Question Why do my Gmail emails get deleted after 2 weeks on my Android mobile ?

[RemusGhostofRome]

It's very strange, after a certain time, all my old emails after 2 weeks are removed ! Not sure if they are deleted or archived somewhere ? but they are gone ! without me being notified. Same gmail setup on my Desktop, no emails get deleted there.

I've looked high and low for a answer, I cannot find one.

The emails are gmail POP3 and I have a backup on my Desktop computer but it's very annoying I need Forward my old emails to another email address, so I can get a new copy on my Mobile!!

My Mobile is a Blackview A55 Pro - Android Version 11 Ram 4.0G (+2.5G) ROM 64 GB

Please Help.

 

[VidJunky]

Welcome to Android Central forums. Let's lead off with a few questions.

What email app are you using?

Have you searched the email app's settings for any options that might sound like they help keep clutter down? It might say, delete old emails, remove items or anything like that. Some apps offer an option to control the amount of storage being used and will remove items from the device if they sit too long. It works the way many trash options work where once opened/read they get removed to free up that space.

Do you have any space saver or memory saver apps? Often people will install these because they once had an issue where they ran out of storage on their device in hopes of not having to worry about not being able to take photos or install apps. The sad side effect of this can be unintentional loss of data, premature emptying of trash folders and occasionally other nefarious actions. It is often better to take action when needed vs preemptive actions.

Does it matter if the message had been viewed or if it's displayed as unread?

Is this a new device or new app for you? Did this just start or has it always been this way on this device with this app?

Does it do this for all accounts using this app or only specific ones? Specific like only Gmail accounts are affected, only messages for this specific account are affected, only emails from this specific sender, anything that narrows the focus to something unique.

Other than checking the settings in the app carefully for any setting that relates to this issue I don't have much advice for you. Your reply to some of these questions may offer some insight for us to offer more advice.

You mention that you don't know what happens to these messages then go on to say that on the PC... are you not finding the missing items still in your inbox when you log in from other devices? I'm tempted to say that they are not being deleted but rather just removed from your device to save space or some other logical reason. To delete emails at random, just because they were received 14 days ago, seems like a bad idea. It would make more sense to keep the device clean while allowing them to sit on a server somewhere. That way you aren't losing them they just aren't taking up memory on your device.

Let us know what you find and reply to these questions and we will offer you more advice.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Just curious, is there a reason why you want to use Gmail via POP3? I'm assuming you're using an email client app that isn't Gmail to do so, since the Gmail app automatically accesses Gmail via IMAP. Do you need to keep physical copies of your email on your phone for some reason (e.g., if you routinely have no internet access at all and have to bulk download your email when you have a chance)? It's generally much better to let the email server store all of your email, and then you can access it whenever you need it using IMAP.

 

[RemusGhostofRome]

The email app i use on my mobile is called Gmail.

I setup my email accounts via POP3 because this is how they are setup on my Internet provider and on my Desktop.

I need a copy of some emails on my mobile with movie theatre tickets, to scan the code. Sometimes I have no internet access. They must be on my mobile.

I have 34 G Free space on my mobile, only about 30% used.

I am wondering if how i use the gmail app might be causing problems, when in Gmail, i see a list of emails scrolling down. To exit the app, i have found pressing the bottom of the screen for a second then flicking up with my finger, exits Gmail . I am wondering if this might be a hidden command to delete old emails ? If my screen is full of emails, how else should I exit an app ?

I have checked setting, any deleting of emails requires a message first, i never get any message.

Luckily emails of my Desktop are still there, non get mysteriously deleted. i assume this is the same for my Internet Provider.

Thanks for the assistance so far.

 

[B. Diddy]

Is the email provider you're using something besides Gmail? Your primary Gmail account going through the Gmail app should always be IMAP. (I've never tried adding a Gmail account to the Gmail app manually, using a POP3 server -- that's a bit of an involved process, so do you recall going through all those hoops?)

POP3 is a very old protocol, and is very rarely advantageous over IMAP. With POP3, emails are physically downloaded to a device (and might therefore be deleted from the server) -- so if those emails are deleted from the device, they're lost forever. With IMAP, the emails are stored on the server, and the email app is simply syncing with the server to display the emails. If you delete an email in IMAP, you're deleting it from the server. You can read more about the difference here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...and-imap-85c0e47f-931d-4035-b409-af3318b194a8

 

[smvim]

Something to keep in mind is your email service is a classic 'server - client' arrangement. Be it Gmail, MS Outlook, Yahoo Mail, etc. they all have that functional similarity. In your case, your actual Gmail account (email, calendar, contacts) reside in one of Google's online servers, and the Gmail app on your phone is simply the 'client' that gets all its data from your online account. Google stores your online data, and does all the management and maintenance on its end. Your Gmail app is just how you interact with your mail/contacts/calendar. The app does manage your Gmail account data on your phone, but it's still completely dependent on whatever it does have is from your online account -- i.e. you can use the Gmail app to manage your emails on your phone when it does or does not have an online connection, but of course once you need to retrieve or send an email your phone needs to be online. Once you understand the relationship between an online email service and a smartphone email app, that makes it easier to deduce mail issues and such.

