Answers...

to commonly asked questions.

gmail

Can I restore my deleted emails from Gmail?


How can I restore deleted email that is not in my trash from my Gmail account?
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If your email was categorized as a Google “workspace” email which means it’s a business class email, then Google provides an ability to restore deleted messages.

https://knowledge.workspace.google.com/kb/how-to-restore-a-users-recently-permanently-deleted-email-000005308

Doubtful that your is, but worth checking. You would have workspace email if you had bought a domain name from Google for instance or if your email were part of a bundle of emails belonging to a company.

You can try logging in at
workspace.google.com and select “admin console” but if your email is not classified as workspace, that page will reject the login. Just thought it might be worth a shot.

Gmail deletion

I went through and deleted all the messages in “Important” under gmail from 2012 through 2019. That didn’t seem to do anything for my space. Is it because I now need to go in and delete them from Trash? There is a picture below of what the Storage Manager is telling me. I was reluctant to delete them without knowing if I am on the right track. Everything has been backed up.
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Regarding gmail to trash:

Keep in mind that even if you delete an email from any folder, all it does is move into another folder spelled “trash”. That folder is set to delete any email after it’s sat for 30 days. However, if you’d like to speed up the process, you can empty the trash at any time. That should show a space change once the trash is empty. Otherwise, if you do nothing, eventually, 30 days later, older email will begin disappearing.

Why won't my password work in gmail?

What's a good way to help me figure out my password? I just changed it and now my iPhone won't take it in my gmail settings.
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I usually like to prove that I know the password by going directly to the source via a webpage. In this case, try to log in at gmail.com first. Once you’ve established the password is correct, then re add it on the phone. That way you can eliminate the mistyping/incorrect guesses using the phone keyboard which can cause its own problems.

Next, just delete then re add the account.
To re add the email account:

Settings/Mail/accounts/add account/ select the Google option.

How can I delete a lot of email at once?

I just figured out that I've been deleting files from my gmail account, not the aeftemple account. Ugh. I'll start on the account tomorrow.  It's very tedious. Is there a quick way to go directly to the end of the messages rather than scroll back 100 messages at a time?
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From gmail.com it is pretty difficult to delete more than 100 at a time. Something the really need to adjust. But from an email client like Apple’s Mail or Microsoft’s Outlook, you can select several thousand at once then delete. Keep in mind that deleting email from one box simply moves it into your “trash” box where it sits until it’s scheduled for deletion. That time is up to the email program you are using and its’ own settings. One week, One Month, One day etc…

If you have “archive” turned on within Gmail, you may not be deleting at all. Archive just keeps a copy for future reference. These settings are available at gmail.com.


Why am I seeing this bounce back to me?

From: MAILER-DAEMON@yahoo.com
Subject: Failure Notice
Date: October 28, 2020 at 11:01:12 AM EDT
To: lxxxxxxx@bellsouth.net

Sorry, we were unable to deliver your message to the following address.

<
yxxxxxxx@gmail.com>:
552: 5.2.2 The email account that you tried to reach is over quota. Please direct
5.2.2 the recipient to
5.2.2
https://support.google.com/mail/?p=OverQuotaPerm o5si2733492qtr.98 - gsmtp

--- Below this line is a copy of the message.

DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=
yahoo.com; s=s2048; t=1603897272; bh=Dt8Cv7AHMAxJp8pb1R4eKOAagcBwaCbWZiv3KS6VX2A=; h=Subject:From:Date:To:Reply-To:List-Unsubscribe:From:Subject; b=mwWlkOI6Rrozhm6HxiYPFKigFuqataeOSBBw1lmZR0C+ZrqU3vBUBTNS6KOOlpRW7sIL+JFEjkkVkc36rgnfxidd+0/+vlCe8kL+EBZrFN9ra6av30vdEvyGXJwP3XUHNWTlUM1xn5wF8pDOju7DssU3NmHdFvuw1Ts+Ket9Dj8zHbMtMQ3N73lcdBNp3023YHTqcM6lJvpmaLcu/AMO44dTK1xTOaPxay2tyVhMoLSTZhNY6rxach1eRdxUY/HlrLob7F4cCA15bveBQNvbp3ClaAcwPxzZ1MsT1a2WBzQGXM0RhWGH8HBG5M822hhFz4SKHUm7equN4yWBbnIEOA==
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In this case, the person you are emailing <xxxxxx@gmail.com>: has run out of space on their gmail account. Gmail gives all its users 15 gigs of space but if a person never deletes any email, it’s inevitable that they’ll end up with a full box. That’s what’s happened in this case.


