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I've been trying to figure out why my mail isn't coming up in my search.  The "exclude button" isnt checked, and I've added the ~/Library/Mail as well as the ~/Library/Messages, neither seems to yield any results.  Any idea how i can get my email and messages in the search?

 

Thanks

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@meites Welcome to the forum! If you're a Powerpack user (which is a requirement to use either of the workflows linked by @GuiB), please fill in your Powerpack email address in your forum profile. This is only visible to admins and allows us to confirm your registered email address :)

 

If you're not a Powerpack user, including emails from Mail.app should be as simple as:

  • Adding ~/Library/Mail/ to your search scope
  • Unchecking "Emails" from the "Don't Show" list in Features > File Search

You can then search using either the "open" keyword, or pressing the spacebar (which is the shortcut to "open"). This adds a fair amount of noisy results to your File Search, so it's preferable to use a File Filter workflow like this one to search your emails:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5h3djhw2thf8xjp/Mail.app Search 3.0.alfredworkflow?dl=0

 

It's worth noting that the workflow above assumes you're using Mail.app - you didn't mention which email client you're using so if you're using a different one, email data may not be stored in the same place. 

 

Cheers,
Vero

 

 

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  • 11 months later...

@Vero - thanks for this flow. Is there any way to get it to sort Mail.app's results returned by creation or modification date? I get a mix of emails near the top that span the last 10 years!

 

I tried changing the file filter date range to last 30 days, but it doesn't seem to affect the results.

 

Thanks,

Pat

 

 

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@patgilmour While the files can't be returned in date order as such (as they're sorted by relevance if you've already opened some of the files more recently), you can certainly use the File Filter's Advanced > Date Range, as this is something I use in my own modified version of the workflow.

 

Keep in mind that the creation and modification date are both taken into account, so take a look at the dates in the metadata (either by revealing it in Finder and looking at the Get Info, or by using Alfred's Metadata Tool: https://cachefly.alfredapp.com/tools/AlfredMetadataTool_v1.1.zip)

 

Also, just in case it caught you out, remember that you need to save/close the File Filter window with your change if you've used the dropdown to set a different Date Range before your workflow will take it into account. :) 

 

Cheers,
Vero

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  • 9 months later...
On 2/7/2018 at 5:38 PM, Vero said:

@meites Welcome to the forum! If you're a Powerpack user (which is a requirement to use either of the workflows linked by @GuiB), please fill in your Powerpack email address in your forum profile. This is only visible to admins and allows us to confirm your registered email address :)

 

If you're not a Powerpack user, including emails from Mail.app should be as simple as:

  • Adding ~/Library/Mail/ to your search scope
  • Unchecking "Emails" from the "Don't Show" list in Features > File Search

You can then search using either the "open" keyword, or pressing the spacebar (which is the shortcut to "open"). This adds a fair amount of noisy results to your File Search, so it's preferable to use a File Filter workflow like this one to search your emails:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5h3djhw2thf8xjp/Mail.app Search 3.0.alfredworkflow?dl=0

 

It's worth noting that the workflow above assumes you're using Mail.app - you didn't mention which email client you're using so if you're using a different one, email data may not be stored in the same place. 

 

Cheers,
Vero

 

 

 

Hi , 

 

Is there a power pack workflow to search for emails in Alfred? Thanks. 

I am a power pack user 

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  • 3 months later...

I've tried everything that was listing on this and another post, but I can't get it to work on Mojave and apple mail. soon as I type anything beyond emfrom, it goes right to a web search.

Ive  added:

Adding ~/Library/Mail/ to your search scope

Unchecking "Emails" from the "Don't Show" list in Features > File Search

 

I checked that my mail folder is in that library. what could be going wrong?

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@romebot There's no need to add anything to your search scope to use a workflow.

 

If you're using v3 of the Mail workflow (linked below), it works great on Mojave :) 

 

As you've only recently installed Alfred 4, you may still need to go to Alfred's General preferences, click "Request permissions..." and make sure you've granted Alfred Accessibility and Full Disk Access. 

 

 

 

Let me know how you get on.

 

Cheers,
Vero

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13 minutes ago, romebot said:

Hello Vero, I had done that already as I was reading all the past posts about it. Alfred has been authorized for full access and files/folders. could whatever the reason be for this, the same reason other workflows dont work for me?

 

This goes without saying, you need to have Mail.app set up and in use, so the emails you're searching for must exist in your Mail inboxes

 

Also, are you definitely on macOS Mojave, and not on Catalina? Apple have tightened restrictions further in Catalina, making it impossible for third parties to access mail content, so this workflow cannot be used in Catalina.

 

Cheers,
Vero

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oops, my mistake, I'm in catalina (brain freeze :)). I am using the apple mail app only... so what does this mean? will this workflow be updated to be usable again in the future, or is this (and maybe a number of other workflows) now rendered forever unusable? (could this be why my success rate has been so low w/ so many workflows?). It's a bit frustrating as I was very excited to use this one and the german dictcc german dictionary as well as deepl and others. Is there a way to know which workflows wont work before going to the trouble of installing/troubleshooting?

 

R

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@romebot The issue I'm describing applies specifically to the Mail workflow, in that it interacts with the Mail library files, which have been locked down by Apple in macOS Catalina.

 

As I've explained in my email reply regarding the other workflows, pop a post in the relevant thread for the workflows you're having issues with; Most of the ones you are describing are actively maintained, and should work smoothly on Catalina, so be descriptive with your issue (not "it doesn't work", be more specific as to whether you get an error message, let them know exactly which workflow version you're using, what you're typing into Alfred) and our lovely community will help you out.

 

Cheers,
Vero

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@romebot In the past, when Apple restricted access to their other apps (Contacts, Calendars, Reminders), they added used-defined access in the macOS Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy area, so there is a chance they will add back support for 3rd party access to Mail in the future. If and when Apple add this, we can update the workflow appropriately to operate as before.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 1/21/2020 at 4:40 PM, Andrew said:

@romebot In the past, when Apple restricted access to their other apps (Contacts, Calendars, Reminders), they added used-defined access in the macOS Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy area, so there is a chance they will add back support for 3rd party access to Mail in the future. If and when Apple add this, we can update the workflow appropriately to operate as before.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

I don't see mail app in the Privacy area

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  • 1 month later...

PLEASE NOTE: The discussion in this thread is only relevant to macOS versions up to Mojave and earlier. In macOS Catalina, Apple have tightened restrictions further, making it impossible for third parties to access mail content, so the workflow cannot be used in Catalina.

 

@borzov Due to Apple's restrictions, as mentioned above, this workflow won't work on 10.15. 

 

Cheers,
Vero

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  • 3 weeks later...

Is this still an issue? Most of my Macs are still on Mojave, but I recently acquired a new one with Catalina pre-installed. If I am unable to search mail, it will hinder my day-to-day workflow. What are other Alfred Powerpack users doing? Staying on Mojave? Using a different tool or workflow to search mail? Re-enabling spotlight? 

 

BTW: I have a few custom workflows I have built for work and it has increased my productivity significantly. I am a huge Alfred fan. Just really need to search email on a regular basis, and this comes as a surprise to me :(

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