Inactive accounts & recovery FAQ

This FAQ applies primarily to unpaid legacy free mailboxes (free_legacy). Paid subscriptions (Plus, Professional, Team, Enterprise, and equivalent legacy paid tiers) are not subject to automated inactivity suspension described below.

What counts as “activity”?

Activity means a successful Webmail login (including two-factor authentication when required), or an authenticated IMAP session through Finmail (Webmail IMAP IDLE / mail fetch; throttled to at most once per hour by default). We use last_activity_at; if absent, we fall back to last_login_at, then account creation time.

What happens to inactive unpaid accounts?

Stage	When	What changes	Your mail
Active	Normal use	Full access	Stored on mail server (Maildir)
Suspended	180 days without activity	Login and IMAP/SMTP blocked; mailbox marked inactive	Still on disk — not deleted at this stage
Purged	365 days without activity while suspended	Mailbox storage removed; account marked purged; email address cannot be re-registered	Permanently deleted from production storage

We may send reasonable notice before suspension and before final purge where technically feasible. You should export important mail before long periods of disuse.

I was suspended but not purged — can I get my account back?

Usually yes. If your account is suspended and mail has not yet been purged:

Email [email protected] from your registered address (or prove ownership as we direct).
We typically reactivate access at no charge for a first inactivity suspension.
After reactivation you must sign in to Webmail within 7 days. If you do not, your account may be suspended again on the next maintenance cycle because your last-activity timestamp was not refreshed.
Once signed in, your existing mail on the server should be available again.

Do you charge a recovery fee?

Situation	Typical policy
First reactivation after inactivity suspension (mail still on server)	No fee
Repeat inactivity suspensions (see below)	We may require a paid plan (e.g. Plus) or a one-time reactivation fee before restoring access
Purged account — mail already deleted	Paid data-salvage service only if an operations backup exists; no guarantee of recovery
Abuse or spam suspension	Separate policy — not covered by the free inactivity reactivation allowance

Current fee amounts, if any, will be quoted in writing before you pay. See Terms §4.10.

What if I keep getting suspended after you restore me?

We track reactivation requests. To prevent abuse of free storage and support time:

Occurrence	Typical handling
1st inactivity recovery	Free reactivation; you must sign in within 7 days
2nd recovery	Reactivation with written acknowledgment of the inactivity policy; sign-in within 72 hours strongly recommended; we may suggest upgrading to Plus so your account is excluded from automated inactivity cleanup
3rd or later	We may refuse free reactivation, or require an active Plus / Professional subscription or a one-time reactivation fee

If you need a mailbox you rarely check, consider upgrading to a paid plan or exporting and closing the account voluntarily.

My account was suspended for spam or abuse

Suspensions for abuse, fraud, or outbound spam are handled separately from inactivity. We investigate before reactivation. Repeat abuse suspensions may be denied permanently. Report mistakes to [email protected]; report outbound abuse to [email protected].

My account shows “purged” — can anything be restored?

After purge, Webmail login, password reset, and self-service reactivation are not available. The email address remains reserved and cannot be used for a new registration.

Mail is removed from production storage. Recovery is only possible if Finmail or your organization retains a separate backup and you purchase a paid salvage request (subject to feasibility and quoted price). Contact [email protected].

Some account metadata (contacts, settings indexes, etc.) may partially remain for compliance records but is not a substitute for restored mail.

How do I avoid suspension?

Sign in to Webmail at least once every six months (we recommend more often).
Upgrade to Plus or another paid plan — paid tiers are excluded from automated inactivity suspension.
Use Privacy → Export my data (where available) before long absences.
Keep a valid recovery email configured for password resets.

Paid subscribers

If you maintain an active Plus, Professional, Team, Enterprise, or equivalent paid legacy subscription, your account should not enter automated inactivity suspension. If you believe a paid account was suspended in error, contact [email protected] and [email protected].

Contact

Need	Email
Account recovery / inactivity	[email protected]
Billing / upgrade to Plus	[email protected]
Abuse reports	[email protected]