No mail in Time Machine

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Level 1

52 points

No mail in Time Machine

I accidentally deleted a mailbox, as I have Time Machine I thought I could just go in and retrieve the previous days folders. However, Time machine would not open in mail. When I selected previous back up dates there was no mail folder in library. I tried selecting USERS - this brought up mail but really old folders none of my current email was listed anywhere.

If I am in MAIL and click on enter time machine - should it not open up previous mail?

Is there something that should be configured in Time Machine to ensure it captures mail, and if so how do I do that. I am using LaCie as an external hard drive for backups.

I am not even sure how to check that the backups it is running are actually backing anything up ??

Help please.

iMac 24″, macOS 12.1

Posted on Mar 23, 2022 9:06 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Ali M Author

Level 1

52 points

Mar 23, 2022 11:52 PM in response to Ali M

I think I have it - I have to restore each folder individually and they email show up as IMPORT on MAC mail. I then create a new mailbox and drag them in. A bit time consuming but seems to be doing the trick. THANK YOU.

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Answer 2

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,682 points

Mar 23, 2022 10:50 PM in response to Ali M

Okay, please do this:

Open a Finder Window
Go to the Menus - Go - Go to Folder and paste ~/library/mail
You will see a folder called V9 please select it.
Enter Time Machine, you can do this from the menu in the upper right of the display and select the Time Machine icon and click Enter Time Machine.
In Time Machine navigate back to a time when you know the message existed and restore V9.

That should help you restore the e-mail.

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Answer 3

Ali M Author

Level 1

52 points

Mar 23, 2022 10:27 PM in response to rkaufmann87

I tried the option to go via Finder - then Go - Go to Folder

But it just brings up the options in the attached image. If I try to type Mail in place of Caches nothing happens. There is no option to type anything else ?

Tried opening Finder, then Enter Time Machine as the page suggested however once in Time Machine there is no option to select Go as there is no top menu bar?

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Answer 4

Ali M Author

Level 1

52 points

Mar 23, 2022 9:57 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Im not sure that is addressing the issue of the time machine back up not accessing mail though? When I go into time machine back ups from mail it is supposed to open backed up mail but it just goes straight to Finder?

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Answer 5

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,682 points

Mar 23, 2022 10:06 PM in response to Ali M

You are incorrect thinking Time Machine will go directly to mail to restore lost mail. Please read the article and you will see the method to use in Big Sur, Monterey and likely future versions of Time Machine.

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Answer 6

Ali M Author

Level 1

52 points

Mar 23, 2022 11:04 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Hi - I did that but the missing folder is still missing. In fact the email looks like it did after I made the changes this wrong, it has not restored to the way it was yesterday

I have now found the folder and restored it. It is in the V9 folder - how do I get it from there to mail..

Thanks for this, we may be getting somewhere

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