Will deletion of the 3 Envelope Index files force re-indexing for Apple Mail?

Question

Suzy2014 Author

Level 1

115 points

Will deletion of the 3 Envelope Index files force re-indexing for Apple Mail?

I am using Mojave on an older iMac. Search in Apple Mail no longer finds anything. I cannot rebuild mailboxes because all my mail is on my computer not on the server and rebuild deletes mailboxes, assuming restoring from the server and IMAP (my incoming mail server is configured as POP 3). The method for dragging folders for re-indexing to the list of locations that Spotlight is prevented from searching didn't work.

It was suggested that deletion of the 3 Envelope Index files in Library/Mail /V2/MailData (after saving them someplace), will force re-indexing without deletion of mailboxes.

Did anyone follow this approach and could confirm that it works without causing any damage? Thanks.

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Feb 19, 2024 9:49 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Suzy2014 Author

Level 1

115 points

Feb 20, 2024 7:17 AM in response to MacMikeInOK

Unfortunately, as the article states: "When you rebuild mailboxes for IMAP or Exchange accounts, messages and attachments stored on your computer are discarded, and then downloaded again from the mail server to your Mac. Your mailbox appears empty until the download is complete.". Rebuild is not smart enough to handle Pop3 accounts differently....

Reply

Answer 2

Feb 20, 2024 6:19 AM in response to Suzy2014

Thanks for the reply. Yes, that's correct; this article didn't help, as explained in my post.

My bad! The way I interpreted the cited Apple Support document led me to believe the rebuild function is "smart" enough to note if the mail account is set up as POP or IMAP, and rebuilds accordingly. The article didn't mention anything about deleting mailboxes.

Reply

Answer 3

Feb 20, 2024 8:32 AM in response to Suzy2014

You may be right, as I honestly don't know for sure. However, one can read the above statement to infer it only applies to IMAP or Exchange accounts. It makes no mention of POP3 accounts, unfortunately, which is why I interpreted it the way I did.

Reply

Answer 4

Suzy2014 Author

Level 1

115 points

Feb 20, 2024 11:45 AM in response to MacMikeInOK

Yes, you are right. However, I cannot afford experimenting on my mailboxes and losing emails. I asked Apple support and nobody knew the correct answer; "rebuild" sounds like tearing down first and then restoring from scratch.... I was hoping that someone on this forum tried out the approach with the deletion of the 3 envelope index files. I could always copy them back, except that I would want to make sure that this would not mess up email.

Reply