Mail drop not working

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Level 4

3,599 points

Mail drop not working

So i wanted to send a 600MB file via mail drop, but when I dragged the file onto the mail window and hit send, instead of the window asking me if I wanted to send it via mail drop, it just started sending it. Now I have a slow connection and don't want to spend the next 90 minutes uploading something that cannot be downloaded, never mind clogging up my internet connection.

So can anyone tell me how to ensure that mail drop actually works?

Incidentally, in trashing the uploading file in Mail's Outbox to stop it, I can see the upload still continues as my network stats show full upload speed. Had to restart. Seems very buggy to me.

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10), 2.0 GHz i7, 8GB, 256GB SSD

Posted on Dec 5, 2014 2:05 AM

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Answer 1

Simon-UK- Author

Level 4

3,599 points

Dec 5, 2014 2:52 AM in response to Simon-UK-

I was expecting to see this:

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Answer 2

Simon-UK- Author

Level 4

3,599 points

Dec 5, 2014 7:25 AM in response to Simon-UK-

So has anyone used Mail drop successfully? Has the above window popped up once you've added your file and hit send? I've never used it before, so have never checked the box to not ask again for this account which I assume would have it behave the way it seemed to when I did. I'd just like to see this box appear so I know it's happening as expected.

By the way, it works fine if I do it from the iCloud account directly, just not through Mail on the Mac.

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Answer 3

Simon-UK- Author

Level 4

3,599 points

Dec 5, 2014 8:50 AM in response to Simon-UK-

I spoke too soon. Spent an hour and a half uploading it via Maildrop to iCloud via online iCloud, only have it crash just as it finished uploading!!

"Help Apple to make things better" appeared before nothing was sent or uploaded. F**k them!

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Answer 4

Simon-UK- Author

Level 4

3,599 points

Dec 7, 2014 8:34 AM in response to Simon-UK-

Clearly I was a little frustrated in my last post at having to do it online anyway, only to have 90 minutes of my time wasted and nothing to show for it at the end - another mediocre Apple implementation of a "new" feature.

But surely somebody has something to say, offer a suggestion, etc. Don't just leave me hanging here guys!

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Answer 5

Simon-UK- Author

Level 4

3,599 points

Dec 8, 2014 2:37 AM in response to Simon-UK-

Seems not. Shame.

Because I'd not use this for anything small, and the only reason I wanted to was that it would automatically be deleted after 30 days, I'll just use the usual file sharing sites I already do, simply remembering to delete once they have it.

MD seemed an interesting alternative, and while it may work from within Mail itself even though the confirmation box didn't show, the fact that it all looked good online, went up, then something 'crashed' before sending the message, makes my unlikely to try again.

Apologies for venting and telling our lord and master, Apple, F**K them, earlier, was a bit frustrated is all, but what with issues with iOS8, now Yosemite, as if these things are meant to contain flaws that require the users to finish it off for them, while they update software and hardware so frequently, thus spreading themselves too thinly, don't pay their full share of taxes (like many of the big multi-national companies) I wish I didn't have to use them, but for me the alternative is worse, much worse, so they remain the lesser of all the evils right now. Still evil though!

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Answer 6

Dec 16, 2014 6:26 PM in response to Simon-UK-

I too am growing increasingly frustrated at mail drop's lack of functionality. I guess this isn't an issue that seems to affect many people, as I can find very little, if any, support on the web and in the forums. I've tried many of the so-called solutions and workarounds to no avail. I'm running os x 10.10 from my early 2011 13" MBP. I don't get the little prompt and instead the email window disappears when I hit send, yet I see nothing in my outbox. No progress bar, no nothing. I attempted to send using my wife's 2012 13" MBP and I get the same issue. It just seems to hang and slow everything way down until I force quit the mail app. A solution would be greatly appreciated.

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Answer 7

thgbrb

Level 1

0 points

Dec 17, 2014 6:38 AM in response to Mike From O'ahu

Same annoying problem!

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Answer 8

wdbald

Level 1

4 points

Feb 14, 2015 6:24 PM in response to Simon-UK-

I also haven't had ANY luck with it and it has been really disappointing. I was really excited about this feature in Yosemite, but it's been 4 months and it still doesn't work. 😠

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Answer 9

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Feb 15, 2015 2:37 PM in response to wdbald

Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem solved sooner.

Mail Feedback

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Answer 10

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,638 points

Feb 15, 2015 3:31 PM in response to Simon-UK-

But surely somebody has something to say, offer a suggestion, etc. Don't just leave me hanging here guys!

I used it once to test. Worked without problem. The attachment will turn red if it is going to use Mail Drop. If it doesn't turn red, it isn't going to use Mail Drop.

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Answer 11

Feb 21, 2015 2:46 AM in response to Simon-UK-

Ok Simon, so this may help. I used Mail + MailDrop successfully once then it persistently failed to display the expected alert with an option to use MailDrop/iCloud for large attachment files. My first thoughts were to blame the very recent Yosemite update 10.10.2, but a google search didn't come up with anything in that direction. So I picked my way through Mail's Prefs and discovered that in the accounts section only IMAP email accounts had a checkbox to activate the MailDrop/iCloud option. All of my POP3 accounts did not have that option. As soon as I subsequently tried sending an email with a large attachment using one of my IMAP accounts the MailDrop/iCloud option worked perfectly (as long as the relevant checkbox is ticked in Mail's Prefs). So, my conclusion is that my first successful attempt was using a IMAP account and that the failed attempts were all with POP3 accounts. This worked for me, so hope it will help others. Keith from the gorgeous county of Cornwall, UK

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