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corrupt catalina Mail preference

Help! Was trying to change fonts in my Mail Message preferences and Mail crashed. Now when I try to access the Preferences all I get is a blank font/color window. I can't do anything with it. I have searched and searched but can't find a solution. I don't want to lose all my other settings as everything else still works fine. Thanks in advance!

Posted on Apr 14, 2022 5:22 PM

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3 replies

Apr 15, 2022 12:24 PM in response to KathyH90

Hey KathyH90,


Try the applicable steps in If an app freezes or quits unexpectedly on Mac - Apple Support which can help with most individual app issues. Some of the ones that might be particularly helpful are:

  • If an app doesn’t quit as expected or it’s unresponsive, you can force quit the app (you may lose unsaved changes). Choose Apple menu > Force Quit, select the app in the dialogue that appears, then click Force Quit.
  • Restart your Mac by choosing Apple menu > Restart.
  • Disconnect any peripheral devices you just connected (for example, a printer). They may not be compatible with your version of macOS.
  • Uninstall any app plug-ins or enhancements from other manufacturers.
  • Diagnose problems with your Mac to learn whether hardware you installed, such as additional memory, is incompatible, improperly installed or defective.


If the same continues after those steps, restart in safe mode and see what happens there. Safe mode prevents some software from loading and may help narrow down where the issue occurs. Check out How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support.


Take care.





Apr 15, 2022 2:02 PM in response to faith185

Thank you faith185

I haven't installed any peripherals or software or fonts recently and this happened out of the blue. When I'm in Mail and I open Preferences I get a blank dialog window. Can't make any changes to any of the preferences. I've tried doing Safe mode, removing preferences folder (which works but I lose all my mailboxes etc). I'm thinking it's just a corrupt preference file so I was hoping there was a sub .plist file that was tied to just the preferences I could remove. Probably going to have to just bite the bullet and reset up all my boxes. ugh. Thank you again!

corrupt catalina Mail preference

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