How can I remove my Gmail account from my Mac?

Help. I only use gmail and I changed something that has enabled my apple mail to work. I don't want it jumping up from my tool bar or being used. How do I stop it there's 43,000 duplicate emails in there. I think my gmail is forwarding there too. HELP
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Sounds like you've added Gmail into internet accounts that allows your Apple Mail to check it but you prefer to check your email only using a web browser. Fairly harmless but some prefer not to have their email in Apple Mail. To remove the gmail account from Apple Mail, open system preferences and find the Internet Accounts pane.



Select the gmail account listed there then hit the minus key. This will remove the Gmail account from Apple's mail program. It will also remove any calendars and contacts associated to the Gmail account. If you change your mind, you can re-add it and any contacts and calendars will return.

Apple Mail not taking my Gmail account

My gmail is not working within Apple Mail.  It got where it reported offline status and stuff would get stuck in my outbox.  I tried deleting the account and putting it back and now it shows none of my mail.  With either explorer or safari, the app works fine.  Any other tricks I can use?
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Deleting your gmail account then re-adding it is definately a great step to take. It really should have solved it. So here's what I would do to work toward a solution.

1. Verify that I know my gmail password by going to safari or chrome: gmail.com, sign out if I'm signed in, then manually type the password. Once I'm certain of the password, move to step two.
2. Open system preferences: Internet Accounts and remove the gmail account from there. Quit system preference. Reopen mail.
3. Re-add the account. You'll be asked to sign in using Safari most likely as gmail now requires website authentication. It won't be a full fledged web page but instead, a smaller version that only shows your email and password area.
4. After you've attempted again to re-add the account, go back to gmail.com and look at your google account security settings. You should see an area for "authorized devices" and MacOS should be one. Gmail used to have a silly setting they turned off by default called "allow less secure devices". They considered MacOS a less secure device. That was their way of trying to get you to only use Chrome so they could better monetize advertising. If you see that setting, check "allow less secure devices".

If these steps don't solve it then there's a deeper issue that would most likely require a deeper dive into some support folders. Happy to assist remotely if needed.

Very common Gmail imap error

Why is Gmail giving me the error.
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I’m going to guess that you may be referring to a common gmail error having to do with imap.gmail.com outgoing server issues.

If so, this has become a very common error within Gmail. The easiest remedy is to just delete the email account then re-add it once again. That usually takes care of it. The reason for this error is due to changes Gmail has recently implemented which requires authentication via a web browser. So when re-adding the gmail account, it will automatically open a safari window when you enter your password. That should resolve the issue. Hope this helps.

Gmail needs reauthorization

Scotty, my outlook mailbox has stopped worked. It began about a week ago when it stopped on an intermittent basis. I haven’t been able to get it going since yesterday. In between, I’ve been logging on to my gmail account on the laptop, plus rebooting but nothing seems to work. Not critical since I have my other devices but very inconvenient.
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Google recently changed the way their accounts are authenticated. When adding an account, they now require you sign in using a web browser. The solution to your problem is most likely to remove the email account from Outlook then re-add it. When you re-add it, it should automatically open your browser and ask you to input your password there. After that, you shouldn't have the issues.

Why does this gmail message appear?

Why do I keep getting this message constantly?

Screen Shot 2019-11-19 at 5.33.42 PM
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Google (gmail) has added additional layers of security to their email service. Easiest thing to do to resolve this would be to delete the account from the device and re-add it once again. However this time when adding the gmail account, you'll see a slightly different looking window that opens (Safari) that will give more thorough access to the iPhone. If it continues then there is a settings that be found directly in the gmail settings at gmail.com that would allow the account to be accessed on what Google considers "less secure devices". You can turn that on and that to, may resolve the issue but mostly likely, just deleting and re-adding the account should resolve it.

