LS9_1
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Mail downloading but won't show

First, apologies because I am incredibly technology inept and everything I'm reading sounds like a foreign language.

 

I'm working with Mac OS X v 10.7.5 and I started having trouble with my mail yesterday afternoon. I had recently added a new gmail address to my mail under System Preferences and the problems began shortly after.


I can only get new mail to load if I close Mail and reopen it. While open, it shows that new mail is downloading but it doesn't appear in the window. I've tried selecting the specific mailbox but it won't populate the messages.

 

I tried Window -> Connection Doctor and everything is showing green.


I found this advice online:


If your mailbox is constantly spinning and mail is not coming or going, it means IMAP is not syncing. In this case, try these steps:

  1. Close mail.app.
  2. Go to /Users/your_profile/Library/Mail/IMAP-account_concerned/.
  3. Delete hidden folder .OfflineCache.
  4. Start mail.app again.

I realize this is pretty basic have no idea how to this.


Any advice?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Oct 7, 2014 7:43 AM

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LS9_1

Q: Mail downloading but won't show

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  • by LS9_1,

    LS9_1 LS9_1 Oct 7, 2014 8:37 AM in response to LS9_1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 7, 2014 8:37 AM in response to LS9_1

    Edited to clarify - the messages appear when I select each email address but there is no alert and they do not update in the "inbox" for all email addresses.

     

    I've tried removing the accounts and re-adding them.

  • by TastyTofu,

    TastyTofu TastyTofu Oct 8, 2014 3:46 AM in response to LS9_1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 8, 2014 3:46 AM in response to LS9_1

    Having a very similar problem here, which started yesterday (7 Oct) I think. New emails do not show up in the Gmail account Inbox in Apple Mail. I'm beginning to suspect a problem on Google's end with their IMAP implementation, based on the following observations:

    • I have 5 different email accounts set up in Apple Mail (don't ask!): 2 Gmail accounts (IMAP), 1 Google Apps for Business account (IMAP), 1 Exchange account and 1 other IMAP account (non-Google).
    • I have these 5 accounts configured on 2 different Macs - one on Mountain Lion, the other on Snow Leopard. Plus on 2 iPhones, one on iOS7 and one on iOS8.
    • Both Gmail accounts show this problem on both Macs. They were working perfectly up until 7 Oct. Both stopped working around the same time. So it's quite a coincidence if it's a Mail config/corruption issue.
    • The other 3 accounts work fine on both Macs (including the Google Apps IMAP account, which I admit I was expecting to show the same symptoms).
    • All 5 accounts work perfectly on both iPhones.
    • If I manually "Get New Mail" on either Gmail account nothing shows up, even though there are new, unread messages on the server.
    • If I quit and restart Mail, all the outstanding messages arrive in the Inbox, but then nothing further arrives. Restarting Mail every 10 mins to check if I have Mail isn't a viable solution.
    • If I rebuild one of the Gmail Inboxes (Menus: Mailbox -> Rebuild) the missing messages turn up. The Activity window shows status messages about "changing flags" but doesn't appear to download the missing messages at that point. It looks like the messages are getting downloaded (when they arrive on the server), but are invisible in the Inbox until either a rebuild or a restart.

    So my best guess is that Google has changed something in its Gmail IMAP implementation recently, and that change is incompatible with the IMAP implementation in Apple Mail. And I'm guessing it doesn't show up in iOS because that's a later IMAP implementation and the slight incompatibility doesn't exist there.

     

    If I get time, I will try this out in Mavericks Mail. Apple completely re-wrote Mail for Mavericks. Not sure if that included a later version of the IMAP protocol stack.

     

    Anyway, no real solution here, but hopefully this might be helpful if others are having a similar problem. Or is it just me??!

  • by andreiask,

    andreiask andreiask Oct 8, 2014 4:10 AM in response to TastyTofu
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 8, 2014 4:10 AM in response to TastyTofu

    Same problem 2 me   temporary i use "MailTab for Gmail" .... but i want my "Mail" back

  • by Lawrence Sheperd,

    Lawrence Sheperd Lawrence Sheperd Oct 8, 2014 4:10 AM in response to TastyTofu
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 8, 2014 4:10 AM in response to TastyTofu

    As to Mail in Mavericks, take a look at this: http://www.tuaw.com/2013/10/23/how-mavericks-ruined-apple-mail-for-gmail-users/ .

     

    Not too promising...

  • by zman999,

    zman999 zman999 Oct 8, 2014 12:33 PM in response to LS9_1
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Oct 8, 2014 12:33 PM in response to LS9_1

    Exact same problem here. Need this fixed... very unreliable right now.