Mail slow loading any email with attachments

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Level 1

4 points

Mail slow loading any email with attachments

After the update, my mail now will not open messages with attachments. It loads and loads and doesn't appear. Also does not receive messages quickly. Lag of at least an hour.

iMac (2017 – 2020)

Posted on Jul 10, 2023 3:28 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

ryane77

Community Specialist

Jul 12, 2023 7:51 AM in response to tbilsky

Hi tbilsky,

Thank you for those details. To narrow this down, try starting your Mac up into safe mode. This runs a quick disk repair and prevents some items from launching, so it's helpful in ruling out possible causes. Check out this link for the guide and then test in safe mode, and then click Apple menu () > Restart to get back to normal: Use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

If the issue persists, can you provide a few more details? Are you able to open the attachments by opening your mail using Safari? Does this happen with all attachment types? Also, are you able to send yourself an email with an attachment and open it?

Cheers!

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Answer 2

bruno75

Community Specialist

Jul 11, 2023 2:44 PM in response to tbilsky

Hey there tbilsky,

We'd like to help by learning more about what's happening, along with ruling out some possible causes:

Have you noticed this occurring only with email from one specific mail account, or do you only have one set up within Mail in your Mac?
You mentioned this occurred after updating, but the latest version for your Mac would be macOS Ventura 13.4.1. You can verify this by clicking on the Apple logo at the top left corner of the screen, then on ‘About This Mac’. In case you needed it, this link shows how to first back up, then update: Update macOS on Mac
Sometimes unexpected behavior can be resolved with a restart. Check out the section ‘Restart your Mac' here: Shut down or restart your Mac

Cheers!

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Answer 3

Sparks0829

Community Specialist

Jul 12, 2023 10:54 AM in response to tbilsky

Hi there tbilsky,

What type of network connection do you have on your MacBook Air and how much signal strength are you seeing for that connection? We ask because that could be related to the lag you're describing with receiving emails on your Mac. If you open Mail and click on Mailbox > Get All New Mail, does that seem to make a difference?

Also, try using Connection Doctor in Mail on your Mac and let us know the results. You can follow the steps in this support article to do so: Use Connection Doctor in Mail on Mac - Apple Support

Thanks!

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Answer 4

tbilsky Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 12, 2023 10:25 AM in response to ryane77

Hi. Thank you for this. I opened in Safe mode and restarted. A pop up from Letter Opener saying the following:

Letter Opener couldn't communicate with its helper application. for Letter Opener to function, make sure Letter Opener is enabled in the "Allow in the Background" section in System Settings.
I allowed it.

After that, I saw I was able to open messages immediately and see their attachments.

I sent a message to myself and here is what happened:

sent at 10:03 with attachment
google chrome platform received the message immediately at 10:03
my iPhone did not receive the message until 10:10 but I was able to open the attachment
my MacBook air still had not received the message by 10:20 so I restarted. When I reopened, the message was received and I was able to open the attachment

So, emails are still lagging and not being received sometimes up to 30-40 minutes after they have been sent. Are you able to suggest anything to help that?

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Answer 5

Jeff_W.

Community Specialist

Jul 12, 2023 11:17 AM in response to tbilsky

Hi tbilsky,

Contacting Apple Support is the best path forward to resolve this. They will be best equipped to investigate this further for you:

Get Support

Cheers!

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Answer 6

tbilsky Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 11, 2023 8:32 PM in response to bruno75

Hi, thanks for your response.

No, seems to be happening from a variety of addresses. I am not receiving the messages in my inbox for hours, and then when I try to open them, they spin. Especially those with attachments. And if they open, the attachments are not loaded and I cannot access them. I have Letter Opener 15.0.2 installed to open winmail.dat attachments, which I need to open attachments from a variety of work contacts. This only started happening about a week ago, all has been fine up till then. I ran an update for my Mac Studio display recently, but probably not why this is happening.
I have macOS Ventura 13.4.1
I have conducted quite a few restarts, no help. I did click yes to the Letter Opener plug in, which seemed to load my emails, but that was short lived. They still did not open attachments.

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Answer 7

tbilsky Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 12, 2023 10:58 AM in response to Sparks0829

Hi. No, Get all Mail was not helping. I clicked it numerous times, and the message I had already received over Chrome and iPhone did not show up.

My network is strong and all green in connection doctor.

This is a new problem that only arose last week. I have only had success in the past.

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Mail slow loading any email with attachments

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