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Level 1

0 points

[SOLUTION]Mail does not quit or show old messages after 10.4-10.5 migration

I work for an Apple Specialist in California and have found a solution to this relatively common issue. There is an interesting bug with mail I found that happens occasionally in a 10.4 (Tiger) to 10.5 (Leopard) migration. This bug will cause Mail to be unable to quit and all your messages will not appear in the mail window. I don't know if this problem manifests in any other situation but a 10.4-10.5 migration. I have seen this problem more than once since the release of 10.5.6. To fix this issue:

1. Navigate to your Library folder inside your home folder.

2. Locate the Mail folder and drag it to your desktop.

3. Launch the Mail application.

4. Mail will now ask you if you want import your messages. DO NOT HIT CONTINUE YET.

5. Navigate back to your Library folder inside your home folder. Notice there is a NEW mail folder that was created. You cannot delete this folder yet because it is in use by mail so we will just rename this folder Mail2.

6. Drag your OLD mail folder located on your desktop to your Library folder located in your home folder.

7. Go back to the Mail application and click continue. Your messages and settings should import fine now.

8. Verify that your messages and settings imported correctly and quit Mail. Navigate back to your home Library folder located in your home folder and delete the Mail2 folder.

9. Launch the Mail application again and make sure everything functions correctly.

I found a fix to this by just messing around with the issue for awhile. I have found NO good resolutions online for this bug. Good luck to you all.

Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Jan 2, 2009 3:29 PM

146 replies

Dave Post

Level 2

276 points

Jan 28, 2009 12:34 PM in response to callipygian

Just want to add my thanks to adamast for this post.

I ran into exactly this problem after going from 10.3.9 to 10.5.6 recently and was lucky enough to find your fix quickly. It worked perfectly for me. I did lose my (few) rules, but -- who knows -- that might have happened anyway.

Don't know whether this is relevant, but FWIW I'd been using JunkMatcher (a free spam-filter add-on for Mail), which is apparently incompatible with 10.5.6.

I've included a few keywords below to increase the likelihood others will find this thread if they search.

must force import empty folder upgrade

Jan 28, 2009 1:22 PM in response to Dave Post

Dave,
Just wanted to add that though this fix definitely worked for me, I've recently noticed that the Junk button in Mail does NOT work anymore. (Don't know if this is similar to JunkMatcher) It won't let me mark something as Junk and it doesn't seem to be filtering out Junk Mail either. Anyone notice this? Is it best to uninstall this version of Mail and go back to an earlier version somehow?

Dave Post

Level 2

276 points

Jan 28, 2009 1:26 PM in response to dmbpictures

Do you have junk mail filtering turned on in your Mail prefs? It defaulted to "off" for me.

wmike

Level 1

0 points

Jan 28, 2009 2:41 PM in response to adamast

This solution worked for me! Thank you very much for your excellent step by step instructions.

Jan 28, 2009 5:14 PM in response to Dave Post

Thanks!! It was turned off--went to Preferences and changed it and now all is well. Thank you so much for responding!!

blogrich

Level 1

145 points

Jan 29, 2009 2:21 AM in response to adamast

Thank you for this. I'd just upgraded a partition from Tiger to Leopard, and got the problems others have had with mail (empty mailboxes, no quitting except force-quit, couldn't send a test message, etc). I thought I'd done something wrong myself, and was contemplating a re-install of the OS, when I came across your very helpful instructions (redirected from a related thread), which worked perfectly. Thanks again!

terpman

Level 1

4 points

Jan 29, 2009 5:23 AM in response to adamast

Thanks. It's disheartening Apple didn't fix this themselves.

blogrich

Level 1

145 points

Jan 30, 2009 5:17 PM in response to adamast

Apple have offered their own solution to this problem on this page. I haven't tried it, since I had already resolved it with your fix. However, it might be worth trying, as it may deal with the problem of lost rules, and old mail showing up as unread after the fix, more effectively.

ridleyw1

Level 1

0 points

Jan 30, 2009 5:44 PM in response to adamast

Bless your soul! It was driving me nuts!

J. Leah

Level 1

0 points

Jan 30, 2009 8:11 PM in response to adamast

Thank you - solved the problem!

Jan 31, 2009 4:34 AM in response to adamast

Just wanted to add my thanks to your growing list - you saved me time and angst. I had a good look (I thought) through the apple forums and finally found this. Simple and easy to use - it works!!

Apple needs to fix this. Thanks again.

lear444

Level 1

0 points

Jan 31, 2009 7:39 PM in response to prospective

This worked for my mac mail but not my gmail. How do I get my gmail in the mail box? Is there a way?

Jan 31, 2009 9:32 PM in response to adamast

Add another grateful user to the list, adamast.

I just upgraded my iMac G5 to 10.5.6 with the newly released Mac Box Set by 'Archive and Install' method. Had this problem exactly (mailboxes brought over, but no messages). I followed your solution, and now have all my messages intact. The one side effect was some old deleted messages reappearing. I didn't have any rules to lose.

dtsmusic

Level 1

0 points

Feb 1, 2009 11:36 AM in response to adamast

Excellent! tried it and it worked! thank you so much.

a crazy solution to a problem that should have never existed...

Feb 1, 2009 12:00 PM in response to adamast

Let me join the growing list of THANK YOUS!!! Been an Apple user since 1985 (remember $200 for an extra 2 megs of RAM?). Don't know why things like this mail issue come up, have no clue how they are fixed (why I use Apple) but really appreciate the community and folks like adamst who figure it out and share.

[SOLUTION]Mail does not quit or show old messages after 10.4-10.5 migration