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Mail is extremely slow in loading messages

I am running macOS Mojave 19.14.5 on a 2017 iMac with a 3,6GHz Intel Corei7 processor and 16GB 2400 MHzDDR4 memory


Mail is running extremely slowly. Messages download quickly but are very slow to open, taking anywhere from 10 seconds on up for each message to load. Does anyone have any clues as to what is going on and more importantly how to fix it?


Cheers


Dale_409

iMac 21.5" 4K, macOS 10.14

Posted on Jul 22, 2019 9:09 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 26, 2019 4:37 PM

Thanks for getting back to us and trying those steps, Dale_409. It's appreciated. Let's see if rebuilding your mailbox(es) helps to speed things up.


Rebuild mailboxes in Mail on Mac -- Since this issue happens in safe mode but isn't happening in a new user account, try rebuilding the mailbox(es) you're having the issue with.


Apple - Support - Product Selection — If rebuilding the mailbox(es) didn't resolve the problem, please contact Apple Support. After selecting this link, choose Mac desktops > Mail, then choose how you'd like to start the conversation.


Cheers!

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 26, 2019 4:37 PM in response to Dale_409

Thanks for getting back to us and trying those steps, Dale_409. It's appreciated. Let's see if rebuilding your mailbox(es) helps to speed things up.


Rebuild mailboxes in Mail on Mac -- Since this issue happens in safe mode but isn't happening in a new user account, try rebuilding the mailbox(es) you're having the issue with.


Apple - Support - Product Selection — If rebuilding the mailbox(es) didn't resolve the problem, please contact Apple Support. After selecting this link, choose Mac desktops > Mail, then choose how you'd like to start the conversation.


Cheers!

Jul 24, 2019 11:21 PM in response to Joseph_S.

Thanks for the response Joseph.S.


I tried starting in safe mode and could not open Mail at all. The initial mail screen appeared, completely blank with nothing more than the spinning beach ball. The Force Quit function showed that Mail was not responding. Several tries later elicited no different result.


I then tried opening Mail in a new user account I created for the purpose and Mail loaded up without trouble and the mail account used loaded emails quickly without trouble. I did not however carry over all the email accounts to the new user account.


On logging back in to my normal user account Mail continued to respond as slowly as ever.


Where to next?

Jul 23, 2019 7:24 AM in response to Dale_409

Hey, Dale_409.


I see that it can take upwards of 10 seconds for an email to open once you've selected it. I'm glad to help.


Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac -- Restart your Mac in safe mode and see if your emails open more quickly. Afterwards, reboot normally and log into your own user account. Remember this when booting in safe mode: Graphics performance limited in macOS Recovery, safe mode, or Guest User mode


How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac -- If the issue is also happening in safe mode, use this article to create and test a new administrative user account. This will demonstrate if the issue is isolated to your account, or if it's system wide. You'll need to set up your email accounts in this user profile to test.


Let me know how that goes, and take care!

Mail is extremely slow in loading messages

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