Mac does not connect to gmail servers

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Level 1

13 points

Mac does not connect to gmail servers

Hi!

My problems started recently. After downloading latest macOS version (10.15.6) Mail app stopped connecting to gmail servers. I can't find any solution online for the issue (I am not sure if there is a connection between latest update and my problems with gmail connectivity).

For a while (about a week, maybe 2 weeks) I hoped this will sort itself out but apparently it doesn't. I tried deleting gmail account from my Mac and then adding it again. Didn't help.

I tried deleting gmail account and adding it as 'other account' but then Mac doesn't add it at all.

When I use a default gmail option to add my account, it recognises all the products I have (mail, calendar etc.) but as soon as I go to Mail app it gives me a notification 'Connections to the server “imap.gmail.com” on the default ports timed out.'

Online I found out that gmail setting might affect that. So I went to my gmail account in Safari and checked that all servers are enabled. I also checked the 'use less secure apps' option. None of that helped.

I tried installing another application, Spark, but it doesn't connect either.

I also went to Keychain Access and deleted smtp entry as I found this might help. Obviously it didn't. I could not find any pop3 or imap entries there.

I also tried Mail Connection Doctor. It gave me 2 red dots and results you can find on the screenshot. I clicked on SMTP and in the window that opened I put my password. It seems that after that it doesn't get picked up by Connection Doctor (not sure if that is OK or not). Current situation is on the screen below.

In general my gmail account seems to be offline all the time.

I have also deleted any apps I installed recently to make sure they are not interfering. After almost each of these actions I also restarted my Mac.

Interestingly, I can access gmail through web based version and it works fine. Apps on my iPhone and iPad also work just fine. Only Mac is experiencing these issues.

Does anyone know what might be the cause of this? I would really appreciate some help.

Mac mini 2018 or later

Posted on Sep 8, 2020 12:58 AM

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Answer 1

jdroad

Level 1

4 points

Sep 12, 2020 8:05 AM in response to Vanscin

You are not alone. Apple Mail has been having problems with Gmail accounts for a long time (at least three versions of the OS). It seems that Gmail makes changes faster than Apple Mail can keep up. It also seems that the more Gmail accounts Apple Mail connects to, the more problems there are.

The recurring Unable To Connect issue is common, as is being able to connect but not displaying updates, or the Inbox icon displaying that updates are available but not actually displaying those messages inside the Inbox folder, or not displaying any older messages, just new ones. Most of those problems can be temporarily resolved by synchronizing an account, which is an annoying but reasonable work-around.

Much more problematic are the failures with moving messages between folders (in Apple Mail) and labels (in Gmail). Apple Mail seems to get the copy part right (message gets an added Gmail label, and appears in the new Apple Mail folder) but not the move part (old Gmail label remains, message remains in the old Apple Mail foder), so the message ends up in two folders in Apple Mail, and with two labels in Gmail. Of course, it's still the same message, so if an Apple Mail user manually deletes the one in the original folder, Gmail removes both labels from the message and replaces it with trash/archive, so the Apple Mail user loses the message in the moved-to folder as well. It takes a pretty sophisticated user to be able to recognize and avoid this problem, and actually accomplishing the task requires using the Gmail web interface. Not a reasonable work-around.

If you only use Gmail (no iCloud mail, Exchange mail, or other service providers), you might participate in a beta test of a Mail-like product called Mimestream. https://mimestream.com/ It's essentially an Apple Mail clone (written by a former Apple developer) with the express intent of solving these issues with Gmail. So far, it's delivering on it's goal.

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Answer 2

Vanscin Author

Level 1

13 points

Sep 8, 2020 1:31 AM in response to Vanscin

Small update. It appears that SMTP was turned off (?) in account settings. Current results of Connection Doctor are below.

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Mac does not connect to gmail servers

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