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Mail is preventing shutdown

Every time I try to shut down I get told that Mail is preventing shutdown, I know how to force quit but how do I prevent it from happening in the first place?

MacBook Air, OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on Mar 7, 2014 2:02 AM

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3 replies

Mar 7, 2014 10:59 AM in response to mckd1

Please follow these directions to delete the Mail "sandbox" folders. In OS X 10.9 there are two sandboxes, while in 10.8 there is only one. If you're running a version older than 10.8, this comment isn't applicable.

Back up all data.

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail

Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select

Services Reveal

from the contextual menu.* A Finder window should open with a folder named "com.apple.mail" selected. If it does, move the selected foldernot just its contents — to the Desktop. Leave the Finder window open for now.

Log out and log back in. Launch Mail and test. If the problem is resolved, you may have to recreate some of your Mail settings. You can then delete the folder you moved and close the Finder window. If you still have the problem, quit Mail again and put the folder back where it was, overwriting the one that may have been created in its place. Repeat with this line:

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.MailServiceAgent


Caution: If you change any of the contents of the sandbox, but leave the folder itself in place, Mail may crash or not launch at all. Deleting the whole sandbox will cause it to be rebuilt automatically.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select

Go Go to Folder...

from the menu bar, paste into the box that opens (command-V). You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Mail is preventing shutdown

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