Mail App does not startup properly, hangs, etc.

Question

Level 1

9 points

Mail App does not startup properly, hangs, etc.

This issue started for me shortly after the Yosemite upgrade. I'm on a 2011 MacBook Pro, 13"

When opening Mail, the window will come up with only senders and subject lines for existing emails (left-side pane - the two-line email preview is missing). In addition, the preview pane will show nothing, even if I click on an existing email. New emails are NOT received, and any emails composed at this time are NOT sent. Waiting does nothing - the app stays in this useless state.

Closing the app requires a Force Quit. At first, re-opening the app would solve all the problems, and it would behave normally. Now, more often than not, it requires TWO Force Quit/restarts to get the app to load and function properly.

What is the deal here? This is getting really frustrating...please help.

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), 2011, 13"

Posted on Sep 2, 2015 4:07 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

cabakroll

Level 3

840 points

Sep 2, 2015 4:12 PM in response to ianeric.com

repair permissions in Disk Utility

and rebuild Mail index by deleting EnvelopeIndex files in ~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData

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Answer 2

Sep 2, 2015 5:16 PM in response to ianeric.com

Was this an upgrade 10.10.x to OS X 10.10.5 or did you upgrade from a previous version of OS X?

Quit Mail

Show User's Library

The User's Library folder is hidden by default. To unhide: Select the Finder in the Dock. Under Go in the Menu bar > hold down the Option key and you’ll see the Library.

Scroll to Containers folder.

Move the following folder com.apple.mail to the Desktop.

Restart your Mac.

Open Mail

If you still have problems....

Do you have any IMAP accounts? If yes, do this test...

CREATE A NEW USER

Go to System Preferences --> Create a New User in Users & Groups.

Switch to the New User by logging out under the Apple in the Menu Bar.

Open Mail

Add your IMAP account.

Does Mail work as expected?

If no, then the problem is at the base level.

If yes, then the problem is in your User's folder.

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Answer 3

ianeric.com Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 2, 2015 5:36 PM in response to dianeoforegon

The procedure "cabakroll" described has - thus far - solved my issue. Since the force quit/restart (or twice!) fixed it in the past, I'll have to give it a day or so to be sure it opens properly every time now.

To answer "dianeoforegon" - I bought this MBP brand new in 2011, and I've always updated/upgraded each time an OS has been made available. So I'm not sure exactly what you're asking, but hopefully I answered it anyway!

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Answer 4

Sep 2, 2015 5:50 PM in response to ianeric.com

Upgrading Mail from an older OS X like Lion, Mountain Lion or Mavericks to Yosemite 1010.5 would be more complex and have different solutions than if you were previously running OS X 10.10.4 and upgraded to OS X 10.10.5.

One other step you might consider if this returns is to run Repair Disk and Repair Permissions from the Recovery Drive

Boot into the Recovery Drive by holding down Command R when restarting.
Run Repair Drive and Repair Permissions using Disk Utility in Recovery.

Additional steps:

Run the OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 Combo Update

Reinstall OS X while booted from Recovery Drive.

MORE INFO ON WHY RUNNING COMBO FIXES ISSUES

Apple updates available from the Software Update application are incremental updates. Delta updates are also incremental updates and are available from Apple Downloads (software updates are generally smaller than delta updates). The Combo updates contain all incremental updates and will update files that could have become corrupted.

Combo updaters will install on the same version as they're applying--no need to roll back or do a clean install.

"Delta" updaters can only take you from one version to the next. For example: 10.10.2 to 10.10.3. If somehow the 10.10.2 is missing something it should have, and that something isn't changed between 10.10.2and 10.10.3 it will still be stale after the delta update.

Reinstall

Can be used when nothing else has worked. This is not a clean install where you wipe you system. It simply installs the entire OS X again to refresh files.

Reinstalling Mac OS

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Answer 5

ianeric.com Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 2, 2015 6:02 PM in response to dianeoforegon

Well here's what I just did (yes, I do have several IMAP accounts)

I restarted my system.
Logged into my regular User Account.
Opened Mail - "hanging" behavior returned, so:
I created a new user, as recommended, and logged into that user account.
Opened Mail, created a mailbox for one of my IMAP accounts.
Closed/reopened mail several times, behavior was normal.
Restarted the system - logged into the "test" account from fresh restart.
Mail continues to act fine.
Logged out of the "test" user account, and back into my regular user account.
Again, Mail behaves normally.
Restarted system again, logged into my regular user account from a fresh restart.
Mail still behaves normally....

