Fastmail Inbox emptied by itself.

bschelle · 8 Feb 2022, 05:48 AM

Today my inbox emptied without me making this move myself. Any ideas as to why this happened? I did not move them or delete them. Lost some old messages that i wanted to keep. I tried to restore them but all of them did not restore. It says none have been deleted in the last 24 hours. What did I do to cause this to happen?

xyzzy · 8 Feb 2022, 06:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bschelle

Today my inbox emptied without me making this move myself. Any ideas as to why this happened? I did not move them or delete them. Lost some old messages that i wanted to keep. I tried to restore them but all of them did not restore. It says none have been deleted in the last 24 hours. What did I do to cause this to happen?

Are you using any email client apps or only the FastMail webmail? Perhaps the delete was done from one of those apps.

JeremyNicoll · 8 Feb 2022, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bschelle

Today my inbox emptied without me making this move myself. Any ideas as to why this happened? I did not move them or delete them. Lost some old messages that i wanted to keep. I tried to restore them but all of them did not restore. It says none have been deleted in the last 24 hours. What did I do to cause this to happen?

Messages could vanish from any folder if you have that folder's setting "Permanently delete unpinned messages in this folder after" nn days (default seems to be 31) turned on. Check that in Settings - Account - Folders - Inbox - (Edit) - Advanced preferences.

Otherwise, the only people possibly able to work out what happened are Fastmail Support.

You need to ask them if they can tell what happened, but also whether they can restore mails from some other backup.

BritTim · 8 Feb 2022, 12:29 PM

When this happens, it is virtually always a result of some activity by an external mail client. In the past, this was often because an external mail client was set up to retrieve messages from Fastmail using POP.

The first thing to do is search for one of the emails that you know for certain was among those that disappeared. Perhaps, the message still exists somewhere else. I assume you already checked the Trash folder.

If the messages are still missing,

Go to Settings ->Passwords & Security
On the extreme right of the line Logged in sessions, click Review
At the bottom of the screen showing current logged in sessions, click on View all logins in the last 4 weeks

This shows you everywhere your account has been accessed within the last four weeks. If there is any connection that mentions POP, that will be the cause of the problem. Otherwise, look through the recent sessions, and see if they all are from devices you own or used. Act accordingly.

Terry · 8 Feb 2022, 04:40 PM

Perhaps your phone...

EricG · 12 Feb 2022, 03:22 PM

This is why I always disable POP3. You never know what mail apps default to.
I'm using gmail & outlook, can't remember if fastmail had that option.

Terry · 12 Feb 2022, 06:48 PM

POP 3 does not delete from the server if you tick the box....the others can be a nuisance.

8 Feb 2022, 05:48 AM	#1
bschelle Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 16	Fastmail Inbox emptied by itself. Today my inbox emptied without me making this move myself. Any ideas as to why this happened? I did not move them or delete them. Lost some old messages that i wanted to keep. I tried to restore them but all of them did not restore. It says none have been deleted in the last 24 hours. What did I do to cause this to happen?

8 Feb 2022, 12:29 PM	#4
BritTim The "e" in e-mail Join Date: May 2003 Location: mostly in Thailand Posts: 3,095	When this happens, it is virtually always a result of some activity by an external mail client. In the past, this was often because an external mail client was set up to retrieve messages from Fastmail using POP. The first thing to do is search for one of the emails that you know for certain was among those that disappeared. Perhaps, the message still exists somewhere else. I assume you already checked the Trash folder. If the messages are still missing, Go to Settings ->Passwords & Security On the extreme right of the line Logged in sessions, click Review At the bottom of the screen showing current logged in sessions, click on View all logins in the last 4 weeks This shows you everywhere your account has been accessed within the last four weeks. If there is any connection that mentions POP, that will be the cause of the problem. Otherwise, look through the recent sessions, and see if they all are from devices you own or used. Act accordingly.

8 Feb 2022, 04:40 PM	#5
Terry The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: VK4 Posts: 3,029	Perhaps your phone...

12 Feb 2022, 03:22 PM	#6
EricG Essential Contributor Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Canada Posts: 296	This is why I always disable POP3. You never know what mail apps default to. I'm using gmail & outlook, can't remember if fastmail had that option.

12 Feb 2022, 06:48 PM	#7
Terry The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: VK4 Posts: 3,029	POP 3 does not delete from the server if you tick the box....the others can be a nuisance.