Alf Megson

Q: Mail not automatically checking

For the past few weeks my Mail has intermittently stopped automatically checking. Sometimes it does and then I might be an hour or so without any mail so I check manually and there will be about five or six messages.

 

I've tried changing the preferences on and off but I can't think what else I can do.

 

Anybody any ideas, please?

MacBook Pro (17-inch Early 2009), Mac OS X (10.7.4), 8GB RAM, 500GB HD

Posted on May 23, 2013 12:23 PM

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Q: Mail not automatically checking

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  • by Alf Megson,

    Alf Megson Alf Megson Jun 5, 2013 4:55 AM in response to Alf Megson
    Level 1 (114 points)
    Safari
    Jun 5, 2013 4:55 AM in response to Alf Megson

    Can nobody offer any advice, please?

  • by nbevan,

    nbevan nbevan Aug 15, 2013 6:16 AM in response to Alf Megson
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 15, 2013 6:16 AM in response to Alf Megson

    I am having the same problem.

     

    In the absence of any creative suggestions, I am hoping that the problem may go away with Mavericks.

  • by CT,

    CT CT Aug 15, 2013 6:20 AM in response to Alf Megson
    Level 6 (17,882 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 15, 2013 6:20 AM in response to Alf Megson

    One possible cause is if there is a message which is for some reason unpalatable to the mail server which prevents Apple Mail from getting the file and subsequent files from the server.  For example, a message could be too big.

  • by nbevan,

    nbevan nbevan Aug 15, 2013 7:41 AM in response to CT
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 15, 2013 7:41 AM in response to CT

    Good suggestion, so I had a look on the server, but no mail there.

     

    Also, I have noticed that there is nothing in the Activity window, so for some reason the check is not being initiated. 

  • by Alf Megson,

    Alf Megson Alf Megson Aug 15, 2013 7:59 AM in response to CT
    Level 1 (114 points)
    Safari
    Aug 15, 2013 7:59 AM in response to CT

    That's not the case for me either as I clear out my mail server manually several times per day.

  • by CT,

    CT CT Aug 15, 2013 8:04 AM in response to Alf Megson
    Level 6 (17,882 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 15, 2013 8:04 AM in response to Alf Megson

    Well, I guess if this were happening to me, I'd wonder if there were some incompatibility between Apple Mail and the mail server.  Maybe double-check the mail settings against what the mail server recommends.  Also, maybe watch the "Activity" window (Window, Activity) to see if Apple Mail is actually checking for mail and, if so, what is happening.  Also, maybe look at Console (Utilities folder) to look for any error messages which might give a clue.

  • by Alf Megson,

    Alf Megson Alf Megson Aug 15, 2013 8:10 AM in response to CT
    Level 1 (114 points)
    Safari
    Aug 15, 2013 8:10 AM in response to CT

    I don't understand how you could deduce that.

     

    If I click the 'Get new messages' button, Mail checks for new messages and if there are any, they are downloaded. Surely, automtically checking mail is merely Mail hitting this button for me to all intents and purposes.- so why would it be a server problem?

  • by CT,

    CT CT Aug 15, 2013 8:13 AM in response to Alf Megson
    Level 6 (17,882 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 15, 2013 8:13 AM in response to Alf Megson

    Another thing to try is to double-check/reset Mail preferences. Maybe delete the Mail preferences file.

  • by nbevan,

    nbevan nbevan Aug 15, 2013 8:14 AM in response to CT
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 15, 2013 8:14 AM in response to CT

    This only started happening to me recently, it is intermittant, and when it happens there is nothing in the Activity window, so my suspicions are:

    - a problem with mail extensions

    - a consequence of some OS X problem

     

    But it is odd that only 2 people have reported having the problem.

  • by nbevan,

    nbevan nbevan Aug 15, 2013 8:31 AM in response to CT
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 15, 2013 8:31 AM in response to CT

    Good suggestion, but deleting com.apple.mail.plist resulted in all my mailboxes disappearing, so I quickly restored it! 

     

    Presumably there is a less drastic form of reset?

  • by CT,

    CT CT Aug 15, 2013 9:03 AM in response to nbevan
    Level 6 (17,882 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 15, 2013 9:03 AM in response to nbevan

    If you suspect some third party software conflict, you can test this hypothesis by starting up in Safe Mode and testing.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 15, 2013 10:02 AM in response to Alf Megson
    Level 9 (73,966 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 15, 2013 10:02 AM in response to Alf Megson

    If the Safe Mode doesn't solve the problem, try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferences, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.

     

    Isolating an issue by using another user account

  • by trainer15,

    trainer15 trainer15 Sep 29, 2013 6:24 PM in response to Alf Megson
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 29, 2013 6:24 PM in response to Alf Megson

    I am having the same issue .. for the past 3-4 days.  Mac mail will check for mail only when it feels like it, but not the scheduled every 5 mins.  Sometimes it won't check at all.  I'm missing a lot of important work emails because of this.  If anyone has a solution (besides calling Apple), that would be great.

  • by dreiss,

    dreiss dreiss Oct 15, 2013 8:46 PM in response to Alf Megson
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 15, 2013 8:46 PM in response to Alf Megson

    I am having the same problem and it appears to have started recently as it has only come to my attention in the past several weeks.  No changes to my system other than the standard OS updates. Using Mail V 6.6 which appears to be the "Friday, September 13, 2013 4:17 PM" version. I've tried all the usual tricks to shake off the issue but it has not gone away. 

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