Zoe75
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: El Capitan mail issues

Just installed El Capitan and Mail is constantly starting, updating library (very briefly) and stoping, then restarting and repeating the sequence endlessly.  Has been doing it for hours. If I quit the application and then restart it, it goes back to the endless updating library loop.  It is unusable as it is.  Any fixes out there?

Mac Book Pro core 2 duo, Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Posted on Oct 6, 2015 8:14 PM

by Linc Davis,Solvedanswer
Linc Davis Linc Davis
Level 10 (208,000 points)
Applications
A:

The new version of Mail stores its database in a different format than the old one, so the database has to be converted before Mail can use it. Sometimes the conversion fails because the old database is corrupt. What you should do depends on what kind of mail accounts you have.

If you know that you have IMAP or Exchange mail accounts only

The easy way to recover is to discard the old database and start afresh. You can do that without losing any messages, provided that:

☞ All your incoming mail accounts are on an IMAP or Exchange server

☞ You store sent messages on the server

☞ You don't have any "On My Mac" mailboxes

Most well-known independent mail services such as iCloud and Gmail are based on IMAP. On the other hand, ISP-hosted mail services almost always use POP. If your ISP is one of your mail service providers (or the only one), you probably can't use this procedure. See the section below in that case.

If you know that the conditions above are satisfied, continue as follows.

Quit Mail if it's running. Back up all data.

Open the Library folder in your home folder by holding down the option key and selecting

          Go ▹ Library

from the Finder menu bar. Inside it is a subfolder named "Mail." Move that folder to the Desktop. You're not moving the Mail application; you're moving a folder named "Mail."

Open the Internet Accounts pane in System Preferences and recreate your mail accounts other than iCloud with the same settings as before. To recreate an iCloud mail account, all you have to do is open the iCloud preference pane and check the box marked Mail.

Launch Mail. If all goes well, your mailboxes should be restored automatically. The messages will be downloaded from the servers, so it may take a long time if you have very large mailboxes. Some people have mailboxes in the gigabyte range, and that may be a problem if your bandwidth usage is metered.

If the mailboxes are created successfully, you can delete the folder you moved to the Desktop. You may have to recreate your Mail rules, signatures, and custom stationery. If it's very important to you not to have to do all that, ask for instructions before deleting the folder.

If you have POP or "On My Mac" mailboxes, or if you don't know what you have

This discussion is a good example of how to recover from the error. Some details, such as the names of mailboxes, will be different in your case, but the technique should be the same.

Posted on Oct 7, 2015 5:32 PM

Close
Zoe75

Q: El Capitan mail issues

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Linc Davis,Solvedanswer

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Oct 7, 2015 5:32 PM in response to Zoe75
    Level 10 (208,000 points)
    Applications
    Oct 7, 2015 5:32 PM in response to Zoe75

    The new version of Mail stores its database in a different format than the old one, so the database has to be converted before Mail can use it. Sometimes the conversion fails because the old database is corrupt. What you should do depends on what kind of mail accounts you have.

    If you know that you have IMAP or Exchange mail accounts only

    The easy way to recover is to discard the old database and start afresh. You can do that without losing any messages, provided that:

    ☞ All your incoming mail accounts are on an IMAP or Exchange server

    ☞ You store sent messages on the server

    ☞ You don't have any "On My Mac" mailboxes

    Most well-known independent mail services such as iCloud and Gmail are based on IMAP. On the other hand, ISP-hosted mail services almost always use POP. If your ISP is one of your mail service providers (or the only one), you probably can't use this procedure. See the section below in that case.

    If you know that the conditions above are satisfied, continue as follows.

    Quit Mail if it's running. Back up all data.

    Open the Library folder in your home folder by holding down the option key and selecting

              Go ▹ Library

    from the Finder menu bar. Inside it is a subfolder named "Mail." Move that folder to the Desktop. You're not moving the Mail application; you're moving a folder named "Mail."

    Open the Internet Accounts pane in System Preferences and recreate your mail accounts other than iCloud with the same settings as before. To recreate an iCloud mail account, all you have to do is open the iCloud preference pane and check the box marked Mail.

    Launch Mail. If all goes well, your mailboxes should be restored automatically. The messages will be downloaded from the servers, so it may take a long time if you have very large mailboxes. Some people have mailboxes in the gigabyte range, and that may be a problem if your bandwidth usage is metered.

    If the mailboxes are created successfully, you can delete the folder you moved to the Desktop. You may have to recreate your Mail rules, signatures, and custom stationery. If it's very important to you not to have to do all that, ask for instructions before deleting the folder.

    If you have POP or "On My Mac" mailboxes, or if you don't know what you have

    This discussion is a good example of how to recover from the error. Some details, such as the names of mailboxes, will be different in your case, but the technique should be the same.