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Apple Mail very slow after upgrading to 10.8

I upgraded my MacBook Pro 17" recently from 10.6 to 10.8.5. Now Apple Mail is extremely slow. Auto-fill for email addresses takes about 30 seconds to complete. Sending a message takes about the same time.


Any suggestions would be appreciated.


Thanks,


Roy

MacBook Pro (17-inch Late 2011), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5), 16 GB RAM

Posted on Jun 7, 2015 9:40 PM

Reply
8 replies

Jun 8, 2015 8:33 AM in response to Roy Patience

Try a restart.


Do a backup, using either Time Machine or a cloning program, to ensure files/data can be recovered. Two backups are better than one.


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

Jul 3, 2015 4:50 PM in response to Roy Patience

Eric and D. Cohen,


Thanks for the suggestions for fixing Mail. I switched to another account and the problem goes away. I did some further snooping with Daisy Disk and found that I have two ~35 GB mail files in my Library. The corresponding files in the account in which Mail works are about 4 GB is size.


I also tried the suggestion of deleting the com.apple.mail file and it did not cure the problem.


I have also used the Rebuild command in Mail several times and it did not cure the problem.


Anyone else have any ideas of how to fix this frustrating problem?


Thanks so much for the suggestions.


Roy

Jul 4, 2015 9:39 AM in response to Eric Root

Eric,


Thanks for replying.


Inside my Library folder is a folder called Mail. In the Mail folder is a folder called V2 and inside V2 is a folder called:


IMAP-{gmail email address}@map.gmail.com which is 29.7 GB


another called IMAP-{secondary gmail address}@map.gmail.com which is 1.6 GB


I assume each folder is for the two email accounts. I didn't think it safe to broadcast my email address in public.


In the other User Account Library the V2 folder contains a similar IMAP xxxxxx folder which contains 31.2 GB


If I check my Google Mail via the web interface it tells me I have used approximately 11 GB. I forgot that deleting a message in Mail doesn't delete it in Google Mail.


I thought the size of the V2 folder might have something to do with my problem, but it appears that is not the case.


I have also taken other advice to delete the envelope files which cause the database to be rebuilt and that didn't help either.


Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated. My system was extremely stable until I upgraded to OS 10.8.5 so I could use Lightroom 6 since Apple has stopped supporting Aperture. It's one of those "shaggy dog stories."


Sincerely,


Roy Patience

Jul 4, 2015 10:36 AM in response to Eric Root

Eric,


Thanks so much for the quick reply.


When I booted into Safe Mode nothing changed. Mail was still slow.


After I sent you the last message I noticed several links to other peoples problems with Mail in 10.8 and found a solution which involved trashing the Address Book folder in the Applications Support Folder in the Library folder. I then rebooted and checked the Contacts box in the iCloud pane of Systems Preferences. Now Mail appears to work just fine.


I don't know why Apple's search command didn't find the other people's requests for help.


I certainly appreciate all the help you have offered. You have been most helpful.


Sincerely,


Roy Patience

Apple Mail very slow after upgrading to 10.8

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