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Unread message count is wrong in Mail and Dock

Just last week I noticed that both my Email Inbox & Mail Dock Icon is showing an incorrect unread message count on both my MacBook & iMac. I am using a Microsoft Exchange Hosted account (Office 365) and it is the only email account tied to both of my Macs. My iPhone shows the correct unread message count as well as Outlook Web Access, and on a seperate windows-based computer, Outlook is showing the correct unread message count of 3. Both Mac systems are using OS X 10.7.3 and I have never experienced this issue before.


The MacBook is showing 39 unread messages, and the iMac is showing 16, in actuality there are 3 unread messages. If I create a smart mailbox that shows only unread messages - it shows up with the correct number (3), when I sort by "Unread Messages" for Inbox, it only shows that I have three unread messages.


I have rebuilt the inbox, I have deleted the email account from the computer, restarted the computer and then readded it, all it did was bring the unread message count from 19 to 16 on my iMac (still - it should be 3).


I have also gone to Mail -> Preferences -> General and verified that Show Dock Unread County is set to "Inbox" but oddly enough, when I click "All Mailboxes" the unread count on the Dock changes to 3.


Is there a file I can delete to reset that unread message count? I feel like I've done everything that's suggested to no avail.


Thanks!

iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Mar 4, 2012 7:10 PM

Reply
99 replies

Mar 25, 2017 4:36 AM in response to AlconicCF

I don't know for sure whether this will fix your problem, but there is a way to I have confirmed that this works. Reset the dock, where the dock resets itself to the state when you bought it. This might fix the icon issue... Enter the following text into the command line:

defaults delete com.apple.dock; killall Dock

Wait a few moments and your dock will disappear, and come back again.

Mar 28, 2012 8:29 AM in response to AlconicCF

I have the same issue, but it's on a MacBook Air, also on 10.7.3 - in my case it's showing 2 unread messages in the Junk folder as well as in the inbox. All related to an Exchange account. I restarted the computer, I rebuilt the inbox as well as the junk mail folder. I looked directly on the Exchange server, there were no unread messages there. Sounds like a solid timebomb bug in 10.7.3. to me. Can't wait to get to the next OS - this Vista version of Mac OS's really isn't the greatest...

Apr 2, 2012 6:26 PM in response to AlconicCF

There is a small glitch, and you guys are close.


In Mail Preferences under General, there is the option for:


Dock Unread Count --


Your choices in the dropdown are either:


None

Inbox Only

All Boxes


The problem is that I've often seen the Inbox Only is checkmarked, and stays as checkmarked, even when you last told it to use either None or All Boxes.


It is possible that Alconic see's Inboxes Only checkmarked, when in fact it's All mailboxes that are set to be showing.


Try to re-check "Inbox only" even though it's already checked and see what happens...

Apr 2, 2012 6:38 PM in response to HACKINT0SH

Thanks for the tip, but that didn't do it. The unread count in my case magically appeared a few days after I upgraded to 10.7.3 from the Junk mailbox. It keeps showing 2 unread junk mails, but there are none there (there = in my exchange account). All other iOS devices (phone, iPad) show no unread email count for the same exchange eMail, so it's a local Lion problem. Rumor has it that some index might be screwed up, but rebuilding and all the other good stuff doesn't help. And deleting some preferences files might kill all of my mail settings including all of my local mailboxes, so the Genius Bar guy didn't recommend that. - The wait for Mountain Lion is on.. ;-) -

Apr 2, 2012 7:52 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

Ok, let's go with Glenn's suggestion here:


  • Quit Mail if it’s open.
  • In ~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData, delete any file that begins with “Envelope Index,” such as Envelope Index or Envelope Index-shm.
  • Your home Library folder is hidden by default. To display it, choose Finder > “Go to Folder” and then enter “~/Library.”
  • Open Mail.
  • Mail creates new Envelope Index files. This process may take a few minutes, depending on how many messages Mail is reindexing.

Unread message count is wrong in Mail and Dock

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