[roksob]

Searching for a word using Spotlight, I turned up many mail messages from previous years that I thought I had deleted. The links to these messages in the Spotlight window are functional; I can bring the messages up on screen. However, the icons on the left of the Spotlight window are grayed out and there is no path to the files at the bottom of the screen. That space is just empty.
I have tried searching within Mail with no hits. What gives? Does Mac OS save all my mail messages even though I delete them in Mail. If so, where does it keep them?

[ibook_steve]

What type of mail account are you using? If it's IMAP, perhaps there are still links somewhere to old messages still on the mail server, assuming you only deleted them locally and not on the server. This could also be the case if you are using POP, though usually messages are removed from the server when downloaded with a POP account.

Steve

[roksob]

Steve: Thanks for the reply. I'm using a POP account. I just realized that Spotlight does not provide a path to any mail messages, deleted or otherwise.

To test the system, I sent myself a test message; deleted it; did a cmd-K to purge the trash; disconnected from the internet; then found and opened the message with Spotlight. So, the system is saving deleted messages somewhere on the machine. Go figure.

[Spheric Harlot]

If you're using Leopard, Time Machine backs up all your e-mail.