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Apple Mail not working

Up until a few days ago, my Apple Mail application was working perfectly on my iMac. It then started having issues - it just stays on "Connecting...." and does not download my email. I tried taking my mailboxes offline, then online again but still the same issues. Email on my phone is working perfectly fine but now I need to log into my Cpanel of my website everytime to access my email. Does anyone know what might cause this?

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Aug 18, 2020 1:04 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 18, 2020 3:13 PM

Hey there MariusinCapeTown,


Let's see if we can lend a hand with those email questions.


You've done some great troubleshooting by checking to see if your account works through the web. We recommend removing the account from the mail client and re-adding it. If settings need to be updated, this will do the trick.


Steps to remove the email account and re-add it: Add an email account to Mail on your Mac


If issues continue, reach out to our Support Team here: Get Support


Have a great rest of your day.

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 18, 2020 3:13 PM in response to MariusinCapeTown

Hey there MariusinCapeTown,


Let's see if we can lend a hand with those email questions.


You've done some great troubleshooting by checking to see if your account works through the web. We recommend removing the account from the mail client and re-adding it. If settings need to be updated, this will do the trick.


Steps to remove the email account and re-add it: Add an email account to Mail on your Mac


If issues continue, reach out to our Support Team here: Get Support


Have a great rest of your day.

Aug 24, 2020 1:19 AM in response to MariusinCapeTown

Hey there! Sorry to hear you’re having issues with the Mail app, maybe I can help!


How many accounts do you have set up? And if multiple, or even one, does it give an error message when attempting to send an email message to yourself?


I’d say if you hit Window > Connection Doctor and it says that they are all Online, there’s something else going on.


If it’s an authentication issue AND only happening with one account, I’d follow the steps JRU2 laid out. If it’s an IMAP account, the mail should be stored on the mail providers server, if it’s a POP account, even if you do have a Time Machine backup Is still export the mailboxes before deleting and re adding:


https://support.apple.com/guide/mail/import-or-export-mailboxes-mlhlp1030/mac


As with POP mail, this would physically delete the emails from the account, exporting them should save a local copy of them if something were to happen and they disappeared, IMAP is much more reliable.


Anyhow, if you can post the error and answers to those questions, maybe I can help. This can be related to the network, third party software, a corrupted keychain, permissions issues or even adware possibly (unintentionally) installed, (Or legit networking/security software installed).


But yes, most of the time removing/re adding the accounts fixes it, if not just let us know, cheers.

Apple Mail not working

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