A recent message has completely disappeared in Mail

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Level 1

38 points

A recent message has completely disappeared in Mail

I had a number of messages in my inbox, and today one of them, that I was planning to respond to, wasn't there anymore.

I have tried to rebuild the mailbox (IMAP) and have looked at the inbox directly using my provider's webmail in a browser. I have searched in the trash and have searched everywhere else, either using mail's search or InfoClick (a utility from Nisus Software).

I know that I can send a message to the trash by accident (it's actually much too easy to do that) but even then, I should be able to find it. I also checked that it wasn't filtered.

I'm using only two plugins: Mail Act-on and Antidote grammar checker. I've been using them for years. Oh, and I'm on Sierra (10.12.6)

If I can't trust Mail anymore, it's going to be tough.

Any ideas? Has this happened to other people?

EllenH

Mac Pro, macOS Sierra (10.12.6)

Posted on Mar 16, 2018 9:46 AM

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Answer 1

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Mar 16, 2018 2:20 PM in response to Ellen H

Try re-indexing the mailboxes. This can take awhile if you have a lot of mail.

Reindex messages For El Capitan, try looking in V3. Sierra use V4. High Sierra use V5.

Reindex messages (2) See post by Linc Davis

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Answer 2

Ellen H Author

Level 1

38 points

Mar 17, 2018 8:50 AM in response to Ellen H

I read the posts you point to and reindexed mail in Spotlight (here, in Sierra, the folder is V4) as described in the first post. There was no indication that something was happening so I have no idea if this did something or not. Anyway, after a couple of hours, the lost message didn't reappear.

The second post you point to seems to just get mail to reimport the messages from the mail server, which in my case would do nothing as I have already rebuilt the inbox and checked online with webmail that the lost message wasn't there. Also, the problem it tries to fix is much worse than mine, so I prefer to avoid messing with Mail more than absolutely necessary.

I can ask my correspondent to resend the message so this isn't critical but it is very strange and unsettling.

Thank you for your suggestions.

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Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Mar 17, 2018 7:53 PM in response to Ellen H

You are welcome.

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A recent message has completely disappeared in Mail

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