I have recapped this saga!
Post #1: Statement is that emails were restored from an APPLE BACK UP and after that the Plusnet mailbox had no folders. In what way was this restored?
- After restoring the email account configuration the content of the mailbox should have re-sync'd with the mail server)
- If the mailbox CONTENTS were restored from the backup - in whole or in part (My Time Machine on the Mac hadn't been taking backups for some reason, so I can't locate them on there) - then what was there will have been over written and then probably re-sync'd with the server OVERWIRTING what was already there
In the event of the loss of an IMAP email account set up, all that should be done is to restore that mail address configuration, then leave the mail application for restore the content from the mail server.
Post #3: "A couple of weeks ago" - how long has this been going on?
@willcutforth this set the timeframe for the remote possibility of recovering this from a house keeping back up - I know that the window is not big (possibly just 14 days?).
Post #5: "within my inbox" can you be more precise? Where the folders within the inbox folder or peer to the inbox folder? (You might not be able to tell!). There is a slim possibility that you are seeing confusion to the folders being there, but not subscribed to by the email clients. Can you please check this in the webmail client; at the bottom of the left pane there is a cog wheel (Folders Actions). Select "manage Folders"; are there any folders listed which match the ones you are looking for which are not subscribed to (ticked)?
NB: The webmail left hand panel has some odd behaviours - after three clicks on whatever, it stops responding. Just refresh the page and continue.
If you can see the folders there, great news, tick the subscribe boxes. If they are not there, then they are gone!
If they are there, then in your Mac mail application look to see if there are any options to query / subscribe to IMAP folders. On the iPhone, did you set the root folder to inbox as suggested?
Post #7: Are you stating that ALL emails were found (but now in the inbox) and not in the folders you put them in, or the emails put into folders are now all totally gone? Such would fit with the CONTENT of the mail folders being restored from an out-of-date Time Machine backup. Restoration from a stale back up would give rise to what you have described.
@willcutforth There is another possibility here - it is a slim chance, but worth considering. If whilst @Lizzog 's systems were pear shaped and the FUP had been exceeded for a while (such tends to prompt people to reorganise their mail - as in put stuff into folders) the mailbox might have been archived ... leading to the folders being deleted on the server.
@Lizzog For the avoidance of doubt are you certain that the folders you moved stuff into were mailbox SERVER folders (could be seen on every device) or were the LOCAL STORAGE folders, only available on the MAC? If the latter, then you need to look for a LOCAL EMAIL STORAGE (data) file on the Mac.
Post #14: Thankfully the POP3 complications are a red herring!
Liz, there is nothing more I can add here now. If this stuff is not in a Plusnet back up and it is not in a local data file, I fear that it is lost forever!
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