Inbox emails disappeared today

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jbclem2
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Joined: January 11th, 2022, 3:59 pm

Inbox emails disappeared today

Post by jbclem2 »

I opened Thunderbird about 30 mins ago, saw my inbox emails as usual, and in the blink of an eye they all disappeared except for one that came in today. This has happened before at least once, but it's been many months since it happened.

Following a similar support topic from yesterday, I checked all the suggested places and everything seems to be intact, including the VIEW which is set to ALL messages. All the other folders look intact and have messages inside. Only the inbox messages have vanished.

Any suggestions for troubleshooting this problem?

John
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DanRaisch
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Re: Inbox emails disappeared today

Post by DanRaisch »

How is the account set up in Thunderbird, as POP or IMAP? Find out using menu path Tools->Account Settings->Server Settings->Server Type at the top right of the dialogue.
jbclem2
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Joined: January 11th, 2022, 3:59 pm

Re: Inbox emails disappeared today

Post by jbclem2 »

it's IMAP
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DanRaisch
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Re: Inbox emails disappeared today

Post by DanRaisch »

If you log into that account's webmail page using a browser, are the messages present in the server inbox folder?
jbclem2
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Joined: January 11th, 2022, 3:59 pm

Re: Inbox emails disappeared today

Post by jbclem2 »

I just checked and the missing emails are not in the Inbox. The only emails there are the ones that came in since the older emails vanished, and they are the only ones I see in Thunderbird.

I don't know much about IMAP, but isn't it supposed to be saving all the emails in my account, even after I download them to Thunderbird...whereas Pop3 doesn't.
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tanstaafl
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Re: Inbox emails disappeared today

Post by tanstaafl »

Yes. IMAP accounts store the messages on the server. Basically its a superset of what you can do with webmail. If the messages aren't present in webmail they've been deleted. However, its possible they still physically exist even though they're hidden from view. Don't let Thunderbird compact any folders (until you either give up or have recovered the missing mail). That physically deletes any messages marked as deleted (and usually hidden from view).

In the IMAP account in the server settings set "when I delete a message" to "just mark it as deleted". If you're lucky you will see the deleted messages in the folder listing, but with a line drawn through them. If so, you can undelete them.

"The only emails there are the ones that came in since the older emails vanished, and they are the only ones I see in Thunderbird."

So there are no messages in other folders or in "Local Folders"?

When you lose a bunch of messages how long a time period do they typically cover? A few hours, a day, a week ....?

Do you lose everything in that time period or just most of them?

What version of Thunderbird are you using? Please don't say latest as that is ambiguous.
TipperToo
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Joined: January 10th, 2022, 9:29 am

Re: Inbox emails disappeared today

Post by TipperToo »

You need to unclick the 'unread' tab just above the email list.

You probably clicked it in passing and didn't know you had done it...just like I did a few days ago!
jbclem2
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Joined: January 11th, 2022, 3:59 pm

Re: Inbox emails disappeared today

Post by jbclem2 »

I don't have an unread tab, but there is a drop down VIEW menu that is set to
ALL. I tried the Unread setting but that didn't produce the missing emails.
jbclem2
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Joined: January 11th, 2022, 3:59 pm

Re: Inbox emails disappeared today

Post by jbclem2 »

Thunderbird version 44.0

When i delete a message...I set it as "just mark it as deleted". No messages appeared, but not every time I delete a message a line is drawn through it. I don't like that so I just changed it to move deleted messages to Trash.

When messages disappeared previously they were from a long time period, months. And all of them vanished, just like this time.

The last time this occurred, I remember talking to Charter.com(now Spectrum) support about it and getting nothing from them except that they didn't do it. They never admit to any wrongdoings from their side. But it also doesn't make sense that they would do this, pull the messages out of my Inbox. I'd suspect something in Thunderbird is causing this problem, some kind of timer based on the size or age of the Inbox messages. Does that seem logical or possible?
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tanstaafl
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Re: Inbox emails disappeared today

Post by tanstaafl »

Check the message aging settings per http://kb.mozillazine.org/Message_aging . The accounts Synchronization & Storage -> "Disk Space" settings are the most likely culprit.

I assume you've checked all of the view -> messages & view -> threads settings to make certain they display everything.

Deleted messages aren't permanently deleted unless you compact folders or expunge them (for example by checking "clean up (expunge) inbox on exit" in the server settings). You might not like "just mark them as deleted" but it is useful for troubleshooting.

A few email providers such as AOL impose their own message aging on folders. Since you're using a IMAP account check that the missing messages are still visible in webmail (using a browser). https://www.spectrum.net/support/intern ... ence-guide doesn't seem to mention message aging.
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tanstaafl
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Re: Inbox emails disappeared today

Post by tanstaafl »

What XP service pack are you using?

I'm not aware of any reason you'd have a problem using TB 44 with Charter since you're able to connect and log in. But its still a possibility, especially since the major versions jumped from 38.* to 45.*. Why aren't you at least using something like version 52.* (last major version before they started moving from the Legacy API to the WebExtension API)?

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/ge ... s-xp-vista
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