Suddenly, links aren't clickable

Question

Suddenly, links aren't clickable

Hi,

OS 10.5.6, Intel MacBook, core duo processor.

In Mail, suddenly clickable links aren't clickable. They act like text. I pasted the URL in to the URL box after Edit:Link:Add. Everything seems to work right, and the link looks right, but when I click on it, I just end up selecting a word in the link.

Oops! I just tried sending a test message to myself. After I receive it, the same links work correctly.

IIRC, this is not the usual Mail behavior. Normally, when drafting a message I will test the links for validity by clicking on them before I send. Now I'm confused!

Please advise.

Thanks in advance.

Tim

MacBook (2 Ghz Intel Core Duo), Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Mar 31, 2009 9:13 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Mar 31, 2009 9:56 PM in response to Timothy Miller

It's me, the OP, replying to myself.

Further exploration indicates that this problem is somewhat inconsistent. Sometimes links work like links. Other times, they act like text. Yesterday they are mostly behaving like text.

I've noticed I can't remove the underline from links, by any of the usual methods for adding styles to text. This probably means Mail thinks they are links and not just text.

I've been using edit:link:add... in Mail for a long time, and I don't think I'm doing anything different. Normally, it works reliably.

No one has replied after about 12 hours, so this is probably an unfamiliar issue. Maybe Mail got corrupted somehow.

What should I do now? Remove and reinstall Mail? Should I try to trash the mail plist first? Any other suggestions?

Cheers,

Tim

Reply

Answer 2

Dimaxum

Level 5

5,997 points

Mar 31, 2009 10:10 PM in response to Timothy Miller

HI,

Move the com.apple.Mail.pist desktop and try if the link are working now.

If the still don't work put the com.apple.Mail.plist back to the Preferences folder.

Dimaxum

Reply

Answer 3

Jun 27, 2009 3:22 PM in response to Dimaxum

For the sake of perplexed lurkers looking for an answer.

I removed the plist and restarted the app. No help.

This still happens, inconsistently, many months later. It's probably a minor bug. In a related issue, sometimes Mail refuses to place a link in an email message. I don't know how to replicate the problem, or how to submit bug reports to apple.

I've solved these problems, temporarily, either by quitting and restarting the Mail app, or restarting the computer. That seems to fix it -- until it comes back again.

Cheers

Reply

Answer 4

Aug 26, 2009 3:17 PM in response to Timothy Miller

I still see this in 10.5.8. Control clicking and selecting open link, or open link behind mail seems to work. Right?

Reply

Answer 5

bob hope

Level 1

121 points

Sep 11, 2009 2:44 PM in response to Timothy Miller

I'm having a very similar problem where just recently file:// links stopped working in mail. As you point out I can right-click and say "open URL" and it works fine, but it's just not clickable. Someone else in the office has had the same problem. If anyone has input on this it would be great...

Reply

Answer 6

Danktuft

Level 2

180 points

Dec 7, 2009 12:50 AM in response to bob hope

I have this problem too, seemingly random and always goes after a reboot butwill always come back as well.

Reply

Answer 7

Dec 27, 2009 12:13 AM in response to Danktuft

Does anyone know how to find out if this has been reported to Apple? Does Apple monitor these forums looking for bug reports like these?

I'm on Mail 4.2 and I'm pretty sure the same problem occurs now and then. It's rather annoying. I email a lot of links.

Thanks,

TM

Reply

Answer 8

Dec 27, 2009 7:16 AM in response to Timothy Miller

Does anyone know how to find out if this has been reported to Apple? Does Apple monitor these forums looking for bug reports like these?

No, you have to report it yourself:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/

Reply