PC Doctor December 15, 2017

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Dear PC Doctor:

I use gmail. It has a lot of storage, so I save all my messages. Some are important! Recently, I have noticed messages and whole conversation threads disappearing. To prevent this, I have starred important messages and given them labels. It hasn’t solved the problem. Weirdly, a whole bunch of messages from 2017 have disappeared, but 2016 messages are still in my in box. Have you heard of this before?

Thank you,

Perplexed

Dear Perplexed:

It sounds like you are an experienced email user, and I will assume that you have checked your spam folder and that the messages are not there.

I looked at the gmail support site; you may not be alone in experiencing this! Google has a whole page full of troubleshooting ideas for this problem. They suggest checking your spam and trash folders. If that is not the issue, you can also see if your messages have been filtered: In the top right, click “Settings.” At the top, click the “Filters and Blocked Addresse” tab. Look for filters that include the words "Delete it" or "Skip Inbox." To the right, click “Edit or Delete.” Follow the on-screen instructions.

Google suggests that your messages might be getting forwarded to another account. Here’s how to tell if that’s the case: Go to “Settings.” At the top, click the “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” tab. In the "Forwarding" section, check if you've selected Forward a copy of incoming mail. If you have, select “Keep Gmail's copy in the Inbox” or “Mark Gmail's copy as read.” At the bottom of the page, click “Save Changes.”

Important: If your emails are being forwarded to an unfamiliar address, select “Disable forwarding” then check out the Gmail security tips. If you see a forwarding address you don’t know, someone might have unauthorized access to your account.

If most of your emails are missing, someone might have unauthorized access to your account and they could be deleting your emails.

If you think someone might have access to your account, follow these steps: Change your password immediately. Report the problem to Gmail. It might be possible to recover your deleted emails. If you're using Gmail through your work, school, or other organization, contact your admin.

I hope this helps!
Until next time,
Happy computing!

PC Doctor