Lost all my emails after ios 5 install.

[russellclayton]

I'm late to the party, but when I switched from MobileMe to iCloud all of my emails were intact. Did your MobileMe > iCloud transition appear to go smoothly?

Had problems installing with error 3200. After that everything appeared to go smoothly until I signed into my mailbox and found it to be empty with no apparent way of restoring it!

 

[ipadbraincell]

Contact your email provider/s ASAP, ask them to restore every thing, you won't be alone.

 

[McPc]

The way I read this now is that if the "Mail Sync" in iTunes was not checked the email data was not backed up. I've found iTunes to be a PITA and despised having to anchor it to a computer which is why I loved the concept of iOS5.

The iTunes backup thing was particular frustrating since I do recall having to make a new contact folder in Outlook to synch with my iPad called iPad contacts as I didn't need all the contacts on my iPad and simply choosing sync would have synced ALL my contacts from my default Outlook setting (100+) So with the email I also didn't want the 1000s of emails synced with my iPad.

Now I realize that my email data was never included in a backup. So I'm assuming that if I get an iCloud account it will synch my iPad email data to the cloud and be independent of my Outlook email data on my desktop computer? If so that's great but I also read that any music not bought from iTunes will not be backed up. 100% of my music on the iPad is from my own CD library so I would then still need to back that up in iTunes I take it.

So it's bit of a nightmare backing up an iPad. For me I would need separate backups using my iTunes desktop computer for music backup and the iCloud for email and apps?

 

[richsadams]

I installed iOS 5 on my iPad a couple of hours ago and lost all but my unread email.

I have a pop account with EarthLink for email and it is set to delete from the server when I download mail, so there is no EarthLink based backup. There was no warning that there might be any issue and no I did not activate an iCloud account. Some small protion of my historical email is on my desktop but I had a significant amount on my iPad that was never sent to the desktop (an iMac running 10.5).

I do have a TimeMachine backup that was made just before updating the iMac iTunes and installing iOS 5 on the iPad. Is there anyway to recover the lost emails from TimeMachine and if so how? I have never needed a backup from time machine so I am unfamiliar with the process. Any guidance would be appreciated.

BTW I have been an Apple customer since the first revision of the Apple II mother board and this issue is the first situation I have run into that raises serious concerns for both the present situation and any real trust in future upgrades. This was a big error from Apple and there were a significant number of important emails in those lost...

Yes, you can recover emails from Time Machine IF they were on your computer's Mail program. Open Mail then open Time Machine. Go back to the date prior to your backup. All of the emails in your Inbox at that time will be displayed. Click on the email or emails you want to recover (you can select multiple or all by clicking on the first and last while holding down the shift key). Once you have the emails you want to recover click on "Restore". The recovered emails will be added to Mail's left-hand menu where you can move them back into your Inbox or wherever you'd like to keep them.

FWIW POP3 has become very antiquated and problematic now. You really should consider converting your email account to IMAP.

Hope that helps and let us know how it goes!

 

[RPryor]

Yes, you can recover emails from Time Machine IF they were on your computer's Mail program. Open Mail then open Time Machine. Go back to the date prior to your backup. All of the emails in your Inbox at that time will be displayed. Click on the email or emails you want to recover (you can select multiple or all by clicking on the first and last while holding down the shift key). Once you have the emails you want to recover click on "Restore". The recovered emails will be added to Mail's left-hand menu where you can move them back into your Inbox or wherever you'd like to keep them.

FWIW POP3 has become very antiquated and problematic now. You really should consider converting your email account to IMAP.

Hope that helps and let us know how it goes!

The desktop mail program did not contain at least four weeks of email as it has not been turned on, I travel. The POP3 account and Apple mail has severed me well for many years. This is the first problem I have had loosing email and I don't have to worry about anyone hacking an IMAP server. I k ow of at least three friends who have had that happen and their entire address books hit by spam mail.

When an Apple product says it is backing up your data it should be backing up everything. From your information above it sounds as though the back up really does not include email on the Apple mail app. Maybe it is time to look elsewhere for mail services. This really is a bad screw up on Apple's part.

 

[bethkatz]

Yes, you can recover emails from Time Machine IF they were on your computer's Mail program. Open Mail then open Time Machine. Go back to the date prior to your backup. All of the emails in your Inbox at that time will be displayed. Click on the email or emails you want to recover (you can select multiple or all by clicking on the first and last while holding down the shift key). Once you have the emails you want to recover click on "Restore". The recovered emails will be added to Mail's left-hand menu where you can move them back into your Inbox or wherever you'd like to keep them.

FWIW POP3 has become very antiquated and problematic now. You really should consider converting your email account to IMAP.

Hope that helps and let us know how it goes!

As far as I can tell, the backup in iTunes was not backing up mail messages that were on the iPhone or any messages sent from the iPhone. If the only place you had the messages was the iPhone or iPad, you may have lost them. The Info tab in iTunes under Sync Mail Accounts notes that it does not sync the messages. So going back to Time Machine on your desktop won't help because the messages aren't there. At least I can't find them in any of the backups.

Many of us do not have a choice about using POP accounts (Comcast doesn't offer that as an email option). There are pros and cons to POP and IMAP. While I lost the messages on my iPhone, I have it set to not delete from the mail server. Only my desktop does that.

As a longtime Apple user, I am surprised that the mail messages were not backed up as part of the upgrade backup or any recent backup. I thought such a backup had happened in the past. I was very surprised to lose those messages.

