After macOS Monterey 12.0.1 update my mail messages do not display any images

This does work and is a helpful tip, however that makes the "Protect Mail Activity" feature in Apple Mail essentially useless since no one wants to push the "Load Content Directly" button every time they receive an email. This is a poor design and is not up to Apple's standards, in my humble opinion.

Open Mail. Then goto the menu bar and click on Mail, then go down to Preferences. Then in the preferences pop up box, at the far right click on Privacy. You will probably find either Protect Mail Activity checked or Block All Remote Content. If either of them are checked images will be blocked and you get the Load Remote Content box at the top of any mail with an image. I am not sure if only having Hide IP address does also.

Uncheck all or any of them and you should get images loaded in each mail.

I guess I have to disagree with you. I have it set to protect on my system. A lot of email I get I don't care to see the images. So if its one I do then I click it.

When you have it clicked it is protecting you. If you unclick that then you have removed the protection. You will probably have to use a VPN to get the images and still protect your privacy.

You may already know this part but in case you don't. The trackers insert a single pixel in the image that comes from a different server. If you have images loading then everytime that pixel is downloaded the sending server knows what IP address it is sent to. Then they can compare that address to other collected data to know who you are and what you are then looking at.

The only other way would be to not go to any website that imbeds the tracking pixel image. Not a good choice.

You might look at Apple Private Relay as the alternative. You can research that.

To turn off the privacy functionality is not the point, the point is to be able to use the privacy feature as designed without this problem interfering with your emails.

Here is my setup and the workaround that helps in my case:

• macOS Monterey 12.1
• Express VPN: Not connected all the time
• Gmail, Hotmail and iCloud mail accounts configured in Mail
• The macOS firewall is on under Security and privacy settings
• I do not use iCloud private relay (beta) or other security software (AV, special firewall rules, etc).

Mail works ok if I do not connect to the VPN. If I connect to the VPN while Mail is open I start to get this message but the email messages still load fine:

When I close the VPN connection I start to get this message and the messages do not load correctly anymore, I then have to press the infamous Load content directly button:

The only thing that fix the issue when it starts is a reboot.

The only way to avoid this happening in my case is to close Mail before I use my VPN. I can open Mail again once the VPN app is closed and it works fine.

Looks like something gets broken in my case when the VPN disconnects.

As reported by others everything works ok on the iPhone, the use of the VPN on iOS doesn't have any conflict with Mail.

Hope this can help some of you.

I have the same problem, "Load Content Directly" appearing for every email with images. However, in preferences, both "Protect Mail Activity" and "Block All Remote Content" are not checked.

Any other options to get rid of this unwanted button click on every email I open?

P. Phillips wrote "... this feature was built into Monterey." This feature was said to have been built into Monterey. "This feature" was supposed to load content privately. But then it says the network preferences prevent the feature from working—without identifying the relevant network preferences. I want the feature.

It seems I would need to pay for iCloud+ in order for that feature to work. If you click on the question mark on the Privacy tab in Mail Preferences, and scroll down, you will find "Note: If you deselect the checkbox in Network preferences to use iCloud Private Relay (beta) for your Wi-Fi or Ethernet network, your IP address isn’t hidden from senders when using the network." But that checkbox isn't in Network preferences. It's in Apple ID preferences (in System Preferences).

OK, I subscribed to iCloud+, checked Private Relay (beta), verified that Protect Mail Activity was checked, and even restarted Monterey, and Mail is still telling me to Load Content Directly. I tried to cancel the iCloud+ upgrade but it's telling me I can't manage now. At any rate I've paid 99 cents and I'll have the upgraded iCloud+ for a month.

The feature does not exist.

If you have an iCloud+ subscription then you can follow the instructions to switch on iCloud Private Relay in macOS. Otherwise, you need to disable Mail Privacy Protection (Mail>Preferences>Privacy uncheck Protect Mail Activity)

I have tried to turn off the privacy controls in mail. It did not work. Mail is trying to connect to the iCloud server (dialogue box shows it toggling).

I cannot gain access to my attached files sent to me in Mail. I can use MS Outlook to see them.

I have been using Mail for years.. and is seems the Montery update has broken it. I don't want to have to connect via Safari and iCloud to see the documents I need access to.

If there is a way to fix Mail and iCloud, I would love to find out. I need Mail!

Sorry for any duplication. I, personally, like the new Mail privacy feature.

At first, the feature wasn't working as intended because my Avast anti-virus program configures a VPN which prevents it from working. The solution, for my situation, was to disable Avast's Web Shield and Email Core Shields which causes the Avast Security VPN to disconnect.

Once these steps were completed, the Mail privacy feature began to function with no need to manually load private content.

Hope this helps.

- Pie Lover

In Apples' efforts for Client Privacy, Protection and cutdown on Tracking - this feature was built into Monterey. That is not to say one Must use the feature if you do not what it. That option is still left to the User.

There is room for refinements and if there will be - may appear in future updates to Monterey.

All above is IMHO.

I want to push the Load Content Directly button every time I want to see remote content. The Protect Mail Activity feature hides the IP address but also interferes with tracking pixels. Tracking pixels load when remote content is loaded. If I open an email message but don't load the remote content, tracking pixels aren't loaded.

Admittedly a working Protect Mail Activity would be better, as it would load remote content except for the tracking pixels. With the crippled Protect Mail Activity feature we have, we would get the same effect simply by checking both Hide IP Address and Block All Remote Content. But just checking Protect Mail Activity seems to be the better choice—in case Apple quietly fixes that feature.

It seems to me that there is something wrong with the implementation of Mail Privacy in OS 12, as I have this feature switched on in iOS 15 on my iPad and the mail content still loads without my having to tap on it.

In Apples' efforts for Client Privacy, Protection and cutdown on Tracking - this feature was built into Monterey. That is not to say one Must use the feature if you do not what it. That option is still left to the User.

There is room for refinements and if there will be - may appear in future updates to Monterey.

All above is IMHO.

I have Monterey on my iMac and MacBook, both with the exact same settings and the 'Protect Mail Activity' is checked on both. On the M1 MacBook mail is loading images but on the M1 iMac it is not?

When I uncheck it on the iMac it loads the images but check it again and the same problem happens.

Thank you for your instructions but despite following them and re-index all the mail accounts. In fact I removed all the accounts and again created them however there is no change in the issue. Mail does not show the content or body of the mail even if I click on it to be opened separately. Apple Support to please comment on the issue and help resolve the issue.