeed copy the emails. As I am not an advanced user, I could not find a way to recover the file. Finding and selecting the folder within TM, then asking TM to recover it, did not work. I copied the folder to my desktop and tried numerous ways to see if I could get mail to read the folder, including ditching the live Mail and replacing it with the TM copy, plus various attempts to import the mbox files. With the knowledge that the backup did contain the emails (thanks again!) I backed up the Air with SuperDuper (trustworthy!) and used Migration Assistant to completely repopulate the Air with the TM backup from the appropriate date. I found the email, exported it, and rebuilt the Mac from the SuperDuper backup, finally importing the required email. All very frustrating but at least successful. I have appreciated your support - it helped immensly.

Reply