I panicked when all the mail in my inbox disappeared. More than 200 emails disappeared, and some of them were important. It happened when I was going through my unread mail, so I grabbed my phone and put it in flight mode so my mail wouldn't get deleted from it. The same thing happened two years ago, and I paid to restore my mail. The company that hosts my mail was quick and professional, and the price was fair. I never found out why it happened, but at the time, I suspected that my mail program was the culprit.

This time, I checked my webmail, and the mail was nowhere to be found. I looked in the trash and junk mail folders, but they weren't there either. Then I started to create a ticket at my mail provider, but before I was done writing, the mail magically appeared. I was relieved but didn't like it because I didn't know why.

The last time this happened, I decided to have a routine where I exported all critical mail so I didn't lose them again. I never found a practical solution, so I returned to my old way and let the mail stay in my inbox. This time, I had exported a lot of my mail to Evernote, so I was annoyed that I hadn't exported all my mail more regularly. Or that I at least had moved them to a folder because it is only read mail in my inbox that had disappeared.

It happens again a couple of days later, and the mail doesn't return this time. The mail has also disappeared from my phone, so the trick with flight mode will not work. I wrote to my mail provider, changed the password to my mailbox, and started looking for a new mail program because I didn't want this to happen again. Only 15-20 mail have disappeared this time, but some were very important.

The next day, my mail provider informed me they were investigating my issue. I'm puzzled because I said I would pay to restore my mail. The day after, I got a new message from my mail provider that they found an issue with my mailbox and that my mail should be returned. I was relieved that they had found the reason for the disappearing mail. I was afraid that the culprit was my mail program. I found a new mail program but wasn't satisfied with the mail view or how it exported mail to Evernote.

I'm back with my favorite mail program - Spark - and now know why my mail has disappeared. I need to be better at reviewing and exporting my mail to have a backup. But I'm back in business.