Outlook junk folder freezes

Hi ShirleyfromDover,

That sounds like there is a saved shortcut on the desktop that brings Safari forward (or opens it if it's not already open) and loads the Outlook web portal. With that beachball only making an appearance when you try to open the junk folder, it makes it highly likely that there is a message in that folder with a corrupt attachment. The best course of action is going to be to delete everything in that folder.

As you're accessing that account via the Outlook web portal, you're going to be limited to whatever tools Microsoft can provide for emptying that folder. Some email providers are set up so that anything in the junk folder auto-deletes after a set period of time. If you can find those settings, you may have an option to delete everything at that moment. If there is not such a setting that you're able to access, you may need to work with Microsoft support on this.

Regardless of how it's done, once it happens, you'll want to open Safari (not using the Outlook shortcut on your desktop) and navigate to Preferences under the main Safari menu in the top left of the Mac's screen. From there, choose the Privacy tab and then the button called "Manage Website Data..." That will bring up a list of every site that has permission from the user to place cookies. Scroll through that list and choose anything Outlook or Hotmail related and then use the Remove button to delete them. This will ensure that Safari loads a totally fresh version of the web portal the next time you use it. (Note: this process is a more "surgical" way to clear parts of Safari's history without nuking everything. If you're not concerned with saving history for certain sites, then you can just choose Clear History... from the main Safari menu and then choose "all history" from the dropdown menu before hitting the Remove button.)

Cheers!

Hello ShirleyfromDover and welcome to Apple Support Communities.

I see you are facing a challenge with the junk folder in your Outlook mail account on an iMac. A bit more information may prove helpful in allowing the Community to engage on finding a resolution.

Are you using the Mail app on the iMac to access your email or are you using a web browser such as Safari?

Does the freezing or beach ball come up when you access the account (Inbox) or only when you try to open the Junk folder?

If it's only the Junk folder, there may be an email with a corrupt attachment that is causing this behavior. There are a couple of things you can try.

1) If you're using the Mail app, try deleting the account and then re-adding it. As long as the Outlook account is of the IMAP type, you'll not have to worry about losing anything as the messages themselves live on the Outlook servers as well as on your Mac.

Add or remove email accounts in Mail on Mac - Apple Support

2) If you delete and re-add the account and this behavior persists, you'll need to get that Junk folder cleared out in order to get rid of whatever is holding things up. Again, it's probably an email attachment. To do that, first delete the account again in Mail then, use a web browser to access the account and, if you're able, select everything in it and delete it. Once that's done, try reading the account to Mail again.

If you are not able to clear out that folder or if the behavior persists after having done so, you'll want to reach out to Microsoft for further help.

How to contact an app developer - Apple Support

Have a great rest of your day!

Brilliant. Happy to have been able to help out.