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

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.

To get the privacy you want, set the Mail -> Preferences -> Privacy to Protect Mail Activity. This will check the Hide IP Address box and uncheck Block All Remote Content. Now go to System Preferences -> Network -> Limit IP Address Tracking and UNCHECK this box. (this is the network preference that is preventing content from loading). Images should now load and you get the Protect Mail advantage.

This issue with load content directly only STARTED AFTER I purchased and installed MS Office with Outlook on on MacBook.

The only setting I can see that affects that specific "Load Content Directly" thing is the "Hide IP address" in the preferences for email. I unchecked everything except Hide IP address and the Load Content Directly was still there. I unchecked that option for Hide IP address and then that Load Content Directly disappeared and mail is back to functioning normally as it always has.

To change the setting open Mail on Mac.

Click Mail up in the tab (top left)

Click Settings.

Click Privacy (all the way to the right).

Uncheck Hide IP address.

So its Mail > Settings> Privacy> Uncheck Hide IP address

So Jodywoodcock was mostly right, you have to uncheck Protect Mail Activity unchecked, which opens the options of Hide IP address and Block All Remote Content. Both Hide IP address Block All Remote Content needs to be unchecked for all content to be seen.

I don't think it's a Monterey problem, and here's my solution.

I've had Protect Mail Activity enabled for a while, with no issues. Today, I turned on my Avast Security app (virus protection that I disabled because it interfered with my VPN) and suddenly got the "Network preferences..." message in emails. So I went back to Avast and through trial and error, learned that their "Web Shield" is the culprit. I disabled that module, and Mac Mail is now working as it's supposed to.

So... maybe check your anti-virus apps?

[Edited by Moderator]

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 had the same problem described in the thread this morning. The help that appears in the message header is unhelpful as it takes you to WiFi settings; however, a bit more google searching led me to switching on the private relay function in iCloud settings. After reopening the message (or just restarting Mail) the error message was gone and images started downloading, at least for me.

I was as frustrated and nothing worked. Finally, deinstalled a VPN which was on my MacBook and then they displayed. Did not yet dare to reinstall my VPn back as it is working and displaying images in MacMail at the moment. Hope it helps.

I followed the recommended fix from Apple and it worked. For a while. And then today, it started doing it again.

Checked my privacy settings in Mail and both 'Protect Mail Activity' and 'Block All Remote Content' were unchecked but I was still getting the 'Load Content Directly' message.

The only way I could work around it was to go to Network Prefs in Settings and uncheck 'Limit IP Address Tracking'.

Of course, your privacy protection is then compromised.

Hope this gets sorted soon?

When you click on Protect Mail Activity, it also turns on Hide IP Address. Someone mentioned using a VPN and that's what I do to "HIDE". So, I'm turning off Protect Mail Activity for now. I do want to see images without having to click Download Content Directly. I agree with VLBIV. And, it should have been in the notes when Update was installed. There ought to ALWAYS be a What's Changed with this UPDATE. ALWAYS!

Having "Hide IP Address" checked does indeed block images from loading. Source: I had this issue and that was the only privacy box checked.

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

Had exactly the same. I was as frustrated and nothing worked. Finally, deinstalled a VPN which was on my MacBook and then they displayed. Did not yet dare to reinstall my VPn back as it is working and displaying images in MacMail at the moment. Hope it helps.

I had to uncheck Hide IP address as well in order to get this to work on the new MacBook Pro. Thanks for the answer!

I also had to uncheck the "hide my IP address" box, then I restarted mail and everything is working good now