Lost email folders on Apple Mail

[#1]

I recently changed my Apple ID and managed to restore all my emails from a few different email addresses.

However, my main email, which is a plusnet email address, has restored the main body of emails, but I had created a number of folders within my inbox, and these emails are not restored.

When I contacted tech support at Plusnet and they were unable to help me, as were Apple support.

My Time Machine on the Mac hadn't been taking back ups for some reason, so I can't locate them on there, but can't understand why I've only been able to restore the inbox and not the folders too.

Is there anything I can do?

[#2]

Log into your Plusnet mail box using webmail. Check to see if the folders are there. Then report back.

[#3]

Hi.  I'll have another go with that but did it and there was nothing a couple of weeks ago.

Will report back when I've tried this.

[#4]

If they are not there on webmail, they are not there. Something you did in the change over must have deleted them. Check the deleted items folder.

[#5]

I've just checked on webmail and the folders aren't there.  All my email mailbox messages are there, but there were other plusnet emails in separate folders within my inbox that have disappeared. 

[#6]

I also pressed 'expand all folders' on the inbox in webmail and they are not there.  

[#7]

What I don't understand is that all the other emails in my inbox are there.  These emails were in my inbox on my plusnet account, but I'd put them in different folders.

[#8]

You stated that you have RESTORED everything from a third party back (Apple ID) up.  I would look towards how that restore process works.  If it DELETED and restored the content on your iPhone in IMAP mail folders, then that DELETE action would probably be applied to your Plusnet mailbox when the IMAP connection was re-synchronised.

You might have lost all of your email by forcing a third party (incomplete?) back up restore.  Mail accessed by an IMAP connection should NEVER be restored from a backup.  If the Plusnet mail connection on the iPhone is POP3 then any folders are local folders, so will never be seen in Plusnet webmail.

I suspect that we do not have a full understanding of the set up here and exactly what has happened.

@willcutforth - is there any remote chance of a restitution of this user's Plusnet email content from a recent (service supplier) back up please?  Yes, I know it is a big ask!!

[#9]

If there is anything that can be done I'd be very grateful. 

[#10]

Just to add too that I use a IMac desktop and this is where I accessed these emails not on my phone, if this makes any difference!

[#11]

Hi Liz,

That has me wondering a different angle.  Is the iMac email set up configured as IMAP or POP3?

If POP3 then those email folders might well be LOCAL folders.

If the phone is configured as IMAP, then that will see only the folders on the mail server and will be identical to those seen by the webmail client.

Mixing the use of POP3 and IMAP clients on the same mailbox is really bad karma if you are not 100% sure of what you are doing.  At least, by the sound of things, those emails are not lost entirely.

Check the detailed email settings for the mail account on the iMac.  If you have all of the mail in local POP3 folders on the iMac and you really do want all of the mail back on the iPhone (Plusnet mail server) there is a way of you doing that, but you'll need to tech savviness to get there.

@willcutforth - if this is what I am now guessing, it is unlikely that there will be anything on Plusnet's backups to recover here.

[#12]

Thanks - ok I'll have to check as I really don't know sorry!! Will have a look.....

[#13]

Liz,

No ned for a "sorry" here - what you do not know / understand, you do not know / understand.  Sadly, complications of mixing POP3 and IMAP access to the same mailbox arise frequently and leave many people terribly confused, which is why (personally) I advocate against it and would never use such myself ... and is with having good mail tech skills!

The first step here is to check the Mac Mail settings - this might help MacMail — How to Make Changes to an Existing Mail Account (bebetterhotels.com)

Look to see if the account is IMAP or POP3

[#14]

So I've checked and both my iphone and iMac are set up with IMAP settings- we didn't mix them at all.

[#15]

Right, one possiblity... On the iPhone set up where you cannot see the other folders, under the Plusnet mail account, Advanced, IMAP Path Prefix, change that to inbox save and then go check the folders.

Oh... but hang on ... at the risk of teaching you to suck eggs ... on an iPhone within mail, there are two entries for a mail account - the first shows only the INBOX content - one lower down is expandable and shows subfolders.  Is there a possibility this gives rise to the folders not being visible on the iPhone?