Gmail messages are missing? Check these 4 solutions

The last thing anyone who depends on their email client wants is for messages to suddenly start disappearing. And that’s exactly what seems to be happening to some Gmail users. Namely, some of them reported that Gmail messages are missing even without being deleted or archived. If you are among them, make sure to check the steps we listed below and try and retrieve missing messages.

Why have my emails disappeared from my Gmail inbox?

1. Check Archive, Spam, and Trash

The first thing to do if some emails are missing from your Gmail is to check 3 usual folders where many messages end up. Those are Archive, Spam, and Trash folders.

So, make sure that you haven’t archived, flagged as spam, or plain deleted emails from your account. Or, if someone else did it, you might still be able to locate them in the said folders.

You can search for all messages from all senders (including Spam and Trash folders) by adding in: everywhere command in the search bar, before entering senders/subjects/details.

2. Check Filters

Moving on, we’ll need you to sign into your Gmail account in a browser and check for possible filters that automatically delete or ignore emails from certain senders. This, of course, needs to be configured by you, and if you never meddled with filters, you could safely skip this step altogether.

But, for the sake of troubleshooting, here’s how to check if there are any filters set:

1. From a browser on your Android (with desktop mode) or PC, open Gmail on the Web.
2. In the top right, click Settings.
3. Expand all settings.
4. Select the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab.
5. Remove all filters that include the words “Delete it” or “Skip Inbox.” Just click Delete next to a filter.
6. Follow further on-screen instructions and save changes.

3. Make sure that emails are not forwarded

Another vital thing to inspect is email forwarding. There’s an option that allows users to automatically forward incoming emails to another account. This will, of course, result in not receiving messages to your account as they are redirected to another one.

Here’s how to check email forwarding and disable it:

1. From a browser on your Android (with desktop mode) or PC, open Gmail the Web.
2. In the top right, click Settings.
3. Expand all settings.
4. Select the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.
5. In the Forwarding section, make sure that inbox messages are saved after forwarding or disable forwarding altogether.
6. Save changes.

These settings can affect the outgoing messages, too. Learn how and what to do to fix Gmail not sending emails in a few quick steps.

4. Ensure that your account is not compromised

Finally, it’s important to ensure that your account is not compromised and that some third party doesn’t have access to your emails. What you need to do to prevent further possible issues is to immediately reclaim your account, change the password, and add an extra layer of security with the 2-step verification.

Firstly, you can run an inspection by navigating to Gmail Recovery Tool. After that, make sure to change your password and add a 2-step verification to avoid future issues like this.

With that said, we can conclude this article. If your Gmail messages are still missing, make sure to contact Google Support and share your problem. Thank you for reading and make sure to tell us about alternative solutions we missed in the comments section below.

Editor’s note: This article was initially published in March 2021. We made sure to revamp it for freshness and accuracy.