I do not use my Gmail.com account for business. It is my personal account that I use to correspond with friends, family and close business associates.
But I DO use the account and have a number of messages that I have saved for one reason or another.
Around 2 pm MDT I went to check my Gmail account and was SHOCKED to see that my inbox was EMPTY!
I thought, "surely this must be a mistake", because I know I had at least 60 saved messages.
Nope, they were GONE.
Email GONE? Not a happy sight...
I immediately went to Google News (oh, the irony) to do a search for "Gmail". I wanted to see if there were any stories about problems with Google's popular email service.
I came up with one article.
Problem with Gmail sends incoming mail to spam.
I checked out this article and then confirmed that I had received one email that indeed showed up in my spam box.
But this didn't solve my problem. I was STILL missing all my mail.
I walked around the office and began asking my coworkers if they had any problems.
Most checked out alright, but one person told me he experienced the same thing.
Then he told me that he found ALL his mail in the TRASH folder! Yikes!
I immediately went back to my account and opened the trash folder.
Sure enough, there was my mail that I had entrusted to Google... in the trash can.
So I went through 1000 messages and retrieved mail, moving it to my inbox.
What's happening with the Gmail servers? Beats me, but I am thinking about having all my Gmail forwarded to another account that is in my control in case this happens again.
It's Del.icio.us!
Furl It!
March 30, 2009 03:07 PM
well I am glad you found them, but Google saves a copy of every email that has ever been received or sent out of any Gmail accounts on their server. Now that isn't to say that you would have been able to get them back yourself, but Google has everything saved for their records. A scary thought and it is why I won't use Google or anything owned by Google.
Very glad you found you emails!
Amanda
March 30, 2009 03:09 PM
Wow! I have never heard of that happening or had it happen to myself but will keep a close eye. Glad you got it somewhat took care of :-)
Weird...
~Mike S.
March 30, 2009 03:11 PM
Joel,
It happenned to me about 1 1/2 years ago.
Same issues like yours. The only thing I
heard from google was there were someone
else got in and deleted all my emails.
This was not true at all.
Henry,
March 30, 2009 03:11 PM
Very off topic... But what GMail theme is that? LOL - Sorry.
And dammit. My e-mail is fine now, but a few weeks back I had serious problems. People I'd been talking to for the best part of three years found themselves in my spam folders and I had JVs accusing me of ignoring them. xD I wish. Hehehe!
-David
March 30, 2009 03:36 PM
Hhmmmm, quite a scary thought, I use gmail exclusively for email now.
And rely on it for retrieving all my logins, managing customer support etc.
March 30, 2009 04:04 PM
I had some issues earlier this year when I couldn't access my Gmail messages. After I finally got access again, I set up all my Gmail messages to be forwarded to a Zoho email account.
When gmail goes down (heaven forbid!) I have access to the messages on the Zoho email account.
Here's some info on how to backup Gmail to your Zoho account: http://cli.gs/dTszbr
March 30, 2009 06:41 PM
Geez! Who does one use for reliable email? I use Yahoo, gmail and mail.co and all of them have their foibles. I've used Hotmail but when they changed formats once, not only did I lose all of my saved emails, I also lost my contact list.
Thanks for letting us know.
If you can recommend a more reliable service, let me know.
March 30, 2009 07:08 PM
Hi Joel -
Thanks for the heads up I have quite a few gmail accounts. I checked and everything looks in order but it did give me a wake up call. It hadn't even crossed my mind. I have several email accounts at different ISP's and if I feel something is important I'll forward it to multiple places just in case. That's easy to forget to do and doesn't take into account mail I haven't read yet. I haven't set up any auto forward options for any of my account but maybe it's time I did.
Thanks - John
March 30, 2009 08:08 PM
My blood ran a little cold while reading this post. I have more emails than I care to admit saved in my Gmail account and the thought of losing them makes me a little lightheaded. Thanks for the warning! I tend to me a little more trusting of technology than I should.
March 30, 2009 08:35 PM
I had the very same thing happen to me last week. I couldn't believe they were gone from my inbox and in the trash. I immediately moved them back to my inbox. I have them forewarded to another account but was out of town and thought I'd take a look and make some phone calls. What a shock I just lost it. Thank goodness I was alone.
March 30, 2009 09:36 PM
Gmail has been acting up lately for me putting a lot of inbox messages in my spam then others in trash hope they get this fixed soon!
March 30, 2009 10:23 PM
Instead of forwarding and entrusting your email to someone else.... download a copy of your gmail mail to your hard drive via the mail client called Thunderbird. http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/
You can opt to keep a copy on the gmail server whilst downloading a copy to your hard drive. (very similar to what Outlook does.... only 1000% better and easier)
You can regularly backup that particular file to an external drive.
It also enables you to work offline, and send later. (if you're travelling)
thanks!
