After ios9 update my emails with attachments won't open and say "message not yet downloaded from server". They were there previously. How do I get them back?

On an earlier iOS version update that had issues I did that. Wiped the phone and did a restore from iCloud of a backup that predated the upgrade. The restore was perfect except it not include any email messages. I called Apple and verified that a restore will recreate the mail account and settings but will not recover any messages. That was maybe 2 years ago so unless there's been a change a restore is not a cure for lost email messages.

I am also having the same problm. It is just disgraceful that this company push stuff out before testing it. When we complain they show no urgency in resolving the issue.

I Have exactly the same problem.

Just had a 45 minute call with Apple, (which I didn't pay for!), ended up with a 'senior supervisor'. First guy said he had heard nothing on this issue. Senior supervisor suggested deleting the account and resetting - no good as I know some of the emails are no longer on my server, plus the issue is now affecting emails that are on my server! Also these emails are localised on the device so the server can not affect them. He said this sounds like an IMAP issue and was surprised at it being POP related.

Upshot is simple - if you have emails not on your server anymore that are lost on the device, they are gone and are never retrievable. Set your server to maximum retention would be my advice or move to exchange account! Sorry no good news.

The guy is looking into it from Apple's side and will apparently come back to me….

Being a photographer I like to have multiple backups of files etc. I use the same backup methodology with all my email accounts. I set-up a Hotmail account a few years ago and have all my other email account emails copied to the Hotmail account so I basically use Hotmail to act as a storage cloud for all my email accounts. I'm guaranteed to never lose an email. I never thought I would ever need to rely on it but now that Apple has stuffed up emails with iOS 9 I'm glad I did.

Surely Apple must be aware of this bug! I'm having the same problem with my iPad and iPhone, thankfully my iMac is OK. Not sure I'll be in a hurry to install the update to Maverick when it comes out.

I think it's disgraceful that they put out updates with major bugs, do they think they're Microsoft? I bought Apple equipment to avoid this sort of thing. It seems that Apple have screwed up ever since Steve Jobs passed away.

I'm using POP mail and had the same result with dialogue that the message was not downloaded from the server. Yesterday, I resent several emails to myself from another device and the photos in those messages arrived ok. I checked the device several hours later and found the attached files were still there. I then did an iCloud backup last evening and this morning I find all messages in the Inbox and Sent mailbox show nothing except a dialogue that the message has not been downloaded from the server. That proves my understanding that the issue was limited to message that were in mail at the time the upgrade to iOS9 was done was incorrect as this is clearly an ongoing issue with iOS9.

I am going to wipe the phone and do an iCloud restore from a backup that predated the iOS9 upgrade. That will restore all of the data on the phone except for anything added after the upgrade however it will not restore any email messages. If you decide to go this route be careful to copy any messages on the iPhone to another device or they will be forever lost.

Apple does not look at discussion forums so in order to get this directed to their attention use this feedback link: http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

If enough of us send feedback to Apple it will get their attention.

<Edited by Host>

Hopefully that Host will direct the issue to appropriate Apple engineers to secure a cure to the iOS9 upgrade problems. Thank you.

<Edited by Host>

My only issue with your advice is that this leaves all your emails and the associated personal information on a server that can be accessed by anyone who gets into the account or acquires the password. Let's face it email servers and email server provider companies don't have a great track record. This is the reason we use pop so that we can download all emails from the sever and then delete them to minimise the impact of an email account compromise (such as happened on iOS 8 when the SSL bug transferred passwords in the clear). I would not personally recommend this solution.

Reference the experiences of other posters on related threads and evidence from my own experience I would caution against your solution. as a test I deleted one of my affected email accounts and set it back up again from scratch. Initially emails sent from our still intact email archive on the imac seemed to suggest the problem was resolved but sometime between 12-24 hours after the emails were downloaded they were deleted from the device (storage indicated *** ousted increase) and the message "This message has not been downloaded from the server" was once again displayed. At the moment I do not see the evidence to confirm the theory that it only affects emails present on the device at the time of upgrade to iOS 9. my experience of setting up a new pop/smtp email account post upgrade would seem demonstrate that there is a time delay until they disappear once they have been removed from the server.

Hopefully, come this Wednesday, Apple will have released an iOS patch to fix this issue together with the release of El Capitan.

I experience a similar delay in messages disappearing and concur the issue is not unique to messages that were on the device at the time of the upgrade to iOS9. Now if everyone who posts to the forum will also send their complaint to Apple via the feedback link that will accelerate Apple's response.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

Rontu2 is absolutely correct - there are over 80 people registered on this thread alone as having the same issue and probably hundreds viewing but not contributing. If all of these users provide feedback to Apple via the link then momentum will be generated for a quicker patch. Thank you to all those who have contacted apple support and raised the issue - I am surprised how disjointed and uncoordinated the responses have been - and particularly the lack of analytical and evidence based support. If anyone gets the opportunity of a follow up it might be worth directing them to this and the other related threads.

Same issue here with iPad and iPhone 5s. Can't get the messages to download to my mobile devices. They were on the device before I updated iOS to 9.0.1

I ended up switching to a new email app (Outlook) for my iPhone 5s. Waiting to see if the issue is addressed by Apple.

So many people experiencing the same problem. My phone and ipad are currently useless for email as I lose the content within a few hours. And we have to badger and beg Apple for a solution. Unacceptable!