iCloud Mail continually goes offline

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Level 1

5 points

iCloud Mail continually goes offline

If the mail application is close, iCloud mail goes offline, although my other email accounts in the mail app do NOT go offline. When I open the mail app, there is a symbol next to the iCloud account (but not next to the others) that looks like a circle with a horizontal zig-zag. When I click on that symbol I get the following message: "This account (iCloud) appears to be offline due to a network problem." If I click the button in the dialogue box that says, "Take all accounts online,", then my iCloud mail comes in right away. However, all my other mail accounts already are delivered. It is not a network or connection problem. My iPhone and iPad also do NOT have this problem. Any ideas?????

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

Posted on May 7, 2012 10:43 AM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

238,979 points

May 7, 2012 11:51 AM in response to Hazotwiga

In Mail>Preferences>Accounts, highlight that account, Advanced tab, is include when automatically checking for new mail checked?

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Answer 2

Hazotwiga Author

Level 1

5 points

May 7, 2012 11:54 AM in response to BDAqua

yes

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

238,979 points

May 7, 2012 12:13 PM in response to Hazotwiga

If Mail can't connect to and access your account's incoming server when it checks for messages, it will take your account offline.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1146

Open the Activity Window & the Connection Doctor window, any clues there, like a red dot in the CD window?

Could you have more than one Keychain entry for this account?

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Answer 4

Hazotwiga Author

Level 1

5 points

May 7, 2012 12:31 PM in response to BDAqua

All green and good to go. I don't think I could have more than one Keychain entry for the account, but where would I check that?

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Answer 5

mpercy

Level 1

8 points

Sep 12, 2012 11:45 AM in response to Hazotwiga

I agree. This is an ongoing problem. At this very moment, neither my MacBook Air or 17" Pro, both running all the latest system updates - and in completely different locations with different DSL providers, will connect with my iCloud IMAP account - so don't anyone tell me this is a system software problem on my end. This happens all to frequently. I've asked most of my customer database to use my .mac email address, assuming it would be more reliable than my Yahoo based email account (which is fine today), but if anything, it is more unreliable. Does anyone have a recommendation for an email provider that is consistently reliable, or am I asking too much?

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Answer 6

Sep 12, 2012 12:53 PM in response to mpercy

I have used the Apple mail servers with IMAP for the last 4-5 years, this last 24-36 hours is the only problem I have had. I also have Gmail and Yahoo and these have both been reliable also. However they are free accounts and if the service does go down there is not a lot we can do, apart from leave.

If you need an email account for your work would you be better with a paid account with a guaranteed level of service.

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