Emails deleting.

[zowenso]

Hello. I have a few emails set up in the mail app. I have a yahoo, gmail and Outlook mail set up. For some reason outlook keeps deleting emails. I’m assuming it’s after a certain amount of time, but I don’t want this to happen. It’s a pain to go to my desk top to find the emails that I need that are older and are getting removed automatically. Is there a way to stop them from being deleted?

Thanks.

 

[0128672]

What's your setting for Mail Days to Sync for your Outlook account? If you've got it set to the default 1 Month that would explain why it seems like they're being deleted. They're not actually deleted but they're not syncing past 1 month. If you log into Outlook.com, those emails are probably there. You can change the setting on your phone to No Limit if you want to see all of them.

 

[zowenso]

What's your setting for Mail Days to Sync for your Outlook account? If you've got it set to the default 1 Month that would explain why it seems like they're being deleted. They're not actually deleted but they're not syncing past 1 month. If you log into Outlook.com, those emails are probably there. You can change the setting on your phone to No Limit if you want to see all of them.

Thanks. When I use the mail app on my Mac mini all emails are there. But not on my iPhone app. When I log into outlook on my phone it’s also not showing all my emails. How do I find the settings to make that change? Thanks.

 

[0128672]

You might

Thanks. When I use the mail app on my Mac mini all emails are there. But not on my iPhone app. When I log into outlook on my phone it’s also not showing all my emails. How do I find the settings to make that change? Thanks.

Go to Settings > Mail > Accounts > Exchange > Mail Days to Sync.

 

[zowenso]

Hello again. So, I'm still having the same issue with emails deleting from my iPhone mail app and its making me crazy lol. Im losing important emails. I sent a test email to myself on oct 11 so I could see how long it was before it was deleted. I checked for it every day and it was in my inbox until today. It deleted today, so thats one week. I have a few accounts in the mail app, gmail, yahoo and outlook. Its the outlook msn account thats the issue. I also went into a short cut I saved to the desk top version of outlook on my home screen. The email is also gone from there. The only place emails don't get deleted is the mail app on my Mac mini, thank god. But not being able to access from my phone is a giant issue for me.

As suggested I went into settings>passwords and accounts>outlook and change the mails days to sync to "no limit" and they are still deleting. I really need some help if anyone has any more advice. Thanks so much.

 

[0128672]

What if you use the separate Outlook app on your phone for now to get things stabilized? Sure, it's more convenient to have everything consolidated, but it sounds like something is creating a conflict.

 

[zowenso]

What if you use the separate Outlook app on your phone for now to get things stabilized? Sure, it's more convenient to have everything consolidated, but it sounds like something is creating a conflict.

Hello, Thanks for the response. Emails are also getting deleted from the outlook short cut I have in a folder on my iPhone home screen. Whats odd is that they don't even end up in the trash after they disappear from the inbox. The emails just disappear. I checked in the apple mail app trash and the home screen app trash I have. Nothing. The test email I sent is totally gone. So weird.

 

[0128672]

Hello, Thanks for the response. Emails are also getting deleted from the outlook short cut I have in a folder on my iPhone home screen. Whats odd is that they don't even end up in the trash after they disappear from the inbox. The emails just disappear. I checked in the apple mail app trash and the home screen app trash I have. Nothing. The test email I sent is totally gone. So weird.

If this happened on my phone, I would create a backup, and then remove the Outlook account from the Mail app and remove the Outlook shortcut that's in your home screen folder. From there I would temporarily use Outlook.com to see if emails are still disappearing. If not, keep your Outlook account out of the Mail app and use the separate Outlook app.

At the very least it's a couple of steps to help narrow down this odd problem.

 

[BrianBaughn]

I suspect the setting at Settings>Passwords & Accounts>ACCOUNTS>[youroutlookaccount]>Mail Days to Sync isn't sticking for some reason. Double check that.

For clarity here, please confirm that the missing emails still exist at the Outlook webmail interface.

I don't know how your Outlook.com email account is configured…but…if it was set up on the iPhone via the Outlook.com logo under "Add Account" you could try deleting the account and adding it as an "Exchange" account (or, vice-versa).

The upside to using Exchange is that syncing now includes "Notes". The downside is that moving messages between an Exchange account and IMAP accounts gets futzed…if that matters.

