Catalina mail problem: blank emails

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Level 1

14 points

Catalina mail problem: blank emails

After upgrading to Catalina, most of the text in my emails have vanished. Sometimes there's just a blank message field, and sometimes there is a collection of overlapping boxes with question marks. Oddly enough, the images are mostly still there.

This has happened to both sent and received emails, and to messages sent before and after installing Catalina. Occasionally there will be an intact message, but I can't pick out anything to explain why one will be visible and the next one not.

Most of the messages come to a gmail address, and all seem to be intact when I go to gmail on a Chrome browser.

Is there any way to fix this and if not, how can I revert back to Mojave until this is fixed?

MacBook Pro 13", macOS 10.15

Posted on Nov 8, 2019 5:06 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

blgee

Level 1

8 points

Jan 2, 2020 1:00 PM in response to coxorange

I was using Suitcase Fusion 18.2.4 (Suitcase Fusion 7) which is not compatible with OS X Catalina as I discovered. I uninstalled it and the random mail font issues went away.

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Answer 2

blgee

Level 1

8 points

Dec 9, 2019 4:57 PM in response to John Biggins

I struggled with this Catalina Mail issue also for a couple of weeks, then today I discovered that a font utility I have been using for quite a while, Extensis Suitcase Fusion ver. 18.2.4 was incompatible with Catalina. I deleted it and now Mail seems to function as it should, Yay! They have a new subscription based version that is supposedly fully compatible with 10.15.1. I don't know, have not upgraded yet. Guess I should have thought about a font conflict, but I am not a software developer...

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Answer 3

blgee

Level 1

8 points

Jan 10, 2020 2:50 PM in response to coxorange

Suitcase Fusion was running on several Mac OS versions previously and also after Catalina was installed. When I uninstalled and deleted SF the Mail issue went away. I do not have an answer as to why, except that it was 32bit, maybe when it was removed the native Mac Mail font management was doing what it was supposed to do?

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Answer 4

rose_10

Community Specialist

Nov 13, 2019 6:33 AM in response to WayanL

Hello WayanL,

Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities. It sounds like you're having trouble with Mail on your Mac after updating to macOS Catalina. I'd be happy to provide information that may help.

To rule out any issues with fonts, take a look at the information here: How to install and remove fonts on your Mac.

Next, start up in safe mode to see if that makes any difference: Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac.

You may also want to remove the Gmail account and add it back again.

Take care.

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Answer 5

coxorange

Level 2

151 points

Jan 2, 2020 1:33 PM in response to blgee

blgee wrote:

I was using Suitcase Fusion 18.2.4 (Suitcase Fusion 7) which is not compatible with OS X Catalina as I discovered. I uninstalled it and the random mail font issues went away.

Was this app permanently running (already before you clicked "Upgrade to Catalina") or was it just installed (in your Appliction folder) and not running when your issues occurred?

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Answer 6

Gryff

Level 1

57 points

Feb 5, 2020 4:37 PM in response to WayanL

I had the same problem with content missing after moving messages between local/offline mailboxes. Issues seems to be resolved after upgrading to 10.15.3 yesterday. Messages that lost content are still missing that content, but now moving messages doesn't cause the body to disappear any longer.

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Answer 7

Nov 28, 2019 7:14 AM in response to WayanL

I had this problem after updating to Catalina: the content of thousands of emails missing. Rolled back to Mojave via Time Machine. Was told by Apple support that Catalina had not been properly tested. Also, that I should do a 'clean' install of Catalina, and reinstall all my applications (a massive job) - but also read on a Mac forum of someone who did this and the problem persisted.

Is Apple addressing this issue? If so, how will we know when it's resolved?

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Answer 8

coxorange

Level 2

151 points

Jan 10, 2020 4:49 PM in response to blgee

blgee wrote:

Suitcase Fusion was running on several Mac OS versions previously and also after Catalina was installed.

Thanks, so deactivating ALL running 32-bit apps before upgrading to Catalina is good advice.

