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vja4him · Jul 10, 2009, 10:26 AM

I need serious help ... !!! I accidentally deleted a folder (with lots of folders inside!) of very important e-mail containing years of research ... !!!

Is there any possible way to get it back? I was trying to change the names of folders, from lower case to upper case, and I got a message telling me that I couldn't do that, because there was already a folder like that.

I saw an extra folder, and clicked on it, but there appeared to be nothing in it, so I chose Delete from the menu. Only to find out it was the real folder with many other folders inside.

I’m using Mac Mail, OS X 10.4.11 -- I did NOT choose Erase Deleted Messages from the menu yet ... !!! Is there still hope to recover all those deleted messages .... ???

I need to get that e-mail back somehow ....

Any suggestions ... ??? Help !!!

turtle777 · Jul 10, 2009, 10:40 AM

Uhm, was it really deleted, or just moved to Trash ?

As long as you have not emptied the Trash, the folder should be inside of the Trash.
However, if you didn't have enough space on your HD, it would have told you that deleting the items would lead to immediate deletion.

At that point, your best (and safest) bet is Data Rescue II, IIRC.

If possible, you should stop using that Mac ASAP, get Data Rescue II, boot from the emergency DVD and retore the folder. The longer you keep using your Mac, the slimmer the chance that all data can be recovered.

-t

vja4him · Jul 10, 2009, 12:01 PM

I didn't empty the Trash, and I didn't choose Erase Deleted Messages from Mac Mail. Only a few folders from Mac Mail got deleted. Unfortunately, very important mail, going back five years!

I don't see any Mac Mail files in the Trash. But I haven't chosen Erase Deleted Messages from Mac Mail, so where would those messages be? They must still be somewhere, if you can erase them (and I didn't erase them yet) ....

vja4him · Jul 10, 2009, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by turtle777

Uhm, was it really deleted, or just moved to Trash ?

As long as you have not emptied the Trash, the folder should be inside of the Trash.
However, if you didn't have enough space on your HD, it would have told you that deleting the items would lead to immediate deletion.-t

Oh yes, I forgot to add that I have plenty of hard drive space -- 25.6 GB on partition one (where the System and Mac Mail is), and 193 GB on the second partition.

TheoCryst · Jul 10, 2009, 12:17 PM

Are you sure you checked Mail's Trash folder, and not the one on your Dock? They are completely separate entities.

Beyond that, it depends entirely on your mail server's settings. I have one account that completely bypasses the trash when I delete things (it's mostly for junk email anyway).

turtle777 · Jul 10, 2009, 12:35 PM

Oh, I sort of missed the info that the folder was deleted in Apple Mail.

All Apple Mail folders are actually mirrors of actual folders on your HD.
It's located somewhere in your /user/library/ folder, I'd have to check exactly where.

At any rate, I don't know what Apple Mail does when you delete a folder. Does it move the HD folder to Trash ?
Does it leave the HD folder and just "unlinks" it from the Mail folder view ?

Chances are, nothing got deleted yet, just removed from plain view.

When I'm back in front of my Mac, I can tell you where to look for it.

-t

turtle777 · Jul 10, 2009, 08:55 PM

Ok, so email folders are located here:

HD/Users/username/Library/Mail/youremail@isp.cpm/

Underneath, there is a nested structure of the folders and messages.

I just did a test (using an IMAP account), created a folder, put some emails in and then deleted it.
Mail will remove the folder, and also delete the folder on your HD. This folder will NOT show up in your Trash on the Desktop.

Conclusion: You would need a third party app like Data Rescue.

I don't know if a POP account would behave differently. If you use POP, you should check the above mentioned location on your HD, and in the Finder Trash can.

Good luck getting your emails back.

-t