Is there any way to reverse syncing between 2 phones after it's already done?

[mallomar]

I'm not technologically proficient. I recently got an S21+ and for some reason, one of my email apps did not transfer with the phone vendor.

So in my ignorance, I was trying to figure out how to transfer the old app/account from my ancient Note 5.

I absolutely did NOT deliberately push any buttons to sync the two apps/accounts, but it happened somehow. I would never intentionally sync from and old phone to a new phone.

Now my S21+ only shows me a handful of very recent emails, and listed under those, are emails from last year.

This is fairly disastrous, because it wiped out a bunch of emails I need on the S21+.

I'm pretty sure the answer is no, but is there any way to revert the S21+ to restore the hundreds of emails that got wiped out?

Failing that, how to keep this from happening again? So far my desktop computer does not appear to have synced with any other devices, but my laptop apparently did sync, since I have the same problem as the S21+ -- just a handful of very recent emails, and then it jumps back to last year.

As long as I can preserve the old emails on my desktop PC, I can still find the ones I need, so not all is lost. Assuming I can make sure the PC doesn't get synced.

Not sure if I should even ask how to transfer/copy my second email account from my old phone to my new phone. I do need a second account on the S21+ for work purposes. Maybe I should go to a Verizon store and ask for help?

TIA for any help/suggestions/etc.

 

[mustang7757]

Hi, yeah I don't recommend ever sync data from phone that old to new one , not sure how it happened maybe by mistake on your part not realizing but let's focus on your email , if you sign into it they don't show up ? Which email app your using ? And is it Imap or PoP3

 

[bxrider117]

Did you use Samsung's Smart Switch app to take info from old phone to new phone? You might be able to use that app in old phone and just back up the information only from that app and then transfer to new phone.

 

[B. Diddy]

Which email account? Are you saying those important emails were only locally stored on your phone, and not on the server? That only happens if you're using the POP3 server, and not the IMAP server (which is why it's always a good idea to use the latter -- POP3 is outdated technology).

 

[mallomar]

Which email account? Are you saying those important emails were only locally stored on your phone, and not on the server? That only happens if you're using the POP3 server, and not the IMAP server (which is why it's always a good idea to use the latter -- POP3 is outdated technology).

I'm using POP3. The work email account won't work any other way.

It looks like all of my emails -- important and trivial -- are still on my desktop PC, so I should be able to find whatever emails I need, at least when I'm at home. And for emails I need on my phone (for example, an email with a code that I need on my phone for an appointment), I can just send from the PC to the phone.

Basically, it looks like all of my emails from both accounts (personal and work) are still on my desktop PC.

BTW, I use Thunderbird on the PC, and it's using POP3. I guess I should do something about that, but I'm dangerous with these devices. I sure made a mess of things today.

 

[mallomar]

Hi, yeah I don't recommend ever sync data from phone that old to new one , not sure how it happened maybe by mistake on your part not realizing but let's focus on your email , if you sign into it they don't show up ? Which email app your using ? And is it Imap or PoP3

I'm using a Gmail app on both phones, and the old phone also has second phone app, but I don't know what it's called. I don't know how to figure it out. The mystery phone app uses POP3 (my boss told me what specifications to use, so I don't have the option of changing it).

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

In the Gmail app, tap your profile picture in the top right corner (it's either an actual picture or the first initial of the name associated with the account). If there is a second account visible, tap it, and that should be the one with your work email.

If not, tap "add another account" and re-sign in to your work account.

 

[mustang7757]

I'm using a Gmail app on both phones, and the old phone also has second phone app, but I don't know what it's called. I don't know how to figure it out. The mystery phone app uses POP3 (my boss told me what specifications to use, so I don't have the option of changing it).

Ahh a work email , have you tried talking to your boss see if he can check what going on ?

 

[mallomar]

In the Gmail app, tap your profile picture in the top right corner (it's either an actual picture or the first initial of the name associated with the account). If there is a second account visible, tap it, and that should be the one with your work email.

If not, tap "add another account" and re-sign in to your work account.

Well, this is very interesting. When I tap, I do see a second account, but it's my husband's gmail account. When we first got our new phones, he did something weird when he was fiddling with his account. I think he said he logged in on my account. All of his email contacts were added to my own contacts. I don't want all that extra clutter, so I started deleting his email contacts, and when I did that, it also deleted those contacts on HIS phone.

Is there a way to delete his account on my phone without it also deleting his account on his phone? He's worse with technology that I am, so he won't have a clue how to get his account off my phone. Maybe my work account WAS on my new phone (transferred by the Verizon guy), and got hosed when the hubster logged in with my information. Or whatever he did. What a mess.