Gmail server error

I get this on my phone 500 times a day! How do I make it stop?



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One of two things has happened:

1. You've changed your gmail password and the phone doesn't know the new one.
2. Gmail has updated their security preferences and your phone doesn't currently have permission to check your email.

Solution:

Just delete the gmail account and re-add it on your phone. Go to settings/Passwords and Accounts/ select the gmail account and choose "Delete Account" at the bottom. Then go back one window and select to "Add Account". I like to first prove that I know my password before entering it on the phone. To check your password, go to gmail.com on a computer web browser and try to log in. It's always less frustrating to check a password using a real keyboard instead of a glass iPhone keyboard.

Why did this message come up?

This came while trying to open my daughter's gmail account through my computer. And instagram too.

Screen Shot 2019-10-04 at 8.01.15 PM
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Well, there are details missing to give. Complete answer but I'll give it a try. The message is saying that the link or file you have used is not actually a web address. A standard web address looks similar to any of the following:

www.gmail.com
Https://gmail.com
www.instagram.com
Https://instagram.com

What you seem to have clicked on is "com.apple.systempreferences…". This is usually the name of a support file found on all Macs but users usually do not find their way to this file. It's hidden by default. I do not know how you could have clicked on it or asked safari to try to open it.

There is another explanation. I have seen a message similar to this when the user on the computer is restricted. The Mac has the ability to allow an admin user to place parental controls on a different user. Think parent user controlling a child user on the same Mac. If the child (parental controlled user on the Mac) tries to go to a restricted website, you may see this message.

So try going directly to either gmail.com or instagram.com by typing in the website manually then entering your daughter's username (email address) and password. If those sites still fail to load on your computer, then it's certain that you have parental controls turned on on that user.

Logging in to gmail with multiple accounts

I’m trying to log into my son’s new e-mail address at his new school. I am able to log into it on my I Pad, but not on my desk top. See info below. Did anything we did last Friday affect this? You will see his old CMS google account and his new Trinity google account.
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Nothing we did would effect this issue.

1. If his account is not listed, you can go to gmail.com, sign out of any accounts you're currently signed into, then sign in using his new account. Gmail has the ability to maintain many email account sign-ins at the same time. If you don't see his new or old account listed when you go to log in, you'll find a link near where the red arrow pictured below is that allows you to sign in as a different user.

2. Make sure the password for the account you are trying to log in with is correct.

3. You may have been using Chrome and now using Safari. Each browser stores it's own record of what accounts you're logging in with.

4. Keep in mind that emails are not related to each other. Therefore, passwords may not be the same. In other words, a person can have an email account based on trinity and another based on cms.k12, both being hosted by gmail but have different passwords. There would be no relationship between the two.

Attempted sign in account thwarted

Just hours after you sent us that hacker message warning email I got this. It looks legit so I changed my password again. Did I screw up? Google has made me do this multiple times over the last few years.


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Yea, that's legit. I checked the links and that is in fact Google warning you. One of the benefits of Google's security measures is that they list all the devices and attempted IP addresses and locations where people have or attempted to have logged into your account. Go to your security settings on your google login webpage for more info. Turning on 2 factor authentication is a pain but makes your account infantately more secure also. Just make sure your password is strong and if you've traveled recently, it's probably not a good idea to change the password to be safe.

Our gmail is mixing together

My gmail and wife's gmail have gotten mixed up again. Can you tell me how to fix?
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In regard to your gmail issue: The mix up could be happening by a: not understanding the difference between the "Inbox" and the separate mailboxes in Mail. When Mail.app has multiple email accounts, there is a risk of a person accidentally sending an email from the wrong address. When sending an email, always check the outgoing email address in the email prior to hitting send.

I prefer to never click on the Inbox at the top. Doing so means that you're looking at all email accounts in one box. I prefer to select the mailboxes below individually:

Gmail never finishing syncing with the server.

Hi. I don’t mean to be a pain, but this seems like strange activity to see while I’m working. I have been in mail for several hours and this activity seems to be taking a really long time. This morning, I am still having to log out of mail and then comeback in to get new messages. It worked great for awhile,but I seem to be back to the problem?
Thanks

Screen Shot 2018-02-14 at 9.47.25 AM


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I can’t recall whether we turned off “allow less secure apps” in your gmail settings or not. That can sometimes play a role with how Apple’s mail program acts with Gmail. Allowing less secure apps sounds like a bad thing but Gmail has deemed any app other than Google Chrome less secure. So if that setting is turned on, then many email programs can have a problem.