 

[zowenso]

I suspect the setting at Settings>Passwords & Accounts>ACCOUNTS>[youroutlookaccount]>Mail Days to Sync isn't sticking for some reason. Double check that.

For clarity here, please confirm that the missing emails still exist at the Outlook webmail interface.

I don't know how your Outlook.com email account is configured…but…if it was set up on the iPhone via the Outlook.com logo under "Add Account" you could try deleting the account and adding it as an "Exchange" account (or, vice-versa).

The upside to using Exchange is that syncing now includes "Notes". The downside is that moving messages between an Exchange account and IMAP accounts gets futzed…if that matters.

Oh my god. Wow. I just logged into outlook.live.com which is the actual website for that email address I have and its the same thing on there. I only see 7 emails, which is all I see on my phone in the apple mail app and the outlook app. In the Apple mail app on my Mac mini I have a few hundred important emails that I've saved, but they are only visible there. I have never deleted these emails so I'm so confused as to why I don't see them anywhere except on my Mac mini. This is stressing me out. Why wouldn't they be on the actual website if I've never deleted them?

 

[0128672]

Just a longshot here, but is there any chance it's a visibility/filter setting, something like only show unread emails instead show all?

 

[zowenso]

Thanks for your time on this. I don’t think so? The only emails I see have been read and all the email that are disappearing have also been read. They are just disappearing. They aren’t even moving to trash. I also checked the archive folder on the mail app, outlook app and desk top version, nothing in any of them. So crazy.

 

[0128672]

Thanks for your time on this. I don’t think so? The only emails I see have been read and all the email that are disappearing have also been read. They are just disappearing. They aren’t even moving to trash. I also checked the archive folder on the mail app, outlook app and desk top version, nothing in any of them. So crazy.

But you haven't responded about the filtering options. Have you reviewed them? When you go into settings, are you using Focused Inbox? Are you using Organize by Thread? What's your inbox filter set to?

 

[zowenso]

Where would I find that setting? Would that be in the Apple settings or the actual outlook site settings?
I also noticed that when I delete an email in the Apple mail app, it also deletes in the outlook app. However, they don’t delete from the mail app on my Mac mini, thank god because all the emails that are missing from the app and Apple mail app are at least on my Mac mini app. But I work more from my phone.

 

[0128672]

Go to this Microsoft site and download the Outlook for iOS Cheat Sheet. It provides screenshots of all of the Outlook for iOS settings.

Office cheat sheets - Microsoft Support

Training: Get up to speed in minutes, quickly refer to things you’ve learned, and master keyboard shortcuts with these handy cheat sheets for Microsoft Office.

support.microsoft.com

 

[0128672]

Once you review all of the settings, I'd recommend trying turning off Focused Inbox and any filters on the Inbox screen. Because these settings may be new info for you, I am more strongly suspecting a settings/filtering/visibility issue.

 

[zowenso]

Thanks again. I’ll try and sort through those settings. I appreciate it. I assume it’s best to download that link and do this from my Mac mini, rather than my phone?

 

[0128672]

Thanks again. I’ll try and sort through those settings. I appreciate it. I assume it’s best to download that link and do this from my Mac mini, rather than my phone?

You can download that PDF on whichever device would be easiest to read it on.

 

[BrianBaughn]

One thing that hasn't been asked is how the Outlook.com account is set up on your Mini. The behavior you are describing would be consistent with the account being configured on the Mini as "POP" with the emails being deleted on the server after Mail on the Mini downloads them. So...you'd see the email on your iPhone when it comes in but when Mail on the Mini checks mail it downloads it and deletes the server version.

If this is the case don't make any changes to the Mail account on the Mini until you have copied the emails to a folder or folders in Mail that are "On My Mac". Once you've got them backed up in that manner you can configure your Outlook.com on the Mini correctly and then move or copy the emails back from the "On My Mac" folders to the account folders.

 

[zowenso]

One thing that hasn't been asked is how the Outlook.com account is set up on your Mini. The behavior you are describing would be consistent with the account being configured on the Mini as "POP" with the emails being deleted on the server after Mail on the Mini downloads them. So...you'd see the email on your iPhone when it comes in but when Mail on the Mini checks mail it downloads it and deletes the server version.

