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Level 1

38 points

Phantom messages in Mail

I have two similar problems in Mail within Mavericks - essential a message count (of unread messages) is showing in the side bar when there aren't any in practice. This is currently happening for the following:

1. the 'Flagged' folder under 'Mailboxes' in the side bar. This shows 22 flagged messages - one red and 21 green. The green count is sort of correct (it shows that they are unread when in reality they have all been read and show as read when I click on the folder). However, when I click on the red flag folder, it says 1 unread when in reality there are no messages in that folder (either read or unread).

I've searched in Mail - status: Message is Flagged and it only brings up the green flags.

Any idea how I might get rid of this rouge label of 1 unread message? If I can also get rid of the 21 'unread' green flags that'd be a bonus too.

2. I have a smart mailbox which has the criterion to show unread emails (as emails generally go directly into their respective folders so this way I can see unread emails all in one place). Currently, this shows 4 in the sidebar. However, I have no unread emails (either in this smart mailbox or in any other mailbox in Mail).

I've tried rebuilding various mailboxes, I've restarted Mail and the computer. I've removed messages from the server.

Any thoughts?

Edward

Posted on Oct 24, 2013 10:40 AM

49 replies

gharkun

Level 1

0 points

Apr 8, 2014 4:24 AM in response to Dogcow-Moof

Thanks William, this fixed my problem!

opmc78

Level 1

0 points

Jun 26, 2014 2:44 AM in response to Dogcow-Moof

Thank you William Kucharski - worked a charm!

Aug 18, 2014 9:51 AM in response to Dogcow-Moof

Worked like a dream. Flagged messages said I had 5 but there were only 2. Did as William Kucharski advised, plus rebooted before going into mail, and all the phantom messages had gone and I was left with the 2 that I wanted. Thank you William!

bastings

Level 1

5 points

Sep 13, 2014 2:25 AM in response to Edward

I updated to mavericks last night and now i had 11 marked e-mails. But when going to that mailbox "marked e-mails" it was empty.

I just did what you advice and that helps!

Thanks!

H-Dog

Level 1

70 points

Oct 27, 2014 9:14 AM in response to Edward

I continued to see this issue in Yosemite with a smart mailbox showing 2 unread messages even when no other mailbox showed unread items. The solution was embarassingly simple and obvious, hopefully helps others who are still seeing this:

1) Create new Smart Mailbox

- name "All Unread"

- match "All" conditions

- "Message is Unread" as only condition

- check boxes to include form Trash and Sent

2) Select all messages inside new "All Unread" mailbox

- Note: for me, all of these were marked as unread

3) Mark all selected messages as "Unread"

4) Mark all selected messages as "Read"

Doing this quickly and simply solved my problem. I didn't dig into it, but I assume the multiple databases tracking unread message counts got misaligned - this process brings them all into sync.

Nov 25, 2014 5:29 PM in response to Edward

Just wanted to add that I have this same problem in Yosemite.

WarrenO

Level 1

60 points

Dec 4, 2014 1:09 PM in response to Dogcow-Moof

Running 10.10 (Yosemite), same problem - William's advice worked.

This doesn't destroy any mail data; it just updates the databases.

Dec 15, 2014 2:46 PM in response to WarrenO

Easiest way:

1. In Spotlight Search

2. Search "Spotlight"

3. open Spotlight System Preferences Menu

4. Privacy Tab

5. + Add Macintosh HD

6. - Remove Macintosh HD

7. done

8. just Wait till Flag Database is rebuilt

9. actually done

Flagged Mails in Smart Folders disappear for some time, rebuilding might take up to a few hours.

jnew84

Level 1

4 points

Dec 29, 2014 8:15 AM in response to philipfifibachinger

philipfifibachinger's suggestion is BY FAR the easiest way to fix the problem of flags not going away. I've had this problem several times now and have found that to be the easiest fix every time.

A couple notes about his post though:

1. Your spotlight system preferences may not appear in your spotlight search. If not, just click on the apple in the upper left corner of your screen, click system preferences, and click on spotlight.

2. Your computer might not be named Macintosh HD. In fact, most people have probably renamed it "John Doe's Macbook Air" or something like that. In any event, add that drive to the privacy list as explained by philip and then remove it a few seconds later.

3. It will take some time for the indexing to be done and for the flagged folders to rebuild. When you start a spotlight search, you'll see a status bar showing how long the indexing has left.

3GShelp

Level 1

0 points

Jan 2, 2015 2:19 AM in response to Edward

Using philipfifibachinger's Spotlight derived solution to rebuild didn't work for me unfortunately; I still had the Flagged unread count, despite having no messages showing in the Flagged folder. After some concern about deleting files from the system along the lines of William Kucharski's instructions given the various subsequent posts about machines left hanging, I decided to do a full back up and then try William's method.

It worked perfectly for me on Yosemite 10.10.1. Note for my Mail with c50k messages, the Flagged folder disappeared completely to start with, returning 5 or 10 minutes later. My heart sank, but as suggested the folder now actually contained the Flagged messages which I could then deal with. Many thanks William Kucharski.

dfoi

Level 1

13 points

Jan 21, 2015 10:33 AM in response to Wolf.NBM

Add my name to the list....the suggested fix by William Kucharski worked like a charm.

My thanks for your assistance. Reimporting the mail took a few minutes ....not a problem.

Mar 18, 2015 4:11 PM in response to Dogcow-Moof

But it deleted all but 1 of my Flags....

apologies, that database was just rebuilding - all back now

frayjoal

Level 1

0 points

Mar 24, 2015 9:09 PM in response to Dogcow-Moof

This fix also worked for me (Macbook Air running OS X Yosemite). Had 98 phantom flagged mails. Now clean as a whistle.

Steps taken:

1. Removed Gmail account.

2. Applied fix.

3. Added gmail account after.

Thanks man!

Van-D

Level 1

28 points

Apr 16, 2015 7:20 PM in response to Dogcow-Moof

Many thanks for helping with this vexatious problem.

May 10, 2015 6:00 AM in response to Edward

From other posts I've surmised that Mail's indexing uses Spotlight. Bouncing Spotlight solve my problem of 3 mysterious unread messages indicated on the Unread smart mailbox. My problem popped up with a recent 10.10 update.

From Terminal

Go to root directory cd ./

Turn off Spotlight sudo mdutil -i off /

Turn on Spotlight sudo mdutil -i on /

Phantom messages in Mail