Mail automatically marks all new messages as read

Question

Mail automatically marks all new messages as read

Hi everyone,

I am really stumped at this one. Apple Mail has 3 accounts: iCloud and 2 other IMAP accounts. Both IMAP accounts are hosted by the same provider. The first is working fine, but the second automatically marks every incoming message as read. There are no rules set up. I have tried completely removing and recreating the account to no avail. To rule out problems with the user account, Mail or even the OS, I quit Mail and set up the same account on a clean OS X 10.9.4 VM. It happens there, too! New messages come in as unread (blue dot). After a while (usually less than 1 minute) it automatically marks the messages as read as if I had selected it.

Any ideas what might be causing this?

Thanks

Björn

Posted on Jul 4, 2014 3:05 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 4, 2014 5:14 PM in response to Björn Herrmann

Check in your web browser with that account and see if there is a server side rule marking all messages as read.

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Answer 2

Jul 6, 2014 4:32 AM in response to dianeoforegon

There is none. Sorry for not mentioning this, but I already checked that.

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Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Jul 6, 2014 1:53 PM in response to Björn Herrmann

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

If the problem is still there, try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account. Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up after waiting 10 seconds. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.

Safe Mode

Safe Mode - About

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Answer 4

Jul 6, 2014 2:01 PM in response to Eric Root

Thanks for your reply, but it seems you did not read my post in its entirety. 😐 There is no need to try a different user account on the same Mac when it happens in a clean VM, too.

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Answer 5

Jul 6, 2014 4:03 PM in response to Björn Herrmann

Is it possible another device is marking as read?

If no, Quit Mail. Use one of the following demos to see if you see the same behavior. This would rule out Mail. If you see the same behavior then it's coming from the server or another device.

http://www.postbox-inc.com/

http://freron.com

Setup in MailMate is super easy since it imports your account info from Mail. MailMate supports IMAP only.

Postbox has an interface that is more like Mail and does support all protocols (POP, IMAP, Exchange)

Let me know what you find.

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Answer 6

Jul 11, 2014 3:42 PM in response to dianeoforegon

Thanks,

the problem has disappeared as sudden as it came. I suspect another device as well, but can’t test any further now which is why I’ll just mark this as answered…

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Answer 7

Jul 11, 2014 3:46 PM in response to Björn Herrmann

Computer gremlins. :-)

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Answer 8

Feb 9, 2015 8:24 AM in response to dianeoforegon

Turns out the user had a machine with POP3 access to this mail account and noone knew of it. It was causing this… 😠

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