I lost all the messages I had been saving.

[melburstein]

My question pertains to using Apple Mail on my rMBP (Mid 2012). A long time ago I created a series of Folders within Apple Mail in which to categorize and store messages that I want to save. For example, I have one Folder named "Fence Project", one named "2013 Prius" and about twenty others. Also, I have always used Time Machine to backup all my stuff on a Time Capsule. Now, recently, I sent my notebook to an Apple Repair depot. They found the hard disk was having I/O errors and replaced it. When I got my rMBP back, I simply told the operating system (OS X 10.10) to restore from my Time Machine backup. The process was smooth and painless.

OK, let me get to the point. A week later, I discovered that all my saved mail has disappeared. The twenty some folders that I had set up are still there, but in name only. The folders no longer have any content. I'm hoping there is a way to recover those previously saved messages from my backup, but I'm not sure how to do it. If someone can give me step-by-step instructions, I will be very grateful.

 

[melburstein]

After several days, working with Apple Chat Support, I have recovered the mail that I lost. Here is how:

How To Recover Mail Folders and Files From Time Machine Backup


Info provided by Apple Support Senior Tech on the Time Capsule Team.

1. Open Mail by clicking on the postage stamp icon at the bottom of the screen. Then with the Mail app open, click the Time Machine icon at the top of the secreen (it looks like a clock and appears just left of the speaker volume icon).

2. Go to the right hand side of the TM screen and you will see what looks like a vertical ruler with dates. Scroll down to the Date/Time of the backup from which you want to recover files.

3. Select the Mail folder that you want to Recover.

4. Select all messages in the folder by selecting the first file and then pressing command-A, or just select the individual files you wish to recover. Then wait for all files to be extracted from the backup. This will take a while, especially if the Time Capsule connections is wireless. Watch the file count in the title bar increase until it stops.

5. While still on the TM screen, click the Restore button in the bottom center portion of the screen to recover your files and wait a few seconds or minutes for the process to complete.

6. Quit Mail by clicking at the top of the screen (File > Quit Mail).

7. Reopen Mail by clicking on the postage stamp icon at the bottom of the screen. This will refresh the screen image.

8. Look for the com.apple.Mail.Backup folder and click on it. This will give you an expanded view of recovered files.. Select the most recent folder with a name like recovered-files-n as it will contain the files that you want to save. Select ll iles by clicking on the top of the screen to select one file and press Control-A to select them all.


Created my Mel Burstein, 8/15/2015