Can't find a 'phantom' unread mail or mark it as being read

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Can't find a 'phantom' unread mail or mark it as being read

I'm using mail on various machines to access an Exchange server account. It generally works with no problems, but on my work MacPro (and only on this computer not the iMac at home, various laptops, iPad, iPhone etc) mail tells me there is an unread message. However, I can't find this message and it's not there when I use a webmail interface to access the same account. No problem, I figured I could just right click on the mailbox and 'mark all messages as read', but this doesn't work! I like to keep a clear inbox with no unread messages and it's driving me nuts!

I'm guessing that there's some strange synching conflict, but don't know how to solve it. Any ideas, please?

Thanks, Jon.

Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on May 2, 2012 6:19 AM

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Answer 1

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Glenn Leblanc

Level 6

12,515 points

May 2, 2012 7:21 AM in response to zigsdad

Select the mailbox and use the Rebuild Mailbox function under Mailboxes in the menu.

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Answer 2

May 2, 2012 7:26 AM in response to zigsdad

You can also try creating a smart mailbox to show unread messages. If it's truly there, it should show up in the SM no matter what mailbox it's in.

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Answer 3

zigsdad Author

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May 2, 2012 8:31 AM in response to Glenn Leblanc

I tried both, but neither has worked.

a) Rebuilding the mailbox revealed another unread mail that actually existed, but didn't remove the 'phantom'.

b) The SM trick uncovered lots of unread news items from Apple, but not the 'phantom'.

Thanks for your help, but I might need to do something more drastic like deleting the account and adding it again.

Thanks, Jon.

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Answer 4

May 2, 2012 9:14 AM in response to zigsdad

You message index file is probably corrupt.

Quit Mail.

In the Finder, select Go, then Go to Folder (shift-command-G). Paste this in the window:

~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData

Look for the Envelope Index files. Move them to the trash. Restart Mail and hit continue in the message box. That will rebuild your message index. It may take a while, depending on how many messages you have, so be patient.

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Answer 5

zigsdad Author

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May 3, 2012 2:37 AM in response to zigsdad

Hi Glenn,

That did the trick!!

Many thanks for your help.

Jon.

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Answer 6

Hensonts

Level 1

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Jun 1, 2012 6:20 PM in response to zigsdad

Also this simple change made the difference on my system -and I had tried every trick I could find and nothing worked.

I simple went into Mail preferences on the advanced tab and unchecked "enable account". The mailboxes disappear and then re-enable the account and my trash mailbox which had read 23 unread emails finally reset...

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Answer 7

doc_torr

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Aug 27, 2013 5:03 AM in response to Glenn Leblanc

Hi Glenn,

I had a similar problem with phantom messages. It was obvious that these messages were not really new as they were marked as read on my iPhone and on the web access page for my mail account. Removing the corrupted index files worked perfectly -- thank you for the help!

However, others should heed the warning of it taking a while to rebuild. I had ~84k messages to get back which took about 40 mins!

Thanks again, Nick

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Answer 8

Aug 27, 2013 3:22 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

We had a couple of drafts (in Mail) just disappear into the ether when they were closed. Tried the <Rebuild Mailbox> function and there they were. Didn't even have to say abracadbra. But, of course, we still have no idea where they were hiding. That's our next bit of sleuthing.... Thanks for the tip.

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Answer 9

Aug 27, 2013 5:14 PM in response to desert hedgehog

Good to see this discussion is still helping people.

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Answer 10

Oct 30, 2013 8:27 AM in response to Glenn Leblanc

Glenn's suggestion of rebuilding the mailbox worked for me and only took a couple of seconds! Thanks!

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Answer 11

Apr 1, 2014 8:21 AM in response to Glenn Leblanc

Holy Moly! This was the ONLY thing that worked for me!

I rebuilt the mailbox, I delteted the account and added again, took out preferences and none of that work. And a simple little suggesion like making a smart mailbox worked!

Thank you for the suggestion as I was getting crazy!

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