 

[rjsilva]

I also lost my email messages on my iPad in the iOS 5 upgrade.

FWIW POP3 has become very antiquated and problematic now. You really should consider converting your email account to IMAP.

Whatever positives IMAP has, it cannot gracefully handle an email address which is used on multiple devices where it would be inconvenient (or even problematic) to keep the same specific emails on all of the devices.

 

[RPryor]

As a longtime Apple user, I am surprised that the mail messages were not backed up as part of the upgrade backup or any recent backup. I thought such a backup had happened in the past. I was very surprised to lose those messages.

My sentiments exactly!

I also had problems with syncing the iPad and desktop as it meant all or or nothing. Until I retired I always ran top of the line towers. The iPad I bought on a lark when they first came out and quickly found it to be almost indispensably convenient. I had been planning to upgrade to an iPad 3 when they are released. The way I feel right now is about the way I felt about Microsoft as they slid toward the dark side.....

Right now I just feel sick about it!

 

[richsadams]

I also lost my email messages on my iPad in the iOS 5 upgrade.



Whatever positives IMAP has, it cannot gracefully handle an email address which is used on multiple devices where it would be inconvenient (or even problematic) to keep the same specific emails on all of the devices.

It absolutely can...it all depends on your settings for all of the devices, computers, etc. and the settings for your email accounts on the server. IMAP can do anything a POP3 account can do and more.

 

[richsadams]

As far as I can tell, the backup in iTunes was not backing up mail messages that were on the iPhone or any messages sent from the iPhone. If the only place you had the messages was the iPhone or iPad, you may have lost them. The Info tab in iTunes under Sync Mail Accounts notes that it does not sync the messages. So going back to Time Machine on your desktop won't help because the messages aren't there. At least I can't find them in any of the backups.

Many of us do not have a choice about using POP accounts (Comcast doesn't offer that as an email option). There are pros and cons to POP and IMAP. While I lost the messages on my iPhone, I have it set to not delete from the mail server. Only my desktop does that.

As a longtime Apple user, I am surprised that the mail messages were not backed up as part of the upgrade backup or any recent backup. I thought such a backup had happened in the past. I was very surprised to lose those messages.

That's correct, email on iDevices is not saved separately. That's why I said IF the messages were on the computer.

IMAP protocol should be available from Comcast in any area.

I agree that mail should have been kept in place. It appears that only POP3 accounts were affected.

 

[Forgetful]

That's correct, email on iDevices is not saved separately. That's why I said IF the messages were on the computer.

IMAP protocol should be available from Comcast in any area.

I agree that mail should have been kept in place. It appears that only POP3 accounts were affected.

I have two POP3 accounts that are POP3.live, and they survived the iOS 5 upgrade fine on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

Do I need to do something to them protectively? I don't know what's the difference between POP3 and IMAP. Is there some kind of process you go through to convert so that you can keep the same email address(es)? What's the incentive?

 

[richsadams]

I have two POP3 accounts that are POP3.live, and they survived the iOS 5 upgrade fine on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

Do I need to do something to them protectively? I don't know what's the difference between POP3 and IMAP. Is there some kind of process you go through to convert so that you can keep the same email address(es)? What's the incentive?

Glad to hear things went smoothly when you upgraded. That's apparently the case for a majority of folks, but unfortunately some didn't fare so well.

This isn't really the forum to discuss email protocols, however it's safe to say that IMAP is superior to POP3 on a number of levels. These are a few:

• Read all of your mail (Inbox, Saved, Drafts, Sent, etc.) on all of your devices; iPad, computer, smart phone, etc.
• Easily switch OS or email programs.
• Avoid webmail outages.
• Keep an extra copy of your messages to avoid data loss.
• Consistency since the status of all of your mail is always the same across all devices due to continual two-way communication.

Yes, you can switch from POP3 to IMAP and continue to use your current email domain address(es). Switching is slightly different for different ISP's and mail programs (Apple's Mail, MS Outlook, etc.).

Here's Apple's iPad Mail support page:

Apple - Support - iPad - Mail Assistant

The best thing to do is to get a little education about the differences (it's really not that complicated) and then follow some common directions for switching from POP3 to IMAP. ISP's (Internet Service Providers - the company that you pay for broadband service) usually have information on their websites about setting up mail clients. If not, Google "POP3 Vs IMAP" or something similar, you'll find all sorts of information.

 

[Fxgt]

Mine only the free games and other free apps gone missing after the iOS5 installation.
Dono why also.

 

[richsadams]

Mine only the free games and other free apps gone missing after the iOS5 installation.
Dono why also.

Try reconnecting your iPad to your computer and re-syncing with iTunes a couple of times (providing the apps that you're missing are still listed in iTunes). Others have reported that doing so resolved the "missing app" issue.

 

[bethkatz]

That's correct, email on iDevices is not saved separately. That's why I said IF the messages were on the computer.

IMAP protocol should be available from Comcast in any area.

I agree that mail should have been kept in place. It appears that only POP3 accounts were affected.

No, in October 2011, Comcast does not provide IMAP mail. Nowhere in the country. It's POP only. One way people get around that is to forward everything to Gmail or another provider that has IMAP.

As someone who often is out of WiFi and cel phone range and who likes to keep my own backups of data, using POP with most of the mail stored on my main desktop works well. But I agree that IMAP is best for most people.

But at this point, what options do people have for backing up their email content from their mobile devices before upgrading to iOS 5?