Mac Mail Deleting Messages From Particular Senders

[Cheryl]

Do you leave Mail running 24/7 ? Have you tried shutting down Mail say for the evening, then start it up in the morning?

 

[wickerman]

It stays running most of the time. I can try this if you think it will help.

 

[Cheryl]

Give it a try. Sometimes when an app behaves goofy, a restart of the app clears it up. The same goes for your computer in general.

 

[wickerman]

OK, did a reboot. Since I deleted the Junk rule my messages from that address are still there on the server so maybe that had something to do with it.

 

[Cheryl]

No just watch and observe.

By the way, I was suggesting just to quit Mail but a reboot probably helped your entire system.

 

[wickerman]

Ok, back on today and those messages have disappeared again. And messages from another sender also.

There are no rules currently defined in Mail.

 

[DeltaMac]

Were those messages that disappeared in the trash this time?
Do those messages all come to the same mail account?
Did you verify that, for each and every Mail account that you have, the trash settings that are identical? You did not say that you checked each account.

 

[wickerman]

Yes, the account settings are identical.

 

[Cheryl]

And the mystery continues. What happens if you don’t put those emails in the trash? Just give them a flag color but leave them in your inBox or put them in a special folder that does not have trash in the name.

 

[wickerman]

And the mystery continues. What happens if you don’t put those emails in the trash? Just give them a flag color but leave them in your inBox or put them in a special folder that does not have trash in the name.

I made a copy previously in a special folder and the message stayed there for at least 24hrs. Next time I'll move it there (without copying), leave it longer and see what happens.

 

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Do you have any other devices (like iPhones or iPads, etc.) where this/these account(s) are set up, and perhaps are deleting the messages (maybe because they have different retention rules set)?

 

[wickerman]

I have an iPhone but as far as I can tell there's no way to change the settings to delete old messages.

 

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > (Your IMAP account) > Account > Advanced > Remove > [Never / After one day / After one week / After one month]

 

[wickerman]

Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > (Your IMAP account) > Account > Advanced > Remove > [Never / After one day / After one week / After one month]

Aha... It was set to "delete after one week". Have now reset. Many thanks!

 

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Hopefully that resolves it!

 

[wickerman]

I think something is resetting my phone's setting, as I changed this and noticed that my email was being deleted again, and when I checked on my phone I saw that it had returned to the default "delete after one week". What could cause this?

 

[Cheryl]

Make sure your settings are the same on your phone, desktop and web email. One of them is directing the others to change.

 

[wickerman]

Make sure your settings are the same on your phone, desktop and web email. One of them is directing the others to change.

Phone and desktop are currently the same. Sky email doesn't seem to provide a setting for deletion of mails other than spam.

 

[wickerman]

Well, I seem to have done all I can do. Mail is still deleting my messages, yet as far as I can tell all my settings instruct mail not to be deleted. Really pi**ed off with this.

 

[DeltaMac]

Hmm... I'm trying to understand - maybe I have missed something in your posts.
Those are still only messages that you have in the trash, correct?
And, the only messages that disappear are from certain users, and are already in the trash?
So, you have simply filed those away, and no longer need those messages - because you put them in the trash?

If all the above is true, but the fact remains that no messages from other senders disappear from the trash - only from those senders?
Further - that messages from those senders do not disappear, unless they are in the trash?

Is all the above correct?
So, (I'm just curious ) if you really want to keep those messages, then don't put them in the trash.
Your personal workflow, with muscle memory involved, might be hard to change.
Maybe you can't fix the "why", but you apparently have the workaround of not using the trash unless you are deleting messages. Delete messages (which moves them to trash), then empty the trash, and you are done. That gives you control over that part, anyway. The result: you solve the problem of certain messages disappearing if you leave them in the trash - because they are already gone.

OK, I accept that it's a "head-in-the-sand" approach - and you can ignore my post.