I lost about a week of emails due to a failed Backup/Restore.

The emails are still at gmail. How do I tell pegasus to download them again?

Or do I do something at gmail?

Thanks!

Rich

Let me tell you how I have done it.
First know that Pegasus Mail keeps track of retrieved messages. There isn't a way to modify that record. Removing it altogether can result in all messages on the Gmail server being downloaded again so that isn't a viable option.
Second, I have my Gmail configured to archive Gmail's copy once it is retrieved by POP3. This puts it in the Gmail "All Mail" folder.

So, what I have done is created an IMAP connection to my Gmail mailbox. The connection was configured to only get the status of the inbox when connecting. I did this because I did not want the IMAP connection to try to list the thousands of messages that are in my Gmail account on the server. I then connected to the Gmail web interface and moved all of the messages that I wanted to the Gmail Inbox. Back in Pegasus Mail I opened the Gmail Inbox in the IMAP connection and copied those messages to a local Pegasus Mail folder.

I don't know of an easier way unless you can use the Gmail web interface to forward them to a different email address from which you can then retrieve them.

Thanks Brian - I used one of your posts to move to a new machine - THANKS!

This looks maybe doable but complicated, as I have always done POP3 not IMAP.

To "maybe" prepare, I already went to gmail and deleted /trashed all emails other than the period I am missing. (I periodically clear gmail out anyway as Pegasus (and backups) is MY archive!) So I COULD do what you dismiss - remove the record, and let pegasus download the "small" amount still in my inbox.P
How would I do that? Remove the record to re-download all that is in my gmail inbox?

This could be a bit complicated depending on how many mail servers you are checking. I will explain how it works and let you post back with any specific questions.

• The record of downloaded messages is stored a .PM3 file, one for every POP3 host record.
• The .PM3 file associated with each POP3 is stored inside of its .PND file as a Memfile: entry.
• The only way to tell which .PND file is associated with your GMail account is to look inside of every .PND file with a text editor until you find the right one. Hint: Look in Internet Options at the name of the POP3 host file being used to access Gmail. That name will be in the Title: entry of the .PND file.
• Once you identify the associated .PM3 file, close Pegasus Mail, rename the .PM3 file to something like .PM3_saved, then start Pegasus Mail (see below for some safety measures to consider).

Optional reassurance measures (I would take these):

• It Pegasus Mail is configured to check for mail whenever the new mail folder is opened (ie: on startup)
  • Add the -O (ohh, no zero) offline option to the command line. This will start Pegasus Mail in offline mode to prevent an automatic mail check.
  • Once Pegasus Mail is open offline, disable the automatic checking of Gmail (Internet Options > Receiving tab: Set polling time to zero, untick "Check whenever new mail folder is open")
  • Bring Pegasus Mail online (look for the icon bottom right that has a red "X" on it. Click it to go online.).
  • Trigger a selective mail download. This is your reassurance that you will be retrieving what you need.

Once all is well you can go back into the POP3 configuration and enter a polling time as well as enable the "Check whenever new mail folder is open" option if you disabled it earlier.

I hope this all makes sense.

FWIW, consider configuring Gmail to archive email after POP3 downloads. It keeps your inbox empty while keeping a copy until you explicitly delete them.

Wow - more complicated than I thought! Thanks!

So I tried - looked at .PND files. I use 4 gmail identities in Pegasus, and I see their files in MAIL.

I started with one (only two identities matter re the lost mail) and I think I found the right .PND. It referred to my Pop3, correct address, and showed a Memfile : POP2J4Q8.PM3.
Then I searched for all .PM3 files inside MAIL. I only found THREE - none for the ID I was looking at. One for each of the other three identities (only one of which matters here). And all are quite old: 2015 and 2008 - maybe when I first put those identities in Pegasus. I then searched all of C: drive for that PM3 - none found.

At that point I stopped - confused! That is at odds with your directions. Help?

I apologize for failing to mention that that a .PND file may reference a .PM3 file that does not exist. This happens when the POP3 host definition does not have the 'Download only unread mail' option ticked. The .PND file will contain a reference to a .PM3 file but that file never gets created. See if this explains the missing .PM3 files.

In thinking about this further, I don't understand how it works with Gmail. I have Gmail configured to archive messages after download so my Inbox gets emptied with each polling. Because of this, my Gmail POP3 host file in Pegasus Mail does not have the 'Download only unread mail' option enabled. Because of that, there is no associated .PM3 file because Pegasus Mail is not keeping track of what it downloads. It just downloads what is in the Inbox and then Gmail moves the retrieved messages out of the Inbox. The piece I don't understand is that when I move a message back to the Inbox, Pegasus Mail does not download it, it does not see it. The only thing I can think of that is happening is that Gmail has tags downloaded messages making them unavailable for download again. If this is the case then IMAP may be the only option. I have confirmed that I can see messages moved to the Gmail Inbox when I connect via IMAP.

Can anybody else out there shed any light on this?

Well, Brian, you still know far more about it than I do!

I'll look at my settings, but somehow Pegasus only downloads unread mail for me . . .

I, , and you, deserve a couple beers, then I'll look into it again.

Thank you, whether I get there or not. Your other clear instructions on how to move to a new computer were great and accurate! (circa May 11, per my printout of it)

Rich

RichU - Probably too late for you, but if you enable Recent Activity in your Gmail POP Receiving the next time you check mail it will download the last 30 days of activity from you "All Mail" folder which is any activity you have had that you did not specifically delete.

Per Gmail webpage to enable Recent Activity add "recent:" to the front of your email in your config info for that Idenity in Pmail. "recent:richu@gmail.com" as example.

This is also how you can download mail via POP to Pmail on multiple computers.

Bob, that looks like good info and I'll give it a try AFTER I again clean out/reduce the inbox at gmail, then I will report in. (Don't want to needlessly repeat 30 days worth of mail, so I will mostly delete at gmail.com to just leave some "test" data.)
And yes, I am now just past the 30 day window for those lost emails.

I did go through them at gmail.com and forwarded any "important" ones to me. A weak work around, as they all show me as sender with a revised date in my inbox, but at least I did not lose any important stuff.

Thanks, Bob!