Mac Mail App does not save new smart mail boxes, brings back deleted ones, and simply does not work

The only solution to this replicable bug is, disable "mail" in "iCloud Drive" > Options.

Create, rename, delete and edit your smart (lol, this is ironic. lets call them "unintelligent" mailboxes).

This will work just fine.

Now, it seems after that you can re-enable the option, however doing so will make the bug come back, so while all your changes will persist, you won't be able to do further changes without first disabling the option again.

Hope Apple sees this and the hundreds of others who complain this issue, and the relatively simple solution provided by chrisfromguildford in that thread.

I think it is obvious that indeed thousands of users do have this exact issue. Just look at the forum here for that same issue.

I did try the same on another machine, different build, same OS, and guess what. No, it is not working there either (just like thousands of other users here report since years.

1. I did run on safe mode. Precise same issue is happening (and it does not surprise me at all. It never was any better, just that I literally start to lose patience with the high end luxury tools that do not work).
2. I did google, find what is and then run "Etrecheck"

I mean, funny that I need to install and allow an untrusted, "from the web" application on a 4000 USD device to detect errors, isn't it.

Report is attached, and it does not indicate any thing related to this issue. Funny as well that Avira pops up as an unsafe file LOL - an app that can be downloaded from the Appstore...

> Can you point to one thread where this is discussed? I frequent this forum daily and I had never heard of this before.

Perhaps just google it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/applehelp/comments/ev5mj5/macos_smart_mailbox_disappears_after_quitting_mail/

Mail smart mailboxes disappeared - Apple Community

Smart mailboxes always reset after restar… - Apple Community

....

> On the other hand, you seem to trust avira...

The person who wrote that article you linked to obviously has never used his computer for anything else but mails and WhatsApp.

I work in IT and for example, sometimes systems get hacked. They put backdoors into the servers. You try to download that, Mac won't warn you. Avira does.

The children's tale that mac is :just safe: was perhaps true 20 years ago, but it is not (anymore) and certainly is not, when you have more to do with your system than sending emails.

Note that Avira can be downloaded from the app store, while the Etrecheck I needed to google first, finding their site and downloading it, at which point it told me of course that it is my business if I trust it.

Try downloading it from the Mac app store please? "Not found"

---

I will be trying the new user today.

More issues with the precise same symptoms:

Smart Mailboxes disappear in Mail after C… - Apple Community

There I found that these boxes should be in SmartMailboxesLocalProperties.plist.

I do have RW rights on that file, and, when I create new mail box, I can see how it updates the file and writes the new box to the file.

Contents will be for example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
	<key>A9E68351-8948-43D3-B0E9-FB61960B410F</key>
	<dict>
		<key>MailboxUnreadCount</key>
		<integer>0</integer>
		<key>MailboxUserInfo</key>
		<dict>
			<key>MailboxID</key>
			<string>A9E68351-8948-43D3-B0E9-FB61960B410F</string>
			<key>MailboxName</key>
			<string>My Smart Box Name</string>
		</dict>
	</dict>
</dict>
</plist>

As soon I close the mail app, the content in that file stays the same. Once I reopen mail, the content of that file stays the same, BUT the box is not in the app, and TODAY reappears.

Once I reopen the file thou, I can see it rewrote it to the defaults.

So, given there are hundreds, if not thousands with the exact same issue (again, just google it please), and the behaviour described, it just seems there is a BUG that needs to get fixed. It cant be that so many users see the same issue without an underlying actual bug.

This is the only that actually works.

Smart Mailboxes disappear in Mail after C… - Apple Community

This speaks for itself, I guess. Machine permissions or user issues my ***/ The issue is that the iCloud user (and that is why it works with another new user) is affected by this and only if the iCloud is configured to actually sync mail.

Another core, default and flagship product of Apple.

I wonder what exactly it syncs thou. What happens precisely when I disable that? Since it works, I assume a ton of other things break behind the scenes, like my mails not anymore synced to iPhone?

No idea, but I know one thing: as soon I unchecked that box(es) it works like a charm, and I bet my entire laptop on it that those steps would solve all other reports too (those "inexistent" reports, I mean)

Of course they do not care.

But do you buy or use a FIAT radio device in a Maserati?!

If it comes with the "best OS ever made", gosh, I really do not understand how you folks can be OK with paying thousands and thousands of dollars for something that supposedly is an All In One, Works Perfect, best ever bla bla thing, when then you got to download what, perhaps outlook on it?

I really do not get that. I am using Mac since 12 years now, and while the first device, an Air, was an amazing, rocksolid tool and the OS on it was just working, the last 2 or 3 years we got only garbage, for more and more money. And of course, after 10 years you can't / won't just switch back to (linux/win) since you bought tools, apps and other things and are used to the Mac.

Thanks will try that. Since there is no visual feedback as of the export is still running, but I can see "temp" folders still being created and changing to (same folder name but no temp) I guess it will take a while, I have a couple hundred thousand emails.

Will let it run a day or so and then check those steps.

Any reason I need to boot into safe mode to re-add my accounts? (Press shift key and ...)

As soon I reopened the mail app, it had no Smart Inboxes. Good. I set up a new Smart Inbox. I closed mail. As soon I reopened it, not only was new smart box not there, but "Today" was there. Just like it was before the entire operation.

There is to say, some of the steps did not go as outlined:

> Any files or folders that say “Mail” or “com.apple.mail”, select, on the top menu select File > New Folder (With Selection), then press Return.

This created a new folder, indeed, but inside that folder, instead of the 5 "Mail" folders that I had found and selected, some other folders where added. God knows why. I tried twice, twice same result. I select "Mail" and it puts some totally different folders into that new folder.

> Open the Cache folder and delete anything regarding Mail or com.apple.mail.

There was no such folder, but a folder named "Caches" (with an s). I opened that, there where no "Mail" related items inside.

So I just proceeded.

As I restarted, it asked me to import some messages on opening mail. I said ok. and there then I saw NO smart boxes (good) but as soon I added my own smart box, TODAY appeared, and mine was gone on restarting mail app.

I can't even rename that TODAY inbox. As soon I close, reopen, it is all as it was before.