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User profile for user: FinchyD8
FinchyD8 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Mail App randomly stops showing a years worth of emails then starts downloading thousands of them again

About 2 years ago I noticed the Mail app on my MacBook pro would randomly be missing about a years worth of emails. Yet I could log into my email account through a Chrome website and they were all there. Just missing in the Apple Mail app. I would click Mailbox>Synchronize All Accounts and sometimes that would bring them back, but most of the time it didn't. So I would have to Quit the Mail app and then restart it and wait for several minutes for them to come back. And when they come back, I'll see what seems to be at least what was visible on my screen before they went missing, but also notice it saying it's either "downloading" several thousand messages or "copying" a handful of messages.




At first this was a rare occurrence, but now it happens all the time. I tried upgrading the MacOS but that didn't help. I just got a new MacBook Pro (M2) and it is also having the same problem. There are other issues with the Mail app (sometimes it will take over 10 minutes to sync just one deleted message, sometimes when I open a new email I only see the "Loading" spinning wheel but no content, etc.). So curious if anyone has a solution?

MacBook Pro (M2 Max, 2023)

Posted on Apr 5, 2023 7:48 PM

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User profile for user: jdo_apple
jdo_apple
User level: Community Specialist

Apr 8, 2023 4:11 PM in response to FinchyD8

Hello FinchyD8,



Thanks for that info and for choosing the Apple Support Communities. If we understand correctly, you are having an issue with the Mail app on your MacBook Pro redownloading messages. If you haven't already, see if rebuilding the mailbox helps with the situation as this could help with sync issues, but be aware that messages and attachments stored on your Mac are discarded, and then downloaded again from the mail server: Rebuild mailboxes in Mail on Mac - Apple Support



Next, use safe mode to start up your Mac as it does the following things:



  • Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed
  • Loads only required kernel extensions
  • Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically
  • Disables user-installed fonts
  • Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files



Log in to your user account and test the issue while in safe mode and then restart normally and test the issue again.



How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support



Cheers!

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Mail App randomly stops showing a years worth of emails then starts downloading thousands of them again

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