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Answer 9

WayanL Author

Level 1

14 points

Feb 6, 2020 11:22 AM in response to WayanL

When I upgraded to 10.15.2 it seemed at first that the readability problem was solved, but then I realized that about 10% of emails are still unreadable.

I'm pretty sure at this stage that it's a font issue, because if I hit Reply or Forward, highlight all the text and select a font from the menu at the top, it becomes readable. The problem fonts are most likely some of the Helveticas, because when I select the blank text, usually Helvetica or Helvetica Neue appears in the font menu at the top.

But I can't manage to troubleshoot it from there. I use the latest version of Font Explorer X Pro to manage fonts, and it tells me that all the Apple-installed system fonts are present and active. I've tried uninstalling all the Helveticas and reinstalling, cleaning all the font caches, turning off all the Helveticas except for the system fonts, but nothing is working. There is probably some simple fix that I'm overlooking, but I'm stuck at this point.

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Answer 10

coxorange

Level 2

151 points

Jan 14, 2020 8:03 AM in response to John Biggins

John, you can find more information about this issue here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250716550?answerId=251964281022&page=1

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Answer 11

Jan 10, 2020 9:18 AM in response to WayanL

Lol, oh my. I've had this problem too. But actually it began with Mojave and never resolved. It's just that with Catalina it has become much worse. I've no idea what to do to fix it. I spend a good hour or more, two or three times a week sifting through emails with blank bodies. I'm a complete loss. I'm not good with "workarounds", especially when they begin to get too complicated or the instructions are not quite complete. Personally, I don't think the customers should be creating workarounds for a system that should "just work".

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Answer 12

Nov 16, 2019 7:46 AM in response to rose_10

I have been having this same issue since I downloaded Catalina weeks ago. My understanding is that this is a known issue -but the updates don't seem to have addressed it. Any guidance on when an update will fix it? I have had to turn off all of my rules which is wreaking havoc on my email management.

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Answer 13

WayanL Author

Level 1

14 points

Nov 16, 2019 10:16 AM in response to rose_10

Hello sarah_s1 -

After starting up in Safe Mode, the problems did go away. However, when I restarted in regular mode, a lot of the email text disappeared again, although more emails are readable now. I removed all of the Startup items, but that didn't improve the situation. What's next on that line of inquiry?

As for the possibility of font issues, the article you linked to didn't seem to have any useful advice. I use a 3rd party Font Manager, Font Explorer Pro, which I have updated to the latest version. I ran all the tools, cleaning all the font caches, optimizing the database, etc., with multiple restarts. What's the next thing to try there?

I haven't tried removing the Gmail account, because I'm getting the same problems in my icloud and other accounts. However, if you think that would be useful somehow, I'll give it a try.

Thanks for any help you can give here. And if it looks hopeless, can you point me at some instructions about how to go back to Mojave?

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Answer 14

coxorange

Level 2

151 points

Feb 6, 2020 9:17 AM in response to John Biggins

Upgraded from Sierra to Catalina 10.15.3 yesterday. Mail with one POP account, 1000 emails.

No problem at all. Two other Macs to go...

BTW thanks John for your information here:

https://mjtsai.com/blog/2019/10/11/mail-data-loss-in-macos-10-15/ (end)

Hope I won't need it.

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Answer 15

coxorange

Level 2

151 points

Feb 9, 2020 11:10 AM in response to John Biggins

Upgraded our second Mac from Sierra to Catalina 10.15.3 today. Mail had two POP accounts, about 2500 emails. We checked them ALL – again not a single problem!!

Now I'm still a bit worried before upgrading our 3rd Mac, because there are >20 accounts in Mail, >50k messages with lots of attachments, (mostly POP, some IMAP)...

One thing I'm thinking about... could it "help" to rebuild the mailboxes in Sierra Mail before upgrading?

I mean even though I don't have any problems at the moment, just as a precaution!

Or isn't it such a good idea?

I'm waiting since 10.15.0 and actually can't wait till 10.15.4...

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