How to resolve Slow Email Opening on macOS Monterey 12.4

Slow email message opening continues despite everything I have done on my iMac. Does not happen on iPhone or iPad. Happens some on M1 MacBook Air. Have tried everything to resolve it. Contacted my VPN provider - sent them all sorts of stuff. Don't think it is related to their software because I uninstalled it and same problem. Also contacted my antivirus and internet protection software vendor (Sophos), and they worked through a number of things and couldn't relate it to their software which they were in the process of analyzing for other issues. Anyway doesn't appear Sophos Home was causing problem. Checked with my Internet provider - really unlikely they are at fault given that everything else is working fine. So I installed Airmail program software and tried with it. Doesn't really happen with Airmail (but I really prefer Mail over Airmail program). Leaves me to feel strongly that this is some problem within the Apple ecosystem of Apple Mail and the Mac OS software. Since I hear many other friends who have Macs telling me they are experiencing the same problem with their Mail emails, one is only left to conclude that Apple itself needs to work on solving this issue. Am I asking for too much?

In an earlier message on this forum I suggested an action on other media. This message was removed from the forum within hours. So there are certainly moderators reading our complaints, but nobody takes the trouble of engaging in this conversation. Very disappointing for fanboys like us.

I'm still having good experience with my "full reset" a few weeks on. It really isn't all that hard.

Of course, Apple needs to fix this! But in the meantime, the "full reset" will allow you to use Mail.app again. The active part of the reset doesn't take much longer than logging into this thread and commenting 😜

Just be sure to back up any mailboxes that you store locally before wiping everything out.

I don't have a fix, but this might throw further light on what is causing the issue. If you try exporting an email that won't load as a PDF (option in the file menu), the process gets stuck at 'generating content for pdf' for ages - even longer than you have to wait to display an email.

The "answer" in dtsimon's post on 9/29 was a lifesaver for us! (dtsimon also posted on 10/8.)

Very "senior" mom was recently complaining about her Gmail messages taking 2-3 minutes to open while using Apple Mail on her iMac. She called both Apple and Verizon to troubleshoot with her over the phone. In short, she ended up with a new monthly internet bill that was almost double what it should be and the problem persisted of course! After I found about this issue (a month or so after the fact, I'm not sure exactly how long), she had Verizon restore her internet to the original speed.

Yesterday, she showed me in person what she was talking about. I told her I would take a peek but might have to come back, because I was late for something else. But, of course, I got drawn in by the frustration of not being able to find a good solution.

Until I found dtsimon's post, that is. I gave it a try, threw caution to the wind, and what do you know, it worked. Well, it's only been two days so far, but we'll cross our fingers that the issue won't return anytime soon. (Actually, I'm a little worried, because I usually like to keep up with the Apple OS updates, but now I'm a little scared to install the next one when it becomes available. So, please fill me in if anything is known about whether this issue still exists with the next update after Monterey 12.6.)

To dtsimon: Thank you!

Whilst I'm glad it worked for you, sorry to say it did nothing for me. And nor does it answer the question as to why this whole situation arose!

I did suggest to Apple that they brought in some children from a local school to sort out the problem they have caused... oddly I never had a response.

In the meanwhile, Thunderbird/Mozilla still works very well and it looks like I shall be using that for some time to come.

Ventura entirely and hopefully definitively solves the problem. Would have been nice if at any point someone responsible from Apple would have intervened here to say: "We see the problem, it will be solved in Ventura". Would have saved us a lot of headache.

Well, well, well. I complained about this problem and tried all sorts of things to resolve it with no luck. However, I am HAPPY to report that since I upgraded my iMac (2019 model) and my wife's new 24 inch studio iMac to Ventura OS, the problem with Mail has been resolved. Neither of us is having any problem with getting Mail messages to load quickly and correctly. And, it even seems that Mail is now interacting well with Gmail accounts too. Thank you Apple! Just wish something had been posted here by you that suggested a fix was in the works.

Great news. Except for those of us, like myself, who use machines deemed too old to upgrade. My Late 2015 iMac is still perfectly capable (4 GHz 4-core i7, 32 GB Ram, 3 TB fusion drive, etc), but it cannot be upgraded to Ventura.

Why! You do not suggest that this is all a ploy to make you buy a new computer, I hope?? Let me tell you, sir, that our beloved brand would never stoop to something as nefarious as planned obsolescence!

I thought Ventura was the fix for my Macbook pro & iMac as well. It seemed to work a lot better when I updated the software but it's back to taking forever to load messages again. I have to keep gmail on the web in a browser so I can quickly open messages and reply when I'm not able to in macmail. I hope this gets resolved soon.

I've methodically followed every suggestion, and none has worked for me. The only thing that mitigates the issue is to leave the mail app open all day on the desktop. The initial load and actual display of emails can take from 2 to 10 minutes, with most showing after 4 minutes.

I've experienced the same issues with Safari, but not Firefox. Also, the Notes app experiences the long wait before displaying the contents, but if left open all day, it's useable.

BTW: If I try to open Mail, Notes, or Safari while one of the other churns, my iMac basically locks until the first app finishes doing whatever is causing the delay.

What I found was my virus software, in my case Avast, was slowing the opening of my emails to the point where my email was almost unusable. I stopped the software from checking my email( checked a box) and problem solved. Granted, I am now a bit more vulnerable, but I will simply find another solution.

Omg yes! I have the same problem with my iMac. It’s driving me crazy and takes forever for me to go through my mail. I usually do it through my phone now because it’s faster and every fix that I’ve tried doesn’t work there’s anyone out there have a solution for this come on apple you know what’s going on. Help us out.

Hello. Same problem. I removed the Houdahspot mail plugin (and the DEVONthink mail plugin). No more delays. Thanks to the MacPowerUsers forum for solving this for me. I think the Houdahspot was the problem for me. https://talk.macpowerusers.com/t/apple-mail-slow-to-open-on-one-computer/30245/5