Email Archiving

MyEmailVault archives email from connected providers and stores it in a tamper-evident, searchable format. Archiving operates in two phases: an initial import of historical mail, followed by continuous synchronization of new messages.

How Archiving Works

When a mailbox is connected, MyEmailVault performs a full initial import. Every message, including headers, body, and attachments, is fetched, processed, and stored. After the initial import completes, the system switches to continuous sync mode, polling for new and changed messages at a configurable interval.

Initial Import vs. Continuous Sync

Phase	Behavior
Initial Import	Retrieves all existing messages from the connected mailbox. Progress is tracked per folder.
Continuous Sync	Periodically checks for new messages, moved messages, and deletions. Only changes since the last sync point are processed.

Thread Detection

MyEmailVault groups related messages into conversation threads using standard email headers (In-Reply-To, References, Message-ID). Threads are displayed as a unified view, making it easy to follow the full history of a conversation.

Folder Structure Preservation

The original folder hierarchy of the source mailbox (Inbox, Sent, custom folders, nested folders) is preserved in the archive. Users can browse archived mail using the same structure they are accustomed to.

Attachment Deduplication

Attachments are deduplicated by content hash. If the same file is attached to multiple messages, only one copy is stored. Each message retains a reference to its attachments, so the full context is always available while storage usage is minimized.

Supported Providers

MyEmailVault supports any provider that exposes a standard IMAP or SMTP interface, as well as direct integrations with major platforms. See the Email Providers section for provider-specific setup instructions.

Preserve Original File Mode (Compliance)

For regulatory environments that require immutable storage of original message data (such as GoBD or SEC Rule 17a-4), MyEmailVault offers a Preserve Original File mode. When enabled:

• The raw .eml file for each message is stored alongside the parsed archive copy.
• Original files are never modified after storage.
• SHA-256 hashes are calculated at ingest time and can be verified at any point. See Integrity Verification for details.

This mode ensures that the archived record is a faithful, verifiable copy of the original communication.