Have you tried “rebuilding” the inbox? Available in mail under Mailbox in the menu bar.

Screen Shot 2018-02-14 at 9.43.03 AM

Why isn't my gmail syncing?

when we were last together we set up gmail. And we were trying to sync all three devices e- mail... It's a pain deleting from each device. Not sure what I was to do after I set up gmail?
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If gmail is set up as IMAP on each device, then it should sync 100%. It is possible that one of the devices has your gmail account set up as POP. That would be a reason that your gmail is not syncing.

Will Gmail ever stop syncing on my mac?

Gmail box on my main computer keeps loading old messages....as soon as I delete, it loads about 500 more!!!  What do I do?
Getting these on my phone, but nothing coming in on my main computer except hundreds of old emails loading continuously!

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It’s common for Gmail to download a large number of emails initially as the server emails and the local email program balance each other out.  Things should have calmed down by now and your inboxes should be synced up by now.  If you’d like to see the process happening, you can open Mail “the stamp” and in the menu bar under “window” select Activity.  This will show you the progress of the conversation between the mac and the gmail server.  It’s common to see activity come and go in this window.

Gmail email not deleting

Scotty
I have an incoming mail ( in gmail) which I have not been able to delete. The message has no content. How can I delete it?
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I would suggest going to www.gmail.com and logging in from there. Once logged in via the website you may be better able to delete the email from there.

Gmail syncing problems and other questions

Hey Scotty,

You worked on one of my mac's years ago.  I have a random question that you've probably addressed before.  But I have BING hijacking my browser in both Safari and Firefox.  What is a legitimate way of removing this problem permanently?  I have looked at several things online but so often it looks like someone is giving poor advice that makes the problem stay or get worse.
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These devices and programs have to provide us all the choice of search engine to use due to antitrust laws. Sounds like your search engine is set to Bing and you’d like to change that. This varies depending on what browser you’re using but let’s look at Safari.

Under “Safari” in the menu bar at the top of your computer, select “preferences” from the pulldown menu. Under the General tab of that newly open window, you’ll find the ability to change your default search engine as well as the default browser. You may also look at changing your homepage to a commonly visited page like nytimes or cnn.com etc... Your homepage may currently be Bing.com.
Screen Shot 2014-04-14 at 5.24.54 PM

I forgot my gmail password


Scotty, I need help with the following:

1) Time Machine Backup says "Backing up 855,255 items  2.59 GB (and growing) of 62.55 GB

2) "Airport Utility was unable to find any Airport wireless devices. Make sure the Airport wireless device you want to set up is plugged in  and in range of your computer, then click rescan to try again." Does this relate to the WiFi I set up for my wife's former laptop and her current iPhone 4? Her phone is on and connected to the WiFi but hitting Rescan gives the same unable to find message.

3) The Time Machine On/Off window is currently set to "OFF" and says Available 924.9GB of 931.2 GB. Oldest and latest backups are blank and "Backing up is presently at 6.1 GB (& growing) of 62.6 GB

Does it matter that the P/N printed on the box for the Seagate drive is quite different from the P/N on the device? 1D8AN5-570 v/s 1D8AP8-500

I've not yet seen the Seagate Dashboard depicted on their Quick Start Guide.
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1.  The time machine backup sounds like it's doing exactly what it's supposed to.  Backing up your data so the message saying "backing up 855…etc…" is a good thing.

2.  The airport utility is used to manage apple wireless devices like an airport extreme, airport express, or time capsule.  I'm not sure if you have one of those or not so I can't really address the number 2 question at the moment.  

3.  The time machine window should be set to "on".  

The P/N number is irrelevant to how your seagate drive is used.  I wouldn't worry about that number.  

You should not use a "Seagate dashboard" to manage your backup drive.  Every drive comes with very poorly designed software that each company thinks you might use.  I never use them.  I trust Time Machine so letting the operating system do the backup work is always best in my opinion.
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