Every email: "Your network preferences prevent content from loading privately". Why?

Open mail app select Mail > Preferences > Privacy ( last tab) and you will have to disable or untick - ' Protect Mail Activity ' , 'Hide IP address' & 'Block all remote content' , after this all the contents for the email will load automatically .

Hope solves the issue. :)

The solution I discovered today that works for my Mac computers is to change a network setting... System Preferences > Network > select your netowrk in the left column > Advanced > Proxies > disable/uncheck Auto Proxy Discovery.

It’s the classic argument of security vs. convenience.

You got rid of the message telling you the content could not be loaded securely by… telling Mail not to download your content securely.

Now if it can’t be downloaded securely, it can either not present anything and leave you wondering why or not present it until you explicitly tell it to show it to you.

Now, why can’t it be loaded securely? That varies by network; in general Apple tries to load the content through a network of proxy servers, but there are various reasons why your device may not be able to.

One big reason right now is iCloud Private Relay, which has had slowdown issues over the past few weeks as you might expect when everyone is slamming those machines.

Another is if you are on a corporate network that does not allow access to those servers.

Finally some ISPs may also prevent access to those servers for a variety of reasons.

However, remember that even if you shut all the new security features off to avoid the message, you are being no more insecure than you were while running iOS 14.

About iCloud Private Relay - Apple Support

brigittefromwa wrote:

Whay would you send us to iPhone issues when we're talking about MacOS Monterey on our Mac's??

If every email  you see: "Your network preferences prevent content from loading privately.”

Open mail app select Mail>Preferences>Privacy  disable  “Protect Mail Activity” / “Hide IP address” / “Block all remote content” —content for the email will load automatically 

Use Mail Privacy Protection on Mac - Apple Support

iainfromwentworthville wrote:

It seems related to "Limit IP address Tracking" in Network Preferences, under the relevant interface (Ethernet, or WiFI). Turning this off, the privacy content loading works fine in Mail. I don't know how these two interact.

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/66198428-52d9-4748-93ab-8c9075ae6c80

Private Relay is a VPN of sorts, so it is partly, or possibly fully, redundant to Mail's privacy protection. I suspect we need to choose one or the other. I have private relay turned off as it's still in Beta. Private Relay is also part of iCloud+, which is a paid service.

mikisdad wrote:

The message doesn't indicate which 'network preference(s) is set inappropriately, let alone how to find and fix it.

The problem is it can be one of several different settings, and it's hard to work out which one it might be in an automated way.

In fact, even if you know your way around it's hard to determine just what setting it's running afoul of.

It would be great if the message were made more specific, but such is the computing world of any flavor today:

Or you can go old school. 😁

The Apple Support explanation seems to indicate that it is purely a VPN issue when clearly it is not.

Having a VPN enabled is the most common reason for issues with iCloud Private Relay, but is certainly not the only one.

he inclusion of settings for protection "encourages" a user to take advantage of that protection yet Apple clearly know that in many cases this will cause the problem with content loading that it has ...

That's sadly true with any privacy mechanism as much of the Internet was designed to know as much about you as possible and use that knowledge accordingly.

For example, Warner Home Video had issues with iCloud Private Relay such that it used to send you to their Dutch website if you had it turned on because it couldn't detect where you were in the US.

Another example is the BBC won't allow you to play their videos if it can't detect you are in the UK.

If, as you say, turning off all protection options will leave us no worse off than with the previous OS then what benefit does the change provide? - Why upgrade if one has to settle for how things were previously?

Because you can turn those options on if you are willing to live with the consequences.

It's kind of like installing a burglar alarm; it's a pain in the neck to use, or you can keep it turned off and you're no worse off than before you had the alarm installed.

Whether the hassles of turning the alarm on are worth it to you is a decision only you as the homeowner can make, but it's nice to have the choice.

It seems related to "Limit IP address Tracking" in Network Preferences, under the relevant interface (Ethernet, or WiFI). Turning this off, the privacy content loading works fine in Mail. I don't know how these two interact.

Just another data point but in my particular situation, ENABLING my VPN (via Private Internet Access, not a corporate VPN) resolved those messages. With the VPN off, I see those messages on every email.

For reference, I switch between multiple Internet connections, each of which goes through a cell modem - one thru Verizon and one thru AT&T. Switching between connections didn't seem to make any difference.

Derek Clegg wrote:

In Mac OS Monterey, every email now shows "Your network preferences prevent content from loading privately." I have "Mail Privacy Protection: Protect Mail Activity" turned ON, and I want to keep it turned on. I do not have a VPN running. What can I do to fix this? I do not understand why this new feature fails so spectacularly right out of the box.

See if there is anything here:

If you see 'Unable to load remote content privately' at the top of an email - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212797

If it's only happening at your office, it's likely because your office network has a firewall in place preventing communication with Apple's secure servers.

If your IT staff is Mac friendly, you may want to have them read these documents:

• iCloud Private Relay Overview
• Prepare Your Network or Web Server for iCloud Private Relay - Support - Apple Developer

There is a known clash in Monterey involving 3rd party anti-virus which prevents iCloud mail from loading content in Apple Mail, see https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253303599?login=true&page=1 Do you have AV installed eg. Avast/AVG? If so, try a Safe Boot or just turn off your email shield and see if that helps.

Proxy enable/disable is buried in the Advanced settings for the relevant interface in network System Preferences, but you can get there via a shortcut in Safari's preferences (look for a "Change Settings" button labeled "Proxies" at the bottom of the General tab).

I have an early 2015 MacBook Air running Monterey. The suggestion to go into Safari/Privoxy was not applicable in my case. But I was able to solve the "your network preferences prevent" this way:

Clicking the WiFi icon at the top of my screen, going into Network Preferences-Advanced-Proxies....and unchecking Auto Proxy Discovery, clicking ok and closing that out.

I closed the Mail app, relaunched it, and found that fixed the content error message problem. I did not select another proxy as I need to research and see which if any are necessary.

This worked for me:

Under System Preferences > Network > Advanced > Proxies, there's a text field with the heading 'Bypass proxy settings for these Hosts & Domains.' It had some text in it that I deleted, at which point Mail worked properly again.

Yes. I opened mail and I can't see any part of any messages except from and to and subject line. I unticked everything except Hide ip. Nothing loads in my mail message, which defeats its purpose. I'm using a 2019 Mac Air, if that makes any difference. Any ideas?

I would really like to be able to read my emails. Perhaps I have misunderstood how to tweak the settings. Mail, is useless at this point.