If this is the case don't make any changes to the Mail account on the Mini until you have copied the emails to a folder or folders in Mail that are "On My Mac". Once you've got them backed up in that manner you can configure your Outlook.com on the Mini correctly and then move or copy the emails back from the "On My Mac" folders to the account folders.

Thanks again for all the help. So this sounds like it could be helpful to look into. I’m not super savvy, but I’m working through this.

To be clear, the emails aren’t immediately being deleted from the Apple mail app on my iPhone or the outlook app. They seem to last about a week and then POOF gone!! I’ve changed the sync on my phone settings to 30 days and they still disappear. They don’t even end up in my trash. And within that week I have definitely seen them on my Mac mini Apple mail app, so they aren’t immediately deleting from my iPhone once I see them on my Mac mini. I’m not sure that changes anything.

I do notice that if I physically delete an email from outlook in the apple mail app on my phone, it’s then gone from the outlook app and viceversa. They do not however get deleted from the mail app on my Mac mini, thank god.


The setting changes you mention, where would they have to take place to fix the issue in the Apple mail app on my phone and the outlook app? Would the changes be made in my phone? The outlook app?

Thanks so much.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Don't make any changes yet…just check, on your Mini in the Mail app, how the account is set up by going to Mail>Preferences>Accounts, select the Outlook.com account and select the Server Settings tab. Does it indicate your account is IMAP, or POP?

 

[zowenso]

Don't make any changes yet…just check, on your Mini in the Mail app, how the account is set up by going to Mail>Preferences>Accounts, select the Outlook.com account and select the Server Settings tab. Does it indicate your account is IMAP, or POP?

Thanks. I’ll check back here after work. Appreciate it.

 

[zowenso]

Don't make any changes yet…just check, on your Mini in the Mail app, how the account is set up by going to Mail>Preferences>Accounts, select the Outlook.com account and select the Server Settings tab. Does it indicate your account is IMAP, or POP?

So im home now. I followed your instructions and opened mail and went Mail>Preferences>Accounts. I only have the Outlook account in the Mac mini mail app. In this pop up on the left side it says MSN and under that it says POP.

 

[BrianBaughn]

You have found the issue. Create new mailboxes (Inbox, Sent and whatever other folders) under "On My Mac" and save (move or copy) your Outlook.com account emails to those.

You can then delete the Outlook.com account from System Preferences>Internet Accounts and then add it back as either an IMAP or Exchange type. You can then copy your emails back from the folders under "On My Mac" to the proper ones under the new account. You may have to create new folders if you have any such organization. Once you copy the emails they will begin to upload to the server…this will take a while if you have a LOT of email.

You should start seeing the emails on your iPhone once the copying/uploading begins.

Once you've confirmed that all your emails are copied and uploaded to the Outlook.com server you can delete the folders you created under "On My Mac".

By the way, you can see the setting where emails get deleted from the server one week after the Mini's Mail downloads them. When you set up as IMAP or Exchange that won't happen anymore.

 

[zowenso]

You have found the issue. Create new mailboxes (Inbox, Sent and whatever other folders) under "On My Mac" and save (move or copy) your Outlook.com account emails to those.

You can then delete the Outlook.com account from System Preferences>Internet Accounts and then add it back as either an IMAP or Exchange type. You can then copy your emails back from the folders under "On My Mac" to the proper ones under the new account. You may have to create new folders if you have any such organization. Once you copy the emails they will begin to upload to the server…this will take a while if you have a LOT of email.

You should start seeing the emails on your iPhone once the copying/uploading begins.

Once you've confirmed that all your emails are copied and uploaded to the Outlook.com server you can delete the folders you created under "On My Mac".

By the way, you can see the setting where emails get deleted from the server one week after the Mini's Mail downloads them. When you set up as IMAP or Exchange that won't happen anymore.

Wow unreal. Thank you so so much. Ok, so as I said earlier, I’m not super tech savvy. Sounds like a straight forward fix for those that are will versed in this. I think a visual would help me. Do you think there is a video on YouTube that addresses exactly what you told me to do? Thanks a lot for the help on this. Just knowing this makes me feel some relief. Thank you.