I don't use the Gmail app but have you checked the app's Settings menu for any options regarding how email messages it stores? Two weeks sounds like a typical default that might work out OK for some but does seem to be a short time period. If there's no such option in the Gmail app Settings menu, you might want to think about switching to a third-party email app instead. A non-Google app will tend to have more extensive options to customize and optimize your email usage to match up with your own needs, not just what Google wants you to see.
My own personal preference is the K-9 Mail app:

K-9 Mail - Apps on Google Play

K-9 Mail is a 100% free and open source email client for Android.

play.google.com

It has a very extensive Settings menu with a long, long number of options, that in your case include a number of options for which folders to view and how many messages to retain. (... note there's difference between time period, two weeks, and number messages). So can set it save as few as 10 emails or as many as 10,000, or all.
K-9 Settings also have a lot user interface options too. A drawback being its Settings menu might be a bit too complex for a casual user.
Some options that might be more sutable
The Aqua Mail app gets a lot a good user reviews:

Email Aqua Mail - Fast, Secure - Apps on Google Play

Email client for Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, Hotmail, GMX, AOL, IMAP, POP3, Office365

play.google.com

The Blue email app is very popular too:

Email Blue Mail - Calendar - Apps on Google Play

Mail support for all email accounts: IMAP, ActiveSync, EWS, POP3

play.google.com

Anyway, don't rely upon the defaults in whatever app you're using, take the time to dig into an app's Settings to set up up accordingly.

Regarding POP3, are sure your Gmail app is set up to default to POP3? Confirming that is cumbersome through an app, it works out better if you log into your Gmail account via a web browser using a desktop or laptop to check its base settings. Go here:

https://gmail.google.com

Log into your account and open up the Gear icon in the upper right, click on the 'See all settings' link, and in the resulting page click on the 'Forwarding and POP/IMAP' tab. That should show support for both POP and IMAP are enabled by default, along with various options as to number of retain messages and other related items.
Note that is a way to access your Gmail settings from a more foundational aspect, there's likely to be a way. I just haven't encountered a smartphone email app that allows the same level of access.
But whatever the case, don't dig yourself into a dark hole of mystery. If you want to have more messages saved than just fix the problem. Don't rely upon Google's Gmail app for anything more than basic usage (and confirm that your Gmail service is indeed using IMAP).

 

[joeldf]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, put to me it sounds like the OP is using an email account provided by the internet service provider. One where you have an email address similar to:

name @ ispname dot net

And that he's just using the Gmail app on the phone as a client app to access that email account.

@RemusGhostofRome is that the case? Do you also have a Gmail address? What email client are you using on your PC?

Pop3 is a very old protocol, and not conducive to mobile applications, or multiple devices accessing the email.

Check your ISP (internet service provider) to find out if they have updated to IMAP. I used to use my ISP's email service back when I was using Cox (this goes back over 20 years ago). When we started, pop3 was the only option. Several years later, they upgraded their services to offer the IMAP option.. All I needed to do was re-setup my account with the IMAP settings and it worked. All emails that were already there stayed there. IMAP allows multiple devices to access the emails, and syncs anything you do with them across those devices. Push email is the other benefit. No more waiting on 15 minute polling. Unless you want that. There are settings to whatever time you want. Push (as soon as it arrives to the email server), 5 min., 15 min... I think the email app can determine if it offers those or not.

 

[RemusGhostofRome]

Additional information, it's happened again .. BUT some older emails were untouched, just my Movie tickets email were deleted ! .. hmmm . Could a movie theatre send out a delete code / message to my mobile to delete them ? or were the emails just too large, with SC code and picture of the movie, and seating details etc ? I have quite alot of free memory though ??

My setup is this, my internet provider (Exetel Australia) uses POP on their mail server, so I setup my Gmail App on my mobile to use POP to connect to my 8+ email addresses, so I get a copy of all emails sent to my desktop and my mobile.

BTW, thanks for your assistance so far.

 

[smvim]

Additional information, it's happened again .. BUT some older emails were untouched, just my Movie tickets email were deleted ! .. hmmm . Could a movie theatre send out a delete code / message to my mobile to delete them ? or were the emails just too large, with SC code and picture of the movie, and seating details etc ? I have quite alot of free memory though ??

My setup is this, my internet provider (Exetel Australia) uses POP on their mail server, so I setup my Gmail App on my mobile to use POP to connect to my 8+ email addresses, so I get a copy of all emails sent to my desktop and my mobile.

BTW, thanks for your assistance so far.

You're trying to force POP3 to do something it cannot do. By design POP email messages are not permanently saved within online servers, UNLESS you've altered the configuration on the server end. I still contend your actual email management is using IMAP on the server end while you may have crippled yourself by setting up POP only in your Gmail app. A very important aspect that needs to be clarified is Google's Gmail is managed and maintained only by Google. Exetel is just your carrier. Your email messages may travel across your Exetel cellular connection but that's the only part of your carrier is involved. The Gmail app on your phone is simply haw you interact with your Gmail service, but your Gmail account is all being handled within Google's online servers.

