Recovering emails that have disappeared
A whole folder gone, an important message nowhere to be found, a mailbox showing only the last three weeks: in most cases nothing is lost — it is the display that is lying.
What is actually going on
A message almost never truly disappears. It has been moved to a neighbouring folder, caught by a forgotten rule, or it is simply no longer downloaded on that particular device while it still sits with your provider.
Real loss happens in one situation only: a mailbox set up as POP, whose messages never existed anywhere but on one disk, itself without a backup. That is rare, and it is why we look everywhere else first.
What we do
- Search where things hideArchive folders, junk mail, deleted items, automatic rules created years ago.
- Question the mailbox at the providerWebmail often shows what your app no longer displays. That is the check that settles it.
- Rebuild the inboxWhen the app’s index is damaged, we rebuild it and the messages reappear.
- Recover from a backupIf a Time Machine backup exists, we go and fetch the state from before the disappearance.
Before we arrive
What helps
- Note the approximate date and the sender of the message you want: those are our two best starting points.
- Stop using the mailbox concerned until our visit if the loss is recent.
What is better avoided
- Emptying the mail app’s trash “to make room” before we have looked.
- Deleting and recreating the account in the app — that is the move that turns a disappearance into a real loss.
Your questions
Can you recover a message deleted two years ago?
Sometimes, yes — if the mailbox is IMAP with a provider that keeps things, or if a backup covers the period. We tell you very quickly whether the lead exists.
What if the mailbox was hacked?
We restore access and the account’s security first, then look at what was moved or deleted. The two go together.
This topic is part of My email has stopped working. The main page gathers the neighbouring cases and the full process.
See the main pageWe call you back
Leave your number. We call back within the hour during opening hours — otherwise, as soon as we reopen.