Previously Backed-up Outgoing Messages Are Disappearing

[PeterHLouis]

I don't know how this is happening, but emails for messages on my end going back at least months have been disappearing from my SMS folder.

This was never an issue in all the years I have been using this. I want the messages back.

Android 8.0.0 LG V20 SMS Backup+ 1.5.11 Standard Messaging Application for Android

[kurahaupo]

did you ever find your missing messages, and/or find out why they disappeared?

[PeterHLouis]

did you ever find your missing messages, and/or find out why they disappeared?

Nope! No one tried to help in all that time either

[kurahaupo]

Broadly there are two possibilities:

1. The messages were backed up, but have been deleted since; or
2. The messages failed to be backed up, and this has only come to light recently.

If existing backups of messages have been disappearing, that's really nothing to do with SMS Backup+ because there isn't even any code in the app that could invoke 'delete message' in GMail. So the follow-up would be to check for action rules on your mailbox; or for someone or something using IMAP or POP to extract messages out of your GMail account; or possibly for retrospective spam filtering.

If the messages failed to be backed up originally, then there's not much that can be done to recover them now, unless they're still on your phone.

I'm going to close this ticket as there's little chance of finding out what happened or why, but feel free to reply and re-open the ticket if you do ever find something, or need further assistance with this issue.

[PeterHLouis]

They definitely did not fail to be backed up, I read them before, but then they randomly disappeared and not even put in spam which I check all the time, I did nothing funny with any settings, they just disappeared but again, only my outgoing messages disappeared which makes no sense.

[kurahaupo]

I assumed you'd checked your "sent email" and/or searched for specific text that should occur in your list messages?

That is, you've checked that the messages are actually deleted rather than hidden?

If you turn off threaded message view in Gmail, by default it will hide all your outgoing messages. That happens even for outgoing messages sent from another email service using one of the "from" addresses linked to the Gmail account. And if you change your "from" addresses, it may recategorise existing messages from "sent" to "received" or vice versa.

[PeterHLouis]

I looked for the specific things I thought I said, but again even at the time of your reply, it was almost 2 full years so I wouldn't have exact quotes for most things.

Everything was backed up in the SMS folder and random outgoing messages dating back even years before my initial post, started missing for one reason or another and I have no logical explanation for any of it.

On Thu, Oct 1, 2020, 5:39 PM Martin Kealey @.***> wrote:

I assumed you'd checked your "sent email" and/or searched for specific text that should occur in your list messages?

That is, you've checked that the messages are actually deleted rather than hidden?

If you turn off threaded message view in Gmail, by default it will hide all your outgoing messages. That happens even for outgoing messages sent from another email service using one of the "from" addresses linked to the Gmail account. And if you change your "from" addresses, it may recategorise existing messages from "sent" to "received" or vice versa.

— You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/issues/923#issuecomment-702412332, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AKROVG5FRLO4VJM5UUYJPXLSITZIPANCNFSM4F4PBA3Q .

[kurahaupo]

It is doubtful that SMS Backup+ is responsible for any messages being removed, but I will continue to check for possible code paths where this might occur.

I assume you're using GMail rather than a custom mailserver, so I would start looking for other actors that might affect your mailbox.

• Do you keep TakeOut snapshots of your Google account?
• Do you have any filtering rules for your GMail?
• Do you have any plug-ins or custom scripts for your GMail?
• Do you have any other clients that connect to it?