Hi. I’m a new user and I’ve been having trouble with emails disappearing and not being available to view after I’ve looked at the list on my iPhone. I’m not actually opening the messages, so they’re not being marked as read either. When I get home and try to look at an important email from my computer, they’re all gone! Do I have a setting wrong or something? I need this fixed.
Are you using POP3 or IMAP protocol? My guess is that you are using POP3 and have not configured it to “leave a copy of the email on the server.” If I am correct in this assumption, then as soon as an email is downloaded to any device, whether you open it or not, it is deleted from your server and is no longer available to other devices. If you are planning to view emails on multiple devices, you are better off using the IMAP protocol.
I am using the IMAP protocol.
I am using the IMAP protocol. Could I have a setting wrong on computer or iPhone?
Hi,
Sorry. I had it backwards. The problem is with the iPhone protocol. It is acting like a POP3 without the “save a copy on the server.” That is where to look. What is your email service provider? What email app are you using on the iPhone?
I have it in my phone as imap also. I use windstream communications…it’s the only internet service in my area via phone line. Incoming mail server and outgoing mail server matches in settings on the computer and settings on my phone. They should mirror each other. I don’t see any option to “save a copy on the server” in my phone anywhere. Any ideas where I should look other than the email account settings on my phone?
The email app is the one that’s standard on the phone. My software is up to date with iOS 9.3.1
Let me see if I understand this. You 1) look at a list of emails on your iPhone but do not open them and do not delete them from your phone; 2) try to view them on your desktop using eM Client and they are gone. And 3) both iPhone and eM Client are set up using IMAP protocol. Is this all correct?
yes
One last question; can you read the emails on your iPhone?
yes if I open them up from the list
Then the emails are being downloaded to your iPhone and deleted from the server. That is POP3 behavior. I suspect that it is the way your iPhone is set up to interface with your email service. That is where I’d look.
BTW, I know you sent the name of your email service provider but it seems to have disappeared from this thread. I noticed that your original inquiry came through twice so I suspect that there is a double thread going with parts of the correspondence on one or the other part. At any rate, although I don’t remember the name of your email service provider, when I saw the name, it was not one that I know anything about so I don’t know any details regarding setting up an iPhone to run it.
Ok, thanks for trying to help me.
Another line of thought. Can you access your Windstream (I found it) account via web browser? Are the emails still there in the inbox?
yes I can access it and no the emails are gone there too.
Hello Stephanie,
if the messages are in your phone but not on your server, then it’s exactly as Norman above describes - your phone app is connecting to your server with POP3 protocol.
First of all, download the messages from your phone to your computer so you don’t lose them completely. This is currently the only copy of your messages.
Then make sure to change your account to IMAP or set it up again as such in your iPhone (there are many instructions site for this found online, like this one or this apple support post).
After you are sure that you have the email account set up as IMAP on all devices, import the downloaded messages (through eM client or Phone, it doesn’t matter).
They will synchronize back to your server and be accessible from all your devices.
Regards,
Olivia