I have that issue with the Question Marks showing up instead of text in Mac Mail. I seem to remember it was some sort of an conflict with Helvetica, but I have:
1: Disabled all Heveticas allowed
2: Validated All Fonts
3: Restored Default Fonts
4: Disable Font Explorer
5: Set me MacMail font to Verdana
What else can I do to solve this?
MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 10.15
Hello SkyKing2022,
We're happy to assist with the issue you're experiencing on your Mac. We understand you're seeing some texts displaying as boxes with question marks.
We appreciate the troubleshooting steps you have tried so far. Since this issue started, have you also tested it in safe mode? If not, let's follow the steps in the resource below to test the issue in safe mode: Start up your Mac in safe mode
Start up your Mac with Apple silicon in safe mode
1) On your Mac, choose Apple menu> Shut Down.
Wait for your Mac to shut down completely. A Mac is completely shut down when the screen is black and any lights (including in the Touch Bar) are off.
2) Press and hold the power button on your Mac until “Loading startup options” appears.
3) Select a volume.
4) Press and hold the Shift key, then click Continue in Safe Mode.
The computer restarts automatically. When the login window appears, you should see “Safe Boot” in the menu bar.
Start up your Intel-based Mac in safe mode
1) Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key until you see the login window.
2) Log in to your Mac.
3) You might be asked to log in again.
On either the first or second login window, you should see “Safe Boot” in the menu bar.
Once in safe mode, check to see if the issue persists. Then restart your Mac normally and see if the issue occurs again. Performing this step will help us to further isolate the problem you're experiencing with your Mac.
Let us know how it goes.
Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities.
Cheers!
Hello SkyKing2022,
We're happy to assist with the issue you're experiencing on your Mac. We understand you're seeing some texts displaying as boxes with question marks.
We appreciate the troubleshooting steps you have tried so far. Since this issue started, have you also tested it in safe mode? If not, let's follow the steps in the resource below to test the issue in safe mode: Start up your Mac in safe mode
Start up your Mac with Apple silicon in safe mode
1) On your Mac, choose Apple menu
Wait for your Mac to shut down completely. A Mac is completely shut down when the screen is black and any lights (including in the Touch Bar) are off.
2) Press and hold the power button on your Mac until “Loading startup options” appears.
3) Select a volume.
4) Press and hold the Shift key, then click Continue in Safe Mode.
The computer restarts automatically. When the login window appears, you should see “Safe Boot” in the menu bar.
Start up your Intel-based Mac in safe mode
1) Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key until you see the login window.
2) Log in to your Mac.
3) You might be asked to log in again.
On either the first or second login window, you should see “Safe Boot” in the menu bar.
Once in safe mode, check to see if the issue persists. Then restart your Mac normally and see if the issue occurs again. Performing this step will help us to further isolate the problem you're experiencing with your Mac.
Let us know how it goes.
Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities.
Cheers!
SkyKing2022,
We'd like to clarify the steps for safe mode. You'll want to press and keep holding the Shift key as your Mac starts up. Once you see the login screen you can release the Shift key. There is no need to press it again. Here are the full steps once more and the article:
How to use safe mode on your Mac
Intel processor
1. Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key as your Mac starts up.
2. Release the key when you see the login window, then log in to your Mac.
3. You might be asked to log in again. On either the first or second login window, you should see ”Safe Boot” in the upper-right corner of the window.
Hope this helps!
Have a great day.
Thanks for those details SkyKing2022,
At this point our recommendation would be to Contact Apple for support and service and to report the issue.
Take care.
Johnny
Thanks, unfortunately, that didn't work. I was not able to start up in safe mode. This is definitely an INTEL Macbook Pro ( 2018 ), and I have not done any system upgrades. I am still running Catalina.
But I have restarted several times and also shut down completely before starting up. Trying to start in safe mode by holding down the shift key the moment I start the computer. This is on the MacBook chassis, not on a wireless keyboard. It brings me to the login screen, where I add my credentials and then hold the shift key when I hit return to continue to the desktop, but it does not show as in Safe Mode.
I am still getting the errors in email and also on some web pages in Firefox and Safari
Lissy:
Thanks, I wish I could say this is working, but I don't think it is starting up in safe mode, so I don't know what else to do. To try and boot safe mode I followed your instructions about holding the shift key at startup.
I have also tried shutting all the way down and starting with the option key held to bring up the choice of boot drives ( there is only the one ) and my Wifi.
I have also tried resetting the PRAM by holding down the P+R+Option+Apple. Still no luck.
I have turned off all of my fonts in Adobe Creative Cloud and disabled Font Explorer Pro and done all of the restores and verifies and resets in Font Book. I know this is an issue with Helvetica, but there is no way of deleting the versions in the system. Very very frustrating
emails still look like this.
Question Mark Font in Apple Mail Catalina
