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IvanGlushkov Author

Level 1

7 points

Mac Mail on Silicon / Big Sur - slow to fetch messages

Hi,

In short:

How do I get my mail to fetch the messages fast?
If not possible, how do I get to start the import of my account from scratch (removing all mail.app settings)?

The full story: I got an M1 MacBook Pro which is a pain to work with only because of the Mail client (and the mail client is the main reason to switch back to Mac after two years giving a chance to Windows/Outlook). So the problem is that I get for many minutes the message "Downloading messages" and nothing happens in the meantime. Sometimes even the message is not there and nothing is fetched - I see the messages arriving on my other Mac (MacBook Pro Mid 2015, Mojave) and I get the messages on BigSure only after several minutes. Even pressing "Get new messages in all accounts" does not help. The account is an Exchange account, the setting on both Macs are the same.

This is really a deal-breaker for me - computer without a mail is useless..

MacBook Pro (2020 and later)

Posted on May 10, 2021 10:25 AM

Top-ranking reply

Old Toad

Level 10

210,467 points

Posted on May 10, 2021 10:40 AM

Log into another vanilla admin user account, Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac, and see if the problem persists. This tells us if the problem is limited to your user account or is system wide.

If the problem persists in the other user account go back to your account and boot into Safe Mode according to Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support and see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and check again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing the following;

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

This will tell us if there's any 3rd party software that's involved in the problem.

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Mac Mail on Silicon / Big Sur - slow to fetch messages

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