mailbox (greyed) (offline) on iOS/iPadOS

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Level 1

8 points

mailbox (greyed) (offline) on iOS/iPadOS

My email hosting provider had a DDOS attach on May 1 and for 24 hours the mail service was unavailable. I use mail on my Mac iPhone and iPad. During this time Mail.app signified on the Mac that the folder was offline/unavailable via an icon beside the mailbox name "circle with tilde inside". When the service became available again it was easy to click this icon an ask for the mailbox to be brought online again. iOS and iPadOS not so easy...

Both of my devices have the mailbox name Greyed out. You cannot tap in the table item to list all mail for this mailbox. (I can get access from All Inboxes but just not via the)

Things I have tried which haven't worked: -

1) Gone into settings and reentered the inbound and outbound account passwords for the mailbox.

2) Restarted Mail.app

3) Restarted the device

I enclose a screenshot to illustrate below: -

iPhone 8, iOS 16

Posted on May 3, 2023 5:45 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

SravanKrA

Community+ 2024

Level 10

413,900 points

May 3, 2023 5:54 AM in response to Shogododo

If your email service provider has experienced a DDoS attack on their server, and as a result, your email on the iOS Mail app is greyed out or not functioning properly, here are some steps you can take to address the issue:

Check the status of your email service provider: Visit your email service provider's website or social media channels to see if they have posted any notifications or updates regarding the DDoS attack. They might provide information on the extent of the issue and the estimated time for resolution.
Remove and re-add the email account: If the issue persists, you can try removing and re-adding the affected email account on the iOS Mail app. Remove your email account and set it up again. Make sure that all of your emails are there or make sure that your email is saved somewhere other than your device. On your device, go to Settings > Mail, then tap Accounts. Tap the email account that you want to remove. Tap Delete Account. If you can't receive email on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch ...
Contact your email service provider: If none of the above steps resolve the problem, reach out to your email service provider's support team. Inform them about the greyed-out email issue and explain that it occurred after the DDoS attack. They will be able to provide you with specific guidance and further assistance tailored to your situation.

Remember, the impact and resolution time for DDoS attacks can vary depending on the severity and measures taken by your email service provider. It's best to stay patient and regularly check for updates from them while following the steps mentioned above.

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Answer 2

May 3, 2023 1:43 PM in response to Shogododo

I have a similar situation, but it only occurs on one computer, and not both computers that I get email on. Messages are going into a subfolder that was made by the computer (not me) and that sub-folder says it is Read-only and I can not access that folder, nor other folders that were previously made under the main email. How can I fix this situation?

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Answer 3

Shogododo Author

Level 1

8 points

May 3, 2023 6:05 AM in response to SravanKrA

Thanks for your response.

1) I'm assured that the service is back to normal now.

2)While waiting for a response to this post I have attempted to remove and re-add the account on my iPad as a test. It has re-instated but is still "greyed out" in the list of mailboxes.

3) I have also raise a support ticket with the hosting provider.

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Answer 4

Shogododo Author

Level 1

8 points

May 5, 2023 8:31 AM in response to Shogododo

This has now been corrected but it required me to remove one of the mailboxes from both devices and re-add. This had to be down after the email hosting services' IMAP connector "settled down" after the DDOS recovery.

This suggests that Mail.app on iOS is "remembering something" but not periodically checking to see if this is resolved. Having a facility similar to MacOS Mail.app connection doctor and/or having the ability to request a revisit on a problematic mailbox (The circular icon with a tilde) would be a very helpful feature and would negate the removal/re-add process.

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Answer 5

May 5, 2023 8:49 AM in response to Shogododo

Regarding “not remembering something” - when you delete an email account, you need to restart your phone before adding it back. If you don’t, the re-added account will find the data from the previous installation and re-use it.

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