At this point your Gmail account could possibly be fixed by just setting it up properly in the app's Settings menu.

Gmail Settings: The Ultimate Guide for 2024 [FAQ Included]

Gmail settings can turn you into a Gmail power user in minutes. That said, here are 20 mind-blowing settings you didn’t know existed in Gmail

www.rightinbox.com

Or if you would prefer to set up your Gmail app from scratch, go into your phone's Settings menu, open up the Apps menu, find and open up the Gmail app entry, tap on Force stop, and then tap on the Clear data button. Using Clear data will wipe the app's settings and config data, along with the app's cache. Basically resetting the app back to its first time used state. Now when you start up the Gmail app, you'll be prompted to enter your account name(s) and password(s) You might want to also confirm the IMAP is still enabled. Use a web browser on a PC to log into your Gmail account, click on the Gear icon in the upper right, then the See all Settings link, and in the resulting window select the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab. Both POP and IMAP should be anabled.
Of course if some of those eight email accounts are with other email services, you need to use the email config settings for those particular email accounts. If one is with Exetel, and your email retention problem is with Exetel, that's on them. If it only provides a POP-only service, again your trying to make it perform beyond it's capability. Or use one of your different, more robust and capable email services.

 

[joeldf]

You're trying to force POP3 to do something it cannot do. By design POP email messages are not permanently saved within online servers, UNLESS you've altered the configuration on the server end. I still contend your actual email management is using IMAP on the server end while you may have crippled yourself by setting up POP only in your Gmail app. A very important aspect that needs to be clarified is Google's Gmail is managed and maintained only by Google. Exetel is just your carrier. Your email messages may travel across your Exetel cellular connection but that's the only part of your carrier is involved. The Gmail app on your phone is simply haw you interact with your Gmail service, but your Gmail account is all being handled within Google's online servers.

At this point your Gmail account could possibly be fixed by just setting it up properly in the app's Settings menu.

Gmail Settings: The Ultimate Guide for 2024 [FAQ Included]

Gmail settings can turn you into a Gmail power user in minutes. That said, here are 20 mind-blowing settings you didn’t know existed in Gmail

www.rightinbox.com

Or if you would prefer to set up your Gmail app from scratch, go into your phone's Settings menu, open up the Apps menu, find and open up the Gmail app entry, tap on Force stop, and then tap on the Clear data button. Using Clear data will wipe the app's settings and config data, along with the app's cache. Basically resetting the app back to its first time used state. Now when you start up the Gmail app, you'll be prompted to enter your account name(s) and password(s) You might want to also confirm the IMAP is still enabled. Use a web browser on a PC to log into your Gmail account, click on the Gear icon in the upper right, then the See all Settings link, and in the resulting window select the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab. Both POP and IMAP should be anabled.
Of course if some of those eight email accounts are with other email services, you need to use the email config settings for those particular email accounts. If one is with Exetel, and your email retention problem is with Exetel, that's on them. If it only provides a POP-only service, again your trying to make it perform beyond it's capability. Or use one of your different, more robust and capable email services.

Actually, I think the OP is using Exetel for all his emails. And that ISP does only offer the POP3 protocol. Seems that he's only using Gmail as an email client in this case.

 

[smvim]

Actually, I think the OP is using Exetel for all his emails. And that ISP does only offer the POP3 protocol. Seems that he's only using Gmail as an email client in this case.

That isn't how email services function. Exetel's email service might be limited to only POP but Gmail is not.
The OP initially referenced a problem with Gmail. Again, Gmail is managed by just Google. It's Google servers that retain all of our Gmail accounts. Exetel has nothing to do with managing any Gmail account or its data. Exetel is just the OP's chosen carrier, It only provides an online connection between the OP's Gmail with the Internet. The OP's Gmail service is managed solely by Google so it does not matter which carrier or ISP the OP is using. Email servers don't just switch from one carrier or ISP to another, that's not how they work.

 

[joeldf]

That isn't how email services function. Exetel's email service might be limited to only POP but Gmail is not.
The OP initially referenced a problem with Gmail. Again, Gmail is managed by just Google. It's Google servers that retain all of our Gmail accounts. Exetel has nothing to do with managing any Gmail account or its data. Exetel is just the OP's chosen carrier, It only provides an online connection between the OP's Gmail with the Internet. The OP's Gmail service is managed solely by Google so it does not matter which carrier or ISP the OP is using. Email servers don't just switch from one carrier or ISP to another, that's not how they work.

Please re-read what I'm saying. The OP needs to confirm, but I don't think there is a Gmail account involved here at all.

You don't need a Gmail account to use the Gmail app. You can plug in any other type of email account besides Gmail. An ISP pop3, IMAP, or even an outlook exchange account.

You don't even need a Gmail email address to have a Google account. I don't. My outlook email address is used for my Google account.

To me, it sounds like all of his email accounts are from his ISP. That's not unusual. My wife has 6 email addresses through our ISP. They usually allow up to 8 per main account.

@RemusGhostofRome , please confirm if you do or don't have a separate gmail email account. Are all email accounts through your ISP?