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Mac Mail rules disappearing

I have the common problem of Mail rules disappearing when quitting Mail. I lost a rule that took me days to compile, so I need to restore rules from a recent Time Machine backup.


In Ventura, which file holds the rules?

iMac (2017 – 2020)

Posted on Jun 11, 2023 3:30 PM

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4 replies

Jun 11, 2023 10:10 PM in response to Old Toad

Perfect, thanks, except that it didn't work, returning the stale data, and I think I know why.


If you make a rule change, don't close the Rules window, quit Mail, and relaunch, the change is lost. I just tested it.


Yes, I had the Rules window up for a long time making changes, and *probably* didn't close it (hidden?) when I finally quit Mail. A warning would be nice.

Jun 12, 2023 7:43 AM in response to vonlost

And when I make the SyncedRules.plist replacement, Rules are empty, not even the default Apple rule.


I see SynchedRules.plist, UnsynchedRules.plist, and RulesActiveState.plist. How do they interact? Which should I restore to get the old rules back? Are other pertinent files to get back to old rules? At the moment I have lost all rules. Thanks!

Mac Mail rules disappearing

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