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Emails gone after a few days

New To Imac .Yosemite. Been using for about a month now I just noticed that my emails older than about a week are gone? Except for about 10 from 7 months ago? I save many emails as a reference. This is not going to work fro me. I looked through preference set ups and can find nothing on how long they are on machine. With Outlook they last forever. I also have Ipad and Iphone and it seems if I delete from them they never show up on the Imac although I have not thoroughly investigated this issue. What an I doing wrong?


Thanks,

Stew

iMac, iOS 7

Posted on Feb 6, 2015 12:03 PM

Reply
1 reply

Feb 8, 2015 1:43 PM in response to stewartfrommiddletown

Good Afternoon stewartfrommiddletown,

What type of email account do you have, POP or IMAP? Here are some troubleshooting steps for the Mail app in Yosemite:

Using a POP account with more than one device - Apple Support
http://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201855


Learn how to use a POP account with multiple devices.


When using the same POP email account on more than one device, email messages may appear only on the first device that receives them. This occurs when an email client is configured to automatically remove email from the server after an email client has received it. You can configure your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac either to keep a copy of the email on the server, remove it after a certain number of days have passed, or keep it until you move it from your inbox.

Use the steps in the sections below to configure your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac to keep a copy of retrieved email messages on the server. For all other third-party products, please contact your the software developer or email service provider for additional assistance.

iOS Mail

By default, Mail will only delete messages from the server one week after deleting the message from the device. This gives you time for other mail clients such as Mail on your Mac to download a copy of the message. You can make adjustments to these settings by following these steps.

  1. Tap Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
  2. Tap the email account you want to change.
  3. Tap your email account name.
  4. Tap Advanced.
  5. Tap Remove.
    User uploaded file
  6. Select a time frame.
    • Never: The email message will remain in place on all of your devices and email clients.
    • After one day: One day after Mail reads the email message, Mail will remove the message from the server. The message will exist only in Mail, not on any other clients.
    • After one week: This setting works the same as "After one day", except that Mail waits one week.
    • After one month: This setting works the same as "After one day", except that Mail waits one month.
  7. Tap Advanced, then tap the name of the email account.
  8. Tap Done to save your settings.

OS X Mail

If you use the Mac OS X Mail application as your email client, you can deselect the "Remove copy from server after retrieving a message" option under the Advanced account settings in Mail Preferences. However, the default setting, to remove mail after one week, should be adequate for most users. Here's how to set your account to remove the messages from the server after one week:

  1. In Mail select Mail > Preferences.
  2. Click the Accounts tab.
  3. Select the account for which you wish to change the settings.
  4. Click the Advanced tab.
  5. Select the "Remove copy from server after retrieving a message" option.
  6. Select a time frame from the pop-up menu.
    User uploaded file
    • Immediately: When Mail reads the email message, the email message will be removed from the server. The message will exist only in Mail, not on any other clients.
    • After one day: One day after Mail reads the email message, Mail will remove the message from the server. The message will exist only in Mail, not on any other clients.
    • After one week: This setting works the same as "After one day", except that Mail waits one week.
    • After one month: This setting works the same as "After one day", except that Mail waits one month.
    • When moved from Inbox: Mail will remove each message from the server only after the message is moved out of the Inbox and into another mailbox. The message will exist only in Mail, not on any other clients.
  7. Close Mail preferences to save your settings.

About "Pop Locking"

The POP3 mail protocol was designed in some cases to support one connection at a time. When multiple devices attempt to access the mailbox at the same time, the devices may get locked out or you may be prompted to re-enter the account password.

Try to have only one device access the POP3 server at a time. If you are affected by this issue, wait 20 minutes before trying again, or contact your email service provider (ESP) to clear the lock.

Information about products not manufactured by Apple, or independent websites not controlled or tested by Apple, is provided without recommendation or endorsement. Apple assumes no responsibility with regard to the selection, performance, or use of third-party websites or products. Apple makes no representations regarding third-party website accuracy or reliability. Risks are inherent in the use of the Internet. Contact the vendor for additional information.


Last Modified:




Mail (Yosemite): If messages appear to be missing
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH19194?viewlocale=en_US

Mail (Yosemite): If messages appear to be missing


If messages seem to be missing from mailboxes , try these suggestions.

If you use more than one email account in Mail, make sure you’re looking at messages for the correct account.

If you sorted messages, they may be in the list but not in the order you expect.

It you use rules, they may have moved messages to other mailboxes. Try searching for the messages.

Quit Mail, then reopen it.

If the problem persists, you may need to rebuild a mailbox.


Last Modified: Feb 4, 2015

Mail (Yosemite): If messages aren’t displayed or appear incorrect
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH19200?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US


For a POP account, reimport mailboxes. Choose File > Import Mailboxes, then select Apple Mail. In the Import dialog, display the Library folder (hidden by default) in your home folder by pressing Command-Shift-G, then entering ~/Library. In ~/Library/Mail/V2, select the folder that begins with “POP-” (for example, POP-eharrold@mail.example.com).

I hope this helps ...

- Judy

Emails gone after a few days

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