Emails have disappeared

[stoneysnapper]

A couple of months ago I noticed about 7-8 months worth of emails in my inbox had disappeared. I established it unknowingly by searching for an email and I couldn't find it. It was also an odd timeframe that was missing, I had most of Septembers emails but everything from August to January was gone. However I stumbled across them all in my junk folder. Discussed with BT on Twitter and basically they blamed Apple mail clients. It's virtually impossible in Apple mail to "accidentally" move that amount of emails but selecting them So tonight whilst searching for an email from a few years ago I noticed that my search stopped in May 2022. So I scrolled to the bottom of my mail box and I have lost every email from April 2016 when I joined BT to 20th May 2022, 6 years worth of emails. 

Again pretty much physically impossible for me to delete them, they aren't in junk, trash or anywhere. How an earth can this happen? My email is setup as an imap account. My sent emails seem to be all there though. I've checked webmail and all my other devices, MacBook, iPhone, iPad and as you would expect they are the same.

Advice anyone? 

[stoneysnapper]

Update, my iPhone and iPad are only showing emails to the 20th January this year. So on those devices I have lost 6 years 8 months worth of emails. 

[Stuart8]

I'm in exactly the same boat. Has anyone any information on where the old email has gone?

[stoneysnapper]

Stuart I don't think we are the only ones this is happening to, its doing my head in how BT just blame someone else. I've put a post on the Apple forums to see what I get there. No doubt Apple will blame BT...

[Stuart8]

I did wonder if this is coinciding with the move away from Yahoo. Either way, some really important mails seem to have gone AWOL. If you do hear anything from elsewhere, please do post.

[stoneysnapper]

I will do Stuart   

[Andy_N]

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@stoneysnapperwrote:

Update, my iPhone and iPad are only showing emails to the 20th January this year. So on those devices I have lost 6 years 8 months worth of emails. 

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As a matter of interest, do you have any form of backup regime? Do you have those old emails downloaded to a laptop etc?

Many people have lost emails believing that the BT servers are infallible, but over the years that hasn't been the case.

[stoneysnapper]

Hi Andy, I haven't run a Time Machine back up on my MacBook for some time, but thanks for the reminder. I do have one on a drive thats a couple of years old. It wouldn't  get them all back if they are included in the back up but might get some. 

[Fergusonsfolly]

Me too!! This is the third time it has happened.
All emails from 13 November 2018 to today (4 December 2023) have disappeared.
Checked all my devices and all showing the same.
Sent emails and all folders where I store emails are unaffected.
It seems that it has happened to others today as well. Last time the issue wasn't resolved. Seems strange that in my case the disappeared emails always go back to the same date 13 November 2018.

[stoneysnapper]

FergusonFolly are you using Apple devices?