Mail crashes only when I delete emails

I'm using High Sierra on a Mac Mini, and the only issue I have is that whenever I delete messages or empty the trash in Mail, the Mail application crashes and I get the usual crash report with the option to send to Apple and re-open the app.

I've tried both methods of selecting all mail in the trash and deleting them and also using the context menu to Erase Deleted Items and in both cases the application crashes.

The only thing I've tried so far is to delete the preferences files following some previous advice I found in the forum.

Not the worst thing to deal with but I appreciate any suggestions for potential fixes.

thx

Posted on Jan 13, 2020 2:03 PM

Top-ranking reply

tadziodue

Level 1

9 points

Posted on Jun 15, 2020 12:06 PM

I've been experiencing this problem with Mail for months and have tried every possible solution, including working with Apple engineers, without success. On my own, I made a simple change in Mail Preferences>Accounts>Mailbox Behaviors. I set my iCloud and me.com accounts so that the Junk Mailbox is Junk under On My Mac and Erase junk messages after one day. I set the Trash Mailbox to Trash under On My Mac and Erase deleted messages Never. I used the same settings for my earthlink.net IMAP accounts and Mail hasn't crashed for the past three days even when I use select all and batch delete my Junk folders and Trash folders. Like I said, even the Apple engineers couldn't come up with a solution and I still can't believe this is all it took... but so far, so good on my Mac Pro running High Sierra.

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90 replies

Apr 27, 2020 9:47 AM in response to kawajazz

I had Norton as well. It was recommended by life lock. And yes I finally got rid of it as well. But my mail issues continued even without it. But it did give me more drive space.

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Apr 27, 2020 12:28 PM in response to Owl-53

Very interesting indeed, thanks. :)

Mary_lu

Level 1

8 points

Apr 27, 2020 2:05 PM in response to mac47M2020

I also am having the same problem. I lessened for awhile, but it it back again. I deleted old emails, cleaned up old files, but still having issues.

Annoying

Apr 27, 2020 6:06 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks for the suggestion, however, because I plan to get a new computer this year, I won't bother with this. Besides, sounds like it's pretty wide spread problem not specific to mine only.

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Apr 27, 2020 6:56 PM in response to nick baccante

Ok, when ordering a New iMac be sure to skip the entry level model, skip the i3, skip the minimal RAM if a 21 inch, see if you can afford an SSD.

Apr 27, 2020 7:55 PM in response to BDAqua

thanks, not wanting to go off topic too much, but Safari also acting up. Will be getting Mac Mini with SSD for sure

disappointed with Apple software development

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Apr 27, 2020 8:35 PM in response to nick baccante

I hear you. :(

Try this browser...

https://brave.com/

Apr 27, 2020 9:14 PM in response to BDAqua

works great and fast...thank you

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Apr 27, 2020 9:22 PM in response to nick baccante

You're welcome, it uses less RAM per page also, now to fix your other problems.

Apr 30, 2020 9:30 AM in response to BDAqua

love the browser, very fast loading thx

Apr 30, 2020 9:33 AM in response to smattc3

thanks, just deleted the Savedstate folder will see how that works

May 5, 2020 7:00 AM in response to BDAqua

Know anything about the mail app Spark? Seems well-liked by users and am looking for a replacement for Mac Mail, given that it started crashing again....thx

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

May 5, 2020 11:58 AM in response to nick baccante

Sorry my experience with it was very short & years ago, but sounds worth a try.

smattc3

Level 1

4 points

May 11, 2020 2:32 PM in response to usbears

As soon as I made the change to "never", mail suddenly crashed.

Lox787

Level 1

4 points

Jul 16, 2020 2:41 AM in response to nick baccante

When deleting the trash or junk from mail the application crashes...very frustrating . I am operating OS High Sierra ... any software fixes coming to sort this problem out?

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Mail crashes only when I delete emails