High CPU usage in Mail process after deleting many emails

I've had this happen a few times now. I have two Gmail accounts in Apple Mail on my MacBook Air (10.15.7). I decided to cleanup my email by deleting everything in my Junk folders. After deleting a probably a few hundred emails, the Mail process spikes the CPU, and displays messages such as "Moving 1 of 10 messages" at the bottom of the folder pane. Figuring it just had a bunch of cleanup to do, I left it alone and running for several days, but it never completes and the CPU usage stays high.


I fired up the Console app and noticed that the Mail is endlessly spewing messages like the ones supplied in the Additional Text.


I went to Preferences\Accounts and unchecked the two Gmail accounts, and that stopped the issue. But re-enabling the accounts brought the issue right back. The only 'solution' I've found is to delete the accounts and re-add them.


I suspect it's a bug in the Mail app when deleting lots of messages. Hoping someone here can maybe confirm this based on the console messages.

MacBook

Posted on Dec 3, 2020 7:02 PM

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Dec 9, 2020 5:27 PM in response to ACABThomas

Hello and welcome to Apple Support Communities ACABThomas,


We see that you're having an issue with your Mail app and it using a lot of CPU when trying to clean up your email. We understand wanting to get this issue taken care of, and we'd be happy to help.


You've done some good troubleshooting steps already. Next, let's have you use the article below and rebuild your mailboxes.


Rebuild mailboxes in Mail on Mac


Let us know how this goes and if you notice any changes.


Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

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High CPU usage in Mail process after deleting many emails

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