appletech122

Q: why is the mail application so unreliable?

I have made my move to a Mac laptop this year after being overrun with iOS devices in my house. The MacBook Air I have is an awesome machine. One of the main things I got it for is for business productivity. The simplest of things I should be able to do is communicate over email, but the native mail application is so unreliable it is embarrassing. I have a yahoo account that I was able to setup fine enough. Every time I send an email it is a gamble as to whether or not it is sent or not. That is unacceptable. The mail accounts I setup on my iOS devices seem to be bulletproof and it boggles my mind that the mail client on the Mac OS is so bad. I wasted time with the support lines on several occassions and all they could tell me is tht sometimes after I send an emal it can get stuck in between sending and getting off the yahoo server so there is no record it has been sent and no copy in drafts. What an awful answer. It has gotten to the point where the only way I am confident to use email is on my iPhone or through the web browser on the yahoo site. I am really unhappy about this and would like to know if other people see the same problem.

MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), Mac OS Native Mail application

Posted on Jan 29, 2013 6:52 AM

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Q: why is the mail application so unreliable?

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  • by candide555,

    candide555 candide555 Jun 14, 2013 4:03 PM in response to Csound1
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    Jun 14, 2013 4:03 PM in response to Csound1

    Thanks, here's my repost:

     

    "Remove the account and put it back, consider reversing your system so that Grande mail forwards to Gmail and then you can leave the Grande account out of your mail client."

     

             << Does that mean it shouldn't appear in the list of accounts in Mail? But Gmail has to go through there, not so?

     

    " If the Grande mail is a POP system (which I suspect it is) backup before the removal."

     

              << If I drag the Mail icon from the library to a firewire drive will the mailboxes be retrievable?

    Thank you again!

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Jun 14, 2013 4:12 PM in response to candide555
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    Jun 14, 2013 4:12 PM in response to candide555

    candide555 wrote:

     

    Thanks, here's my repost:

     

    "Remove the account and put it back, consider reversing your system so that Grande mail forwards to Gmail and then you can leave the Grande account out of your mail client."

     

             << Does that mean it shouldn't appear in the list of accounts in Mail? But Gmail has to go through there, not so?

    Once the Grande mail is being forwarded to Gmail the account may be removed from Mail (or just disabled but left in place)

     

    " If the Grande mail is a POP system (which I suspect it is) backup before the removal."

    That can cause issues, my preference would be to export the content of the mailboxes and import them to new mailboxes (in the Gmail account)

     

    I actually will suggest not removing the Grande account from Mail at first, just disable it, that way in case of any import/export errors the mail that is in it stays accessible. You can delete it later (or not)

  • by candide555,

    candide555 candide555 Jun 20, 2013 11:22 AM in response to Csound1
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    Jun 20, 2013 11:22 AM in response to Csound1

    Hello, I'm back. Thanks for hanging in.

     

    Have archived all the mailboxes at home and am trying to get the gmail working. Problems:

     

    I can log on to gmail but all the menus are in chinese. Online directions say to click on "settings" to change it but I can't read chinese so no way to follow directions.

     

    Nothing is showing up in my gmail inbox except a few that already came in to my computer as soon as I entered my gmail account in the Applemail list. Nothing more has shown up at home but I saw indications once that something was coming in and maybe hiding somewhere else. I've checked various boxes, not found.

     

    Grander is server programmed to forward to gmail and save a copy on the server. I get three copies of some things on Grande and two of others. There is mail bearing both addresses.

     

    That's all I know. Any suggestions?

     

    Thanks,

     

    J

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Jun 20, 2013 11:21 AM in response to candide555
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    Jun 20, 2013 11:21 AM in response to candide555

    How are you entering the Gmail account, are you using Mail, Contacts and Calendars in system preferences to do it or manually entering the settings yourself?

  • by candide555,

    candide555 candide555 Jun 20, 2013 11:26 AM in response to Csound1
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    Jun 20, 2013 11:26 AM in response to Csound1

    Manually entering. But looking at system prefs, I see that all the necessary items are checked.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Jun 20, 2013 12:02 PM in response to candide555
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    Jun 20, 2013 12:02 PM in response to candide555

    candide555 wrote:

     

    Manually entering. But looking at system prefs, I see that all the necessary items are checked.

    Use the autosetup option in System Preferences>Mail Contacts and Calendars instead.