But once I get rid of the hubster's account, I should be able to do the "add another account" thing.

 

[mustang7757]

To delete account just go in settings >accounts and delete the ones you want

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Hahaha, oh no!

Tap that same profile picture and choose "manage accounts on this device", then tap your husband's account and then tap "remove account". That will get rid of his account from your phone, but won't affect any other devices.

 

[mallomar]

Ahh a work email , have you tried talking to your boss see if he can check what going on ?

Boss has no control over the POP3 issue. To clarify, I have to use Microsoft Office for work. My version (including Outlook) is ancient (2007), and I don't know if that has anything to do with the POP3 requirement.

Anyway, at this point the work account is the least of my problems. The account is intact on my desktop PC, so no emails were lost.

I'm way more interesting in finding out if there's a way to restore the emails that were lost on my non-Outlook account. I lost at least 5 months' worth of emails on my gmail account, but only on my phone and laptop. I can still access those emails on the PC, but it's aggravating to not be able to access them on my phone and laptop. I still can't figure out how it happened. I've never synced my email accounts in my life. I didn't even realized it had happened until I checked my gmail on my phone.

 

[mustang7757]

Boss has no control over the POP3 issue. To clarify, I have to use Microsoft Office for work. My version (including Outlook) is ancient (2007), and I don't know if that has anything to do with the POP3 requirement.

Anyway, at this point the work account is the least of my problems. The account is intact on my desktop PC, so no emails were lost.

I'm way more interesting in finding out if there's a way to restore the emails that were lost on my non-Outlook account. I lost at least 5 months' worth of emails on my gmail account, but only on my phone and laptop. I can still access those emails on the PC, but it's aggravating to not be able to access them on my phone and laptop. I still can't figure out how it happened. I've never synced my email accounts in my life. I didn't even realized it had happened until I checked my gmail on my phone.

Under accounts tap the Gmail email account and make sure it says sync , in Gmail app open it and go to settings and make sure sync all email there on

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

If you're talking about an account you still have access to and you've actually deleted the emails, they should be in the bin folder.

Tap the three lines on the top left to open the side menu and scroll down to "bin" (it might be called"trash" in the US) and you should be able to restore them from there.

 

[mallomar]

Under accounts tap the Gmail email account and make sure it says sync , in Gmail app open it and go to settings and make sure sync all email there on

Found the sync setting, thanks. It was turned on, which I assume must have been a default setting, because I definitely did not enable it. I disabled it.

I guess I just have to kiss my 5 months' worth of missing emails goodbye. I've done a lot of googling, and didn't find anything about restoring emails after they've been purged by the sync thing. <sigh>

 

[mallomar]

If you're talking about an account you still have access to and you've actually deleted the emails, they should be in the bin folder.

Tap the three lines on the top left to open the side menu and scroll down to "bin" (it might be called"trash" in the US) and you should be able to restore them from there.

I didn't delete the emails. I don't know what sync did with the emails that disappeared. At this point, I'm guessing those emails are gone and unrecoverable.

Found the trash, but the only option it offers is "Empty trash now." It only contains 30 days' worth of emails anyway. I was looking for emails going back to November or thereabouts.

 

[mustang7757]

Found the sync setting, thanks. It was turned on, which I assume must have been a default setting, because I definitely did not enable it. I disabled it.

I guess I just have to kiss my 5 months' worth of missing emails goodbye. I've done a lot of googling, and didn't find anything about restoring emails after they've been purged by the sync thing. <sigh>

What if you log into the computer are they all there?

 

[mallomar]

What if you log into the computer are they all there?

Yep, all my emails are still on my desktop PC.

But they're not on the laptop. 5 months' worth of emails gone, just like on the phones. I checked the sync setting on the laptop, and it's turned off, but it's entirely possible that I turned it AFTER the sync disaster occurred. Unfortunately, I can't remember diddly.

I need to find out how to check if syncing email is disabled on the desktop PC.

 

[mustang7757]

Yep, all my emails are still on my desktop PC.

But they're not on the laptop. 5 months' worth of emails gone, just like on the phones. I checked the sync setting on the laptop, and it's turned off, but it's entirely possible that I turned it AFTER the sync disaster occurred. Unfortunately, I can't remember diddly.

I need to find out how to check if syncing email is disabled on the desktop PC.

Double check settings even in the app themselves

 

[B. Diddy]

Have you checked with your company's IT to be sure that they only have POP3 as an option? It just seems to be a setup for headaches like this.:-\