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7 Nov 2020, 10:54 AM | #1 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Kansas City - USA
Posts: 177
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IMAP Question
I have always had the understanding that with an IMAP account all of your email messages - sent, received, trash, etc. were stored on the mail server and not on your computer so if your computer went down the emails would not be lost.
My daughter's Windows 10 machine running Outlook 2010 had to have the hard drive formatted and all of the software, etc. installed again. When she re-installed Outlook 2010 and set up her Comcast IMAP email account none of her previous emails were there. If she originally was set up with an IMAP account why weren't her previous emails on the Comcast mail server? Thanks, Bill |
7 Nov 2020, 02:01 PM | #2 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 114
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There are several possibilities.
My experience with Outlook 2010 is that when it does not display emails that you know are there it is either not downloading the email or its header from the server (Sync problem), or some filter got set without your knowledge or intention and the emails and folders are being hidden. A second possibility is that your original account was setup as POP by mistake and the emails were downloaded to the hard drive that got wiped. That is a bad possibility. A quick way to get some info, is to try accessing the account with a smartphone. I do not know if Comcast has its own app for mobile. You can try FairEmail for Android for free. I do not know what iPhone uses. If you can get at the emails from the phone, then they are still there and it is either a sync issue or a filter that needs to be cleared. HTH |
7 Nov 2020, 04:56 PM | #3 |
The "e" in e-mail
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 2,908
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7 Nov 2020, 08:26 PM | #4 |
Master of the @
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: USA
Posts: 1,749
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I have Xfinity/Comcast at home, and when I log in to my account there is a small envelope at the top of the screen that indicates the email account/webmail. Just go there directly to see if your email exists.
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7 Nov 2020, 08:59 PM | #5 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Kansas City - USA
Posts: 177
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Thank you everyone for your information and suggestions. I will definitely try what you say
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10 Nov 2020, 10:50 AM | #6 |
Essential Contributor
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 399
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Just to reinforce it: Your understanding is correct. If everything is working as intended, and your Outlook was connected over IMAP, it should have only been displaying emails that existed on the server at all times and if they were not on the server, they should have disappeared from your view almost immediately.
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11 Nov 2020, 06:09 AM | #7 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Kansas City - USA
Posts: 177
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Jarland - thanks very much for confirming my understanding of IMAP!!
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