I think I'm going to have to give this a few days to see if the abnormal behavior returns. If it does, I think I will start by deleting/re-adding all IMAP accounts if we think that somehow this is the culprit. I will update this thread as necessary.

Thanks!!

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Answer 6

ianeric.com Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 3, 2015 11:44 AM in response to ianeric.com

Ok so this morning, Mail started to hang up once again.

I started looking at my accounts, and realized that for some reason I had "notes" accounts for my three Gmail addresses (unnecessary), and they seemed to have some sort of login or password verification issue. I simply deleted these accounts (just the "notes" accounts; I still have them as email accounts), performed a computer restart, and Mail opened properly - for now. I'll continue to update if this does or does not fix the problem permanently!

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Answer 7

ianeric.com Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 4, 2015 9:30 AM in response to ianeric.com

Well, the "notes" thing didn't solve the issue.

However I have seen suggestions (here and elsewhere) that the IMAP mailboxes may be the culprit. So I deleted any IMAP boxes (gmail), and re-added them. So far, so good - Mail not only acts normally, but seems quicker overall. If the normal behavior continues for at least another few days, I'm going to consider that deleting and then re-adding IMAP mailboxes to be the most viable solution.

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Answer 8

ianeric.com Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 4, 2015 10:39 PM in response to ianeric.com

Nope. After looking like it might be solved, the issue persists. Open Mail, and the message list shows only the subject and sender. No preview lines. The large preview pane stays blank when a message is highlighted. And the app requires a Force Quit to exit. Re-opening the app, everything works as it should.

This is getting very frustrating.....

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Answer 9

Sep 5, 2015 12:30 PM in response to ianeric.com

Since the issue goes away in a new User, the problem is in your User's Library.

Quit Mail
Go To User's Library (see below)
Scroll down to Containers
Drag the folder : com.apple.mail to the Desktop
Log out under the Apple in the Menu bar
Login
Open Mail

If the issue reoccurs, let us know.

Show User's Library

The User's Library folder is hidden by default. To unhide: Select the Finder in the Dock. Under Go in the Menu bar > hold down the Option key and you’ll see the Library.

Finding the User Library Folder

http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/resources/0167/site/chap11.html#FindingtheUserLi braryFolder

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Answer 10

Oct 20, 2015 5:52 PM in response to dianeoforegon

I have the same issue and have moved the container folder to my desktop to try to resolve it several times. It fixes the issue for a few days and then it comes back--same problem. Mail hanging, selecting messages in preview shows nothing, same as user above.

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Answer 11

Dec 22, 2015 12:27 PM in response to ianeric.com

I have this problem too but I tried to reinstall some addons. After migrating to Yosemite, I think I have to check their compatibility and or enter again the license.

But I can't because Mail hangs.

Where are the mail plugins folder ? Maybe deleting them once and reinstalling ?

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Answer 12

Dec 23, 2015 10:27 AM in response to FrenchAlain55

Combo update don't want to agree my previous installation. It doesn't lauch.

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Answer 13

Dec 23, 2015 11:24 AM in response to FrenchAlain55

What version OS X do you have installed?

Make sure your combo updater fully downloaded.

Where are the mail plugins folder ? Maybe deleting them once and reinstalling ?

In your User's Library > Mail folder you should see your plugin folders. Drag them to Desktop or Trash. Log out/in and then try opening Mail.

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Answer 14

McMara

Level 1

14 points

Apr 10, 2016 6:51 AM in response to dianeoforegon

I have the same problem, happening randomly on ALL my systems:

- on a MacBook Pro late 2011 with 10.10.5 (upgraded)

- on a MacMini with El Capitan (clean installation)

- on a iMac 27'' with 10.10.5 (upgraded)

Usually force-quitting mail solves the problem, until after few reboots.

Besides the problems mentioned above, I noted that, when Mail hangs, the Activity window shows just a full set of hanging bars. Clicking on the Cancel button (the X at the right of each status bar) does not have any effect.

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Answer 15

Apr 11, 2016 7:55 AM in response to dianeoforegon

Sigh. I don't have a "containers" folder in my Library. Could it be called something else? I have an early 2011 17" macbook pro. I just upgraded to 10.10.5 from the previous update. When I open Mail it wants me to add my mail accounts (all are gmail based). When I go to do that, it tells me that I'm trying to add a duplicate account. Leading me to believe that Mail "sees" the account but just isn't showing it/loading it. I am in my absolute crunch time at work and every minute I lose on this issue is causing me to panic. Can someone please help?! TIA...

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