iCloud Mail IMAP fetch does not return body of older emails (only headers)

Question

iCloud Mail IMAP fetch does not return body of older emails (only headers)

I have discovered a consistent problem with iCloud Mail when using IMAP. Recent emails (up to about 7–14 days old) can be retrieved completely (headers + body), but older emails only return headers, flags, and metadata — the actual body/text is missing.

This happens even with direct IMAP FETCH commands (e.g. `UID FETCH <uid> (BODY[])`). In every case, recent messages are complete, while older messages return only headers. However, the same older emails are still fully visible in iCloud Webmail.

This behavior suggests that the iCloud IMAP servers do not provide the full content of older emails via IMAP. It breaks standards compliance and prevents third-party mail clients from properly accessing the entire iCloud Mail archive.

Has anyone else experienced this issue, and is Apple aware of it? It would be great to know if this is a server-side bug or an intentional limitation.

Gepostet am 17. Sept. 2025 22:47

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Answer 1

18. Sept. 2025 03:43 als Antwort auf maisen20

Die Standards (IMAP RFCs) verlangen eigentlich, dass bei einem Befehl wie UID FETCH <uid> (BODY[]) der komplette Nachrichtentext geliefert wird. Wenn das nicht geschieht, liegt entweder eine Beschränkung oder ein Fehler vor.

Wenn das Problem weiterhin besteht oder du Schwierigkeiten bei der Durchführung hast, empfehle ich dir, den Apple Support unter der kostenlosen Telefonnummer 0800 6645 451 (Deutschland) zu kontaktieren. Die Mitarbeiter:innen dort können sich dein Anliegen gemeinsam mit dir anschauen und eine Lösung finden.

Just a gentle reminder: We have a dedicated community for English discussions over at discussions.apple.com. Since your post is in English, we warmly invite you to join us there for further discussions.

Thanks for your understanding!

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