mail crashes repeatedly in mavericks on 2013 mba

Here is my problem, any help appreciated, I have tried most of the solutions in this thread without success:

Crashed Thread: 0 Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread

Exception Type: EXC_CRASH (SIGABRT)

Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000

Application Specific Information:

*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: '*** setObjectForKey: key cannot be nil' abort() called terminating with uncaught exception of type NSException

I repeatedly got this error message (Exception Type: EXC_CRASH (SIGABRT)).

Try the solution in my post above. It worked for me.

Look in your Dock. You might find two or more Mail icons. Click on each and quit. It may not be necessary to reboot, but there may be other processes duplicated, so it wouldn't hurt.

Thanks barthrh.1 This did work for me. (I'm not using iCloud for email.)

I removed the ~/Library/Mail (keeping them just in case), however, I deleted 2 subfolders within the Container folder: com.apple.mail AND com.apple.MailServiceAgent. I then deleted the Internet Accounts in system prefs. Then I set-up my 3 email accounts one by one, checking each as I went along. Finally I imported my old email. Everything seems to be working fine now.

For the record, defaults delete com.apple.mail ColorQuoterColorList did NOT work for me.

We have had the same error .. one workaround so far which has worked is: create a new user on the same machine and move all data over there. my mail program works fine now. I will update if I find a better solution.

In case anyone else comes up with something I would be grateful for tips!

Simlid, My mail program was progressively eating up all available application memory and then pausing all the apps. If it started up at all, it took about 20 minutes. I just followed your steps and now it's back starting up immediately, using very little memory, and running quickly. I can't thank you enough. 😀

Barbara

Glad this worked, hope others find the steps I listed useful as well. My mail has been stable ever since.

My problem is I go to system preference and that becomes unresponsive. I unenabled 4 of 6 of my email accounts but the last two I cant uncheck because the system preferences becomes unresponsive to the point that i must force quit it. Not quite sure how to get to the next step. I did try to run the Mavericks Mail update patch that apple released for gmail. but it didn't take care of the problem

Thanks! This solved my problem as well...Thousands of Hotmail entries in the .plist file. Mail didn't even open before I did this...only thing that worked for me.

And what if Terminal (as well as Maps, Contacts, Preview, App Store and who knows what else) won't launch?

Try checking permissions on the account home folder (Finder window /Users/user and do a CMD-I on the folder.

If the owner is read only, as it was for me, then change it to Read and Write and copy permissions down.

If thats not it, then I have no further idea's for you.

This is just a general comment re Mavericks. I have read countless shares on this upgrade for WEEEKS and the problems with the upgrade, and have decided that when I am given the option of upgrading to Mavericks that I will refuse the upgrade.

I have told varioius potential customers of Apple to avoid any of their new products such as the MacAir and the MacPro... with Mavericks installed. I have quite a network of friends who are thinking of buying a MacAir or a MacPro. Moreover, I have a family member who has used Apple products for years and works with many people world wide..they are all having problems with with Mavericks. He has uninstalled Mavericks (with some difficulty) on his MacPro and will not upgade his MacPro and other Mac products he has until Apple gets it right. If my MacAir were to crash, he would have to be the one who helps me via phone and email...and he simply doesn't want the hassle of having to do that.

I am sad for Apple, as the company appeasrs to be having a lot of problems with this upgrade. I do not have the proficiency with my MacAir to fix such problems shoujld they occur. Please, Apple, fix this problem. Then I will be able to recommend Apple products such as MacAir and MacPro safely. Note that several of my friends are now considering switching to a Microsoft tablet or laptop, as they have seen countless information on google relating to these problems...big loss for Apple.

I agree with that assessment. I upgraded to Mavericks, and sad that I did. I tried numerous fixes to mail--many suggested here--and nothing works well. I visited the genious bar. They looked at my iMac. But I still get freezes on Safari and Mail, but interestingly third party apps like Google Chrome work fine.

I usually wait until after the first upgrade to install a new OS. Wished I had done that in this case....

simlid

tried your method and seems to work, I'm now in the process of rebuilding my mail boxes, but, as my old boss used to say, sometimes the longest way round is the shortest way there. Thanks

Pass on the word

Not only was mail acting up, none of the Apple apps seemed to be working for me. Tried reboots, tried most of the solutions in this thread. Nothing helped.

So, I did a Reinstall of the OS. Boot to Recovery (Command + R), select Reinstall. Takes about 45 minutes, but preserves all of your applications, files, and settings.

Everything is working perfectly now.