March 30, 2009 10:40 PM
wow that was very strange, but if it was because of Google's server error, don't you think it will affecting lots of users? I mean the news about it will be all over the net by now, well anyway I'm glad that at least you can found the emails again :)
March 31, 2009 01:51 AM
That's another reason why I don't use gmail like that, I stick with my .com email or my yahoo email, I've been hearing too much problems
with gmail...
Terrance Charles
www.twitter.com/TerranceCharles
March 31, 2009 01:57 AM
I forward all gmail to outlook./ They can wash the spam out and it is purely a backup.
(Use a very unusual gmail name and also a highly secure password!!)
I just wrote about this on my own blog today!
James
March 31, 2009 05:00 AM
At least you got back your mails. Still remember what Microsoft did to Hotmail users mails a few years back. Gmail is more trustworthy than hotmail.
April 1, 2009 08:34 AM
That's crazy! I use Gmail as my main address, and I always thought it was the most protected.
April 1, 2009 03:57 PM
Interesting article.
I am co-founder of New Zealand free email provider Cool Kiwi Email at http://www.coolkiwi.co.nz and Cool Kiwi Webmail at http://www.coolkiwi.com and a follower of Joel Comm on Twitter.
CoolKiwi.co.nz allows our users to set up a 'virtual' email address @coolkiwi.co.nz which can deliver their emails imultaneously to multiple email accounts, including for example a Gmail a/c, Hotmail a/c, work and home account, etc. This means our users can automatically have backups of their emails in multiple email accounts, just by giving out their coolkiwi.co.nz email address to their contacts.
Cool Kiwi's other email service, CoolKiwi.com webmail at http://www.coolkiwi.com is a fully-featured webmail system which is a complete alternative to Gmail. So there is a New Zealand Email service which has considered the need for a solution to the issues with over-reliance on the big email services which you have identified.
All the best,
Stephen Prentice
Co-Founder, Cool Kiwi Email
www.coolkiwi.co.nz
www.coolkiwi.com
April 2, 2009 10:40 PM
Tip 1. If important messages, don't rely on ANY web-based mail provider's storage svcs, especially the free ones. Use mail tied to your own (paid) domain name, as an option. Levels of protection relate to data's value.
Tip 2. Free svcs: Gmail, HoTMaiL, Ymail, and any HTML based mail can be fun for hackers. Doesn't mean you shouldn't use svcs; just don't expect too much. There ARE security measures; but use these at your own risk.
Tip 3. Download your web-mail messages to a client on your computer as a back-up. For example, Outlook, Thunderbird, Eudora, etc. I like Eudora.
Hope this helps... sorry that happened to you, Joel.
@CheriSigmon
April 9, 2009 09:16 PM
That would be aweful to lose all of your saved messages.
I've never had a problem with yahoo mail and I've been using them for about 8 years!
You should definitely forward your gmail emails somewhere.
April 10, 2009 09:45 AM
Joel, you mentioned that you use a different e-mail client for business purposes. Would be curious to hear from other readers what are the best companies they have used for their business email needs.
April 15, 2009 03:18 PM
Oh... that could be a nightmare. Im using Gmail for my businessmails and love it because I can read on the run even on my mobile.
I did use Outlook but it crashed several times :(
April 16, 2009 10:05 AM
I had this same thing happen today. All my messages were in my trash. I was worried that someone hacked in. Oddly it was a relief to read your post. I'm hoping it was a gmail error and not someone reading my emails. I had to sort back through 2000 emails and put in proper folders. Nothing important is kept on gmail but I still have emails I'd like to save.
May 7, 2009 06:25 AM
once i opened perticular incoming mail from my inbox after completion my work i return back to my inbox and aging open then data will be disappear, why it will happen plz provide solution for me becoz all my incoming mails are imp
May 27, 2009 02:57 AM
"I am co-founder of New Zealand free email provider Cool Kiwi Email at http://www.coolkiwi.co.nz" Well Joel, I don't trust Gmail, that's why I am with Coolkiwi, have been for years, but I am quietly going NUTS right now because the site is down AGAIN! It looks as though I will have to search for yet another provider, meanwhile there are urgent emails I know are sitting in my inbox waiting for me that I can not access. I have to wonder if any of the free providers are reliable any more!
August 6, 2009 03:02 AM
Today I had a problem that I suspect is related...
Although I didn't get all messages moved from folders & my inbox into trash, I did have a few critical emails sent straight to the trash folder, as well as a copy of one of my own sent mails duplicated there, and marked as 'unknown sender'.
Unfortunately, this has left one of my clients feeling a bit insecure as I was vehement that I hadn't received a mail with last-minute amendments (I'm a graphic designer), which meant that we almost missed the print deadline. They know they sent it - which leaves me looking like I'm making excuses.
This has really put me off the Gmail service - surely such fundemental flaw should not happen with an email service from a software powerhouse!