  • by candide555,

    candide555 candide555 Jun 20, 2013 12:25 PM in response to Csound1
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    Jun 20, 2013 12:25 PM in response to Csound1

    Tried it -- says the account already exists.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Jun 20, 2013 12:29 PM in response to candide555
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    Jun 20, 2013 12:29 PM in response to candide555

    You'll need to remove the manually setup account first, can't have 2 with the same address.

     

    Backup (if you haven't yet)

  • by candide555,

    candide555 candide555 Jun 20, 2013 1:16 PM in response to Csound1
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    Jun 20, 2013 1:16 PM in response to Csound1

    Okay, done, and this is progress! About 800 messages are rolling in and hiding themselves in the same place as the other observed ones. Have looked in inbox, grande, gmail, today, (gmail), imap.gmail, and four mailboxes with chinese names.

     

    No,I just found them! Lotsa spam and junk, but it's working. Will study the situation and get back if needed. Many thanks!

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Jun 20, 2013 1:16 PM in response to candide555
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    Jun 20, 2013 1:16 PM in response to candide555

    candide555 wrote:

     

    Okay, done, and this is progress! About 800 messages are rolling in and hiding themselves in the same place as the other observed ones. Have looked in inbox, grande, gmail, today, (gmail), imap.gmail, and four mailboxes with chinese names. Where could they be?

    I have no idea where they are going, but go to the Gmail website and observe them there, specifically look in the All Mail mailbox. I will guess that is where they are.

     

    While you are there delete any mailboxes (Chinese ones) that you don't need.

     

    Post back.

  • by candide555,

    candide555 candide555 Jun 20, 2013 3:48 PM in response to Csound1
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    Jun 20, 2013 3:48 PM in response to Csound1

    Hello Csound1, my friend,

     

    I found the incoming mail in a series of chinese labeled boxes on Applemail (which are undeletable even after I empty them).

     

    It's gone berserk, emails keep pouring in like water to the sorcer's apprentice, faster than I can delete them. Can't find the way to empty trash which is piling up by the hundreds as I delete old emails I saw weeks ago. Not much point in going to the gmail site since i can't read anything there except the mail, which is coming here now. Need to change something about spam and get rid of all this ancient stuff. Got info on a chinese speaker who might be able to help me with the gmail site but I can't see her until next week.

     

    Yours in consternation,

     

    J

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Jun 20, 2013 3:51 PM in response to candide555
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    Jun 20, 2013 3:51 PM in response to candide555

    candide555 wrote:

     

    Hello Csound1, my friend,

     

    I found the incoming mail in a series of chinese labeled boxes on Applemail (which are undeletable even after I empty them).

     

    It's gone berserk, emails keep pouring in like water to the sorcer's apprentice, faster than I can delete them. Can't find the way to empty trash which is piling up by the hundreds as I delete old emails I saw weeks ago. Not much point in going to the gmail site since i can't read anything there except the mail, which is coming here now. Need to change something about spam and get rid of all this ancient stuff. Got info on a chinese speaker who might be able to help me with the gmail site but I can't see her until next week.

     

    Yours in consternation,

     

    J

    The situation is normal, albeit annoying. An Imap account synchronizes the server (Gmail) with the client (Mail) you will get all of the email in the account. Let it do it's stuff, when the download is completed you can archive some of the mail locally (which will remove it from the server) delete it (ditto) or jus luxuriate in all that old mail

     

    To archive simply make one or more folders under On My Mac, move old mail there.

  • by candide555,

    candide555 candide555 Jun 20, 2013 4:00 PM in response to Csound1
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    Jun 20, 2013 4:00 PM in response to Csound1

    Okay, thanks for the belly laugh and for getting me connected (with something -- a force greater than myself!)

     

    Best wishes,

     

    Jane

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Jun 20, 2013 4:15 PM in response to candide555
    Level 9 (50,397 points)
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    Jun 20, 2013 4:15 PM in response to candide555

    candide555 wrote:

     

    Okay, thanks for the belly laugh and for getting me connected (with something -- a force greater than myself!)

     

    Best wishes,

     

    Jane

    You are welcome.

  • by Tony Rees,

    Tony Rees Tony Rees Feb 20, 2014 6:36 AM in response to appletech122
    Level 1 (69 points)
    iOS Apps
    Feb 20, 2014 6:36 AM in response to appletech122

    i know i'm a bit late, but still feb 2014 why is apple mail so slow. send from iphone - woosh - send from ipad - woosh - from macbook pro at least a minute while it copies creates and as just now just loses the email. has it gone sometimes yes sometimes no.

    always thought mail wasn't up to par but it must be mavericks.

    what is the best email client for osx

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