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There is a problem with your mailboxes!

I keep receiving this message when I attempt to open mail:

"There is a problem with your mailboxes.

Try clicking Quit and opening mail again. If this message reappears, click Quit and Rebuild Index. The next time

you open Mail it will import your messages."

I have tried doing this and it gives me the same message each time and I can not access Mail. I am traveling and do not have any disks with me. I need to restore Mail or find away to fix the problem. I do have a Time Machine backup with me and I am not sure if I can restore the Mail application from a day before it went bad.

Thanks for any help you can give me!

Posted on Apr 18, 2012 11:49 AM

Top-ranking reply

geek girl

Level 2

369 points

Posted on Apr 30, 2012 6:12 AM

I am having the same exact problem and I'm searching on here for a solution. When I click "rebuild" nothing happens and when I try to open mail again, the same thing happens.

What are some good trouble shooting steps for this?

View in context

50 replies

Spineboy

Level 1

8 points

Mar 11, 2013 1:33 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

My wife has just had this problem, which is a big disaster for her, I have fixed it with your advice. Thank you Glenn.

Jul 21, 2013 8:03 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

Thank you thank you thank you!!!! Removing these evelope index files fixed my problem lickety split! I can now open my Mail and use it as usual.

I am still having a problem accessing the "Mail Contacts and Calendars" area of System Preferences. Any suggestions for that???

Jul 21, 2013 8:46 PM in response to Gerty_71946

Glad that helped you Gerty.

Offhand, no, but you may want to post a new question on the discussions with the specific problem you are having. Many will jump in to help you. Just hadn't had much time for the board lately.

Nov 12, 2013 12:26 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

Many Thanks Glenn Leblanc!

Re: There is a problem with your mailboxes!

For this solution, it totally solved the issue.

"Quit Mail.

In the Finder, select Go To Folder (Shift>Command>G). Paste below into window:

~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData

Select the Envelope Index Files and move them to the desktop.

Open Mail and hit continue to rebuild the messages index."

mjpenman

Level 1

0 points

Dec 21, 2013 2:44 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

Hi Glen,

Thanks for the advice below:

"Quit Mail.

In the Finder, select Go To Folder (Shift>Command>G). Paste below into window:

~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData

Select the Envelope Index Files and move them to the desktop.

Open Mail and hit continue to rebuild the messages index."

Just a quick question, what did you do with Evelope Index Files after you rebuilt your message index? Is there are use for them or can they moved to trash?

Thanks again!

Best,

Mark

Dec 21, 2013 2:50 PM in response to mjpenman

Yes you can just moved them to the trash and delete them. New index files were created when you started Mail.

mjpenman

Level 1

0 points

Dec 21, 2013 2:54 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

Amazing, thanks again Glen, you've saved all my work emails.

Ul2m8cyn

Level 1

13 points

Feb 8, 2014 12:39 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

Glenn Leblanc, thank you for your advice. This worked perfectly.

Cynthia

rephstar

Level 1

0 points

Jul 4, 2014 10:15 AM in response to Glenn Leblanc

thanks bro, this helped a lot...

Reg77

Level 1

0 points

Aug 1, 2014 8:05 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

THank you, thank you, thank you!!! If I can do it anyone can! I had shut down my time capsule 6 months ago and was so nervous that i was going to lose all my mail... i followed your instructions and it worked! I them turned my time capsule back on and did a back up right away! 🙂

ahsafa

Level 1

0 points

Sep 14, 2014 3:40 AM in response to Glenn Leblanc

Glenn Leblanc - you made my day.

I have just followed your steps, and it works like charm .. many thanks man.

CathyCBS

Level 1

0 points

Aug 31, 2015 2:47 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

Thank you for this troubleshooting - it is still useful. Mail is rebuilding my mailboxes right now. I was lucky to find this so quickly - I was prepared to spend hours figuring this thing out. 🙂

Oct 21, 2015 7:30 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

Glenn，

I have the same problem , the mail popped up an error message.

I follow your steps , but in the resetpassword step , I can't choose anything , no drive , no users.

so , I remove the index files in "~/Library/Mail/V3/MailData", hope it can works.

otherwise , my mac book running EI captitan.

Kevin808

Level 1

10 points

Jan 17, 2016 2:24 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

Glenn Leblanc wrote:

Quit Mail.

In the Finder, select Go To Folder (Shift>Command>G). Paste below into window:

~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData

Select the Envelope Index Files and move them to the desktop.

Open Mail and hit continue to rebuild the messages index.

This method worked for me, except I had a "V3" folder and just removed the files from there. When I reopened Mail it it rebuilt the files and re-downloaded my mail. Everything seems to be in it's right place as it was before. Glenn, I owe you a beer, thanks man! 🙂

Mar 19, 2016 8:24 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

Thank you so much! Out of the blue, I had this problem with my MacBook Pro. The only difference was my MailData was in V3. It worked! Thanks again.

There is a problem with your mailboxes!