Missing New Folder & E-mails It Contained

[Slytod]

Apologies first for being back here again so soon, and also for once more not being sure which forum to put this.

Earlier today, before I even awoke, my girlfriend was at her PC and decided to create a new local folder in Thunderbird and move all her e-mails from the in-box to it. (I think maybe because the account from Plusnet has long standing issues that they are apparently not capable of solving, so she may have hoped this move would prevent the inappropriate regular automatic e-mails she gets where it erroneously claims she is over limit (unless Plusnet are hiding a folder containing many e-mails from her, which would answer some of her issues with them).) But that aside for now…

First I hear of it is when she goes back to it later and the new folder, plus all the recent e-mails she moved to it, is nowhere to be seen. Not in Thunderbird, nor at the Plusnet server, and so all her recent e-mails are missing, perhaps lost.

I’ve searched Thunderbird and the server account and confirmed I can not find any trace of the new folder nor her e-mails. I have also looked in the PC Recycle Bin (no new folder there) and even downloaded and installed Recuva to my USB flash drive and used it to search for deleted stuff, without seeing anything that looks like the folder she made.

So I am now out of ideas, and, of course, she is reluctant to use the computer until everything has been restored or given up on. As she says, it’s hardly surprising her confidence in using a PC keeps going down when a simple act of creating a folder results in the loss of such important stuff. And personally I can’t see what she could have done wrong either, it makes no sense to me.

It does occur to me that we could contact Plusnet to see if they have things backed up but if they remain as useful as they have been in the past, I hold zero hope out for that being a solution.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions to fix this.

[Slytod]

Update:
She found a “History” menu option at the server e-mail which I’d not found, and despite the server e-mail not showing the new folder, this history list shows a movement of something from the inbox to the new folder. I’m unsure what to make of that.

Anyway still nothing obvious in Thunderbird on the desktop, so I asked to see her mobile, which is running TypeApp. Sure enough there is a folder that can be selected which is the new one with the e-mails in it.

She insists she would not have created the new folder from the mobile as she wouldn’t have confidence what she was doing there. But says over the time since then & the stress caused she can no longer feel sure if she was in Thunderbird or on the server when she created it: but really thinks she was in Thunderbird.

This being only on the mobile is not an ideal situation by any means. Plus I’m unsure how it got to that state, why or why not changes are or are not reflected to all 3, and perhaps most important, how to sort things such that the desktop Thunderbird has all the info even if the mobile only holds latest info. Presently it seems it’s the other way around.

It’s good it’s been found but where do we go from here ?

[veeg]

Hello

Let’s get more help..

@Bastet

[Bastet]

I don’t use Thunderbird so I can’t give specifics but if the folder was created on that email client then ensure the account is set to sync automatically & not manual.
If the folder was created on Thunderbird then the folder should show there before any other device imo.

[Slytod]

Definitely not showing in Thunderbird.
Unfortunately we are off to my place for a while in a short time, so I may just be gathering suggestions until we return to her place.
I don’t use Thunderbird either so I’m not au fait with checking sync. Maybe I can find a manual on the Net somewhere.

[veeg]

Any update?

[Slytod]

No, I was hoping for more suggestions. I did find a Thunderbird manual but no instructions on how to sync things. I’m not presently at my girlfriends house but at mine so it’ll be a while before I can try anything, but I don’t really know what to try yet, that I didn’t before posting this thread.

[Rustys]

Access the email account form the website to see if they are there in any of the folders.

[Slytod]

Did that before posting the thread. At that time we couldn’t find them on the PC nor on Plusnet’s server. Was very surprised to find them on her mobile. I’ll try the server again tomorrow though.

edit
Yes just checked & confirmed. Neither missing folder nor missing e-mails are on the Plusnet e-mail server. Only those e-mails created/received since.

[Rustys]

Was very surprised to find them on her mobile.

was it configured to leave the emails on the server?

[Slytod]

That is my understanding as she wants them all to be accessible from the computer. Has always stayed there before. I’d have to check her mobile, but to be honest I find this e-mail setting confusing and so tend to leave it as default in case something deletes from the server so other clients don’t see it. Unsure I know what to set all three to. In any case movement to a new folder on Thunderbird ought not both delete from the server and itself, but copy to TypeApp on the mobile.

[Rustys]

If the device is configured correctly and synced to the email correctly.

As long as all are configured to leave a copy on the server. Plus, some you have to tell it which folders to synced access to and copy over. Some mobile devices are also configured that they will only show information for a certain date range. This is due to the limited space that they have.

[Slytod]

I was in a position to check TypeApp on the mobile and as usual found it difficult to see anything relevant, but then noticed a greyed out bit stating that deletion was only possible with POP3 so I’m assuming the mobile e-mail can’t delete anything outside of it.

I’ll try checking the server later, but the PC will have to wait until we get back to her place.

But an important thing is to discover is how to duplicate the new folder and it’s contents from TypeApp, where I found it, onto Thunderbird, and possibly but less importantly, maybe to the server too.

[Rustys]

As far as TypeApp you may have to look into their help section personally have never heard of it and or used it.

[Bruce]

@Slytod - do you still need help?