Apple Mail Constantly Downloading Messages

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Level 1

15 points

Apple Mail Constantly Downloading Messages

I have not seen any newer posts about this and wondered if others still experience Apple mail constantly downloading messages on your Mac. This in turn slows down the Mail app to where you have to restart it, sometimes 8-10 times a day. I use Apple Mail for three accounts- iCloud, Gmail and Outlook.com. I reported this issue to Apple several weeks ago and they had me change the location of Drafts to 'On My Mac', and looked for problems while in Safe Mode, but the problem is still there. I've noted issues with this from posts since 2018. Apple says I would need to delete all accounts and then add them back; I've since done that and the problem returns. I did try a rebuild a while ago, but eventually the same problem started again. I'm reaching out to the community as it does not appear Apple has been able to correct this on the Mac. It is not an issue at all in iOS, at least not for me. Any guidance would be appreciated!

iMac 21.5", macOS 10.15

Posted on Apr 23, 2020 5:46 AM

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Answer 1

sterling r

Community Specialist

Apr 24, 2020 11:40 AM in response to artbx

Hey there artbx,

Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities. I understand you’re having some issues with Apple Mail on your Mac. It sounds like you’ve done some great troubleshooting on this issue so far and I’ll be happy to help.

To verify, have you Activity Monitor to verify this is related Mail or something else? If not, check that and view CPU as well as Network and see if Mail is showing as the main culprit there:

See how apps affect Mac performance, battery runtime, temperature, and fan activity

If it does look like the issue is with Mail, boot your Mac into safe mode and see if the issue continues there:

How to use safe mode on your Mac

‘If the issue doesn't continue while in safe mode, leave safe mode by restarting your Mac normally. Then test for the issue again. The issue might be resolved.

If the issue returns after leaving safe mode, startup items are probably at fault. Apps can install such items in numerous places, and they aren't always easy to find or recognize. For that reason, you should first make sure that you've installed any available updates for your Apple software and third-party apps.

If updating your software doesn't help, try any of these solutions:

Test your login items
Test with another user account
Unplug all accessories from your Mac, including printers, drives, USB hubs, and other nonessential devices. You could have an issue with one or more of those devices or their cables.
Reinstall macOS’

Regards.

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Answer 2

Teddy_B

Community Specialist

Apr 24, 2020 4:39 PM in response to artbx

Hi artbx,

Thanks for providing that info. Just so you know, if you do decide to reinstall macOS, it should retain your user settings and files. That being said, it’s always a good idea to make a backup before doing this:

How to back up your Mac

Also, you may want to run First Aid on your Mac in recovery mode and see if this has any impact on the issue:

How to repair a Mac disk with Disk Utility

Doing an SMC and NVRAM might have affect this as well:

How to reset the SMC of your Mac

Reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac

Take care.

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Answer 3

artbx Author

Level 1

15 points

Apr 24, 2020 12:18 PM in response to sterling r

Thank you, Sterling!

I did delete two startup items today that I don't need; one was One Drive from MS and might be the culprit. I do boot this iMac from a 1TB SSD because this is a 2013 iMac, but I did not have an issue with this drive attached until last few months. I don't want to unplug that as it's my boot drive. I have done the all of the other steps you've mentioned with Apple techs on the phone, but have not reinstalled the OS. I'll try unplugging an external DVD drive I have attached, but I doubt that's it. Hoping the startup apps might have been the issue, but let's see. Worst case is that I have to keep restarting Mail, but honestly for me, as I'm retired, not a huge deal. At some point I'll can upgrade to a new iMac. Thanks so much!

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Apple Mail Constantly Downloading Messages

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