Mail constantly downloading messages

I've just tried something that seems to have helped.

First, note that in my three Google accounts in the "Internet Accounts" section of "System Preferences" I had previously disabled all but the "Mail" and "Calendars" internet options (see screen shot to make clear where I did that)

This did not do anything to solve my CPU problem, but I was trying to minimize the number of variable.

Next, in the same "Internet Accounts" section, I went into these three email accounts and unchecked the "mail" and "calendar". I now had nothing checked for all three Google accounts. The CPU problem went away. I wasn't surprised.

Then, I thought I would switch on each of the "calendars" and "mail" options for each account, one at a time, to see which one might cause the problem to resurface. After switching them all on methodically, the CPU did NOT come back! How about that.

I am not convinced the problem won't return, but at least I can operate in a fairly normal manner for now. And, who knows, maybe this corrected it long term.

....Peter

Hello yairz, I have the same problem. In my case it was partially mitigated by limiting the IMAP folder size in my Gmail account:

Try and see if you have a similar option in the settings of your email provider. That might not solve the issue completely, but it might help limiting the load on your local email client.

I had this problem. New iMac began using 15 Gb daily download. I used Little Snitch to trace the source to the Mail app and within mail to my GoDaddy mail account. I had been thinking of removing the GoDaddy account anyway since it was from my business and I am retired. When I removed the account, the continual downloading activity immediately ceased. In one day I went from 15 Gb to 1 Gb download including all the other activity on the network.

It would appear Apple tweaked the mail app on or about December 13 2016 and something about it now does not play well with certain IMAP servers aside from its own @icloud.com server.

I'm hoping kschweickhardt's solution will work for me. Meanwhile is there a way to set up a push notification so that I get an email whenever someone else posts on this topic? I have 6 email accounts, some exchange, some IMAP, gmail etc and this problem is DRIVING ME & my computer CRAZY. I agree, no 'care' in apple care any more. 😟

I know this was posted a while ago... I just had this happen to a business email account that we have through GoDaddy.com. I called them and apparently this issue happens a lot, they say that it is a problem with their server and not apples. Their tech support was aware of it and said that they would fix it as soon as possible. Unfortunatley (based on previous comments) this happens a lot to accounts that are set-up through GoDaddy.

Guess we just have to wait it out until they fix the issue!

Actually it happens with more than just the GoDaddy accounts so I don't think it's a GoDaddy problem. I have 6 email addresses - yahoo, sbcglobal, exchange, aol and 3 at gmail I'm not sure of the origin of the issue but it certainly is frustrating!!!!

My problem was specifically with a GoDaddy account, but it sounds as though other non-Apple Mail based IMAP servers cause the same behaviour. It looks like there is something about Apple's OS X Mail client that does not play well with other IMAP servers. Certainly there have been comments that other mail clients (ie non-Apple third party mail apps) running under OS X do not have this problem, and iOS mail apps on iPad and iPhone don't have the problem. If there are compatibility issues between Apple's Mail client and third party IMAP servers I wish they would collectively sort it out. Apple, are you listening?

Hi, I am having very much the same issue but with the added twist that my hard drive is filling up ridiculously quickly. I identified a large portion of my memory going to mail logs. I have deleted these, freeing up about 60gbs of space but memory continues to disappear. I think the two issues are related but instead of deleting the mail logs I would rather find a solution to mail constantly downloading. Are you facing the same issue? Any help will be appreciated and if I find a solution I will post it.

Thanks,

Duncan

Add me to the list of people who have this problem. I'm IMAP with Google, several accounts. I've had Apple support on the phone several months ago, and they literally gave up trying to find the problem (they stopped returning my emails, even though I'm on AppleCare). If someone can solve this they'll be my new hero.

i thought i was an advanced user until i read these responses. i've been on the phone with apple support multiple times and it appears they have no idea what is going on.

if someone can explain how to fix this to a beginning user, i'd appreciate it!

Same problem:

I use go daddy for the domain name and Gmail Imap to manage my emails and almost every days Mail decide to download around 2000 messages, but I don't have new messages.. I used to take my phone to have an internet access when I am on the road, but with that issue I can't because it takes around 1gig for nothing every time!

Please help apple!

Hi all,

I've had recurrent high CPU usage issues with Mail for Mac for a couple of years now,since upgrading first to Mavericks, then to El Capitan. Having roamed support forums for months, I tried every possible fix suggested with no effect at all, and finally decided to switch to another e-mail client. I tried Airmail for a while, but it was not convenient enough to manage the dozen or so accounts I need for business purposes. And finally, last week, I found the dreamlike solution: Postbox 5! Its costs about 40 €, but it has all the functionalities of Mail for Mac, plus a few valuable extra ones, a nice GUI, and wonderful support. No more CPU/memory/power overload, no more rainbow wheel, no more forced re-start! Apple, your Mail app has become a liability - either fix it or dump it ...

My advice thus: stop wasting time fixing Mail for Mac, go directly for either Airmail or Postbox - whichever is more suitable for your email handling habits. And no, I'm not paid by either of them - I'm just a Mac aficionado tired of being confronted with a serious problem with what is supposed to be a seamless Apple application ;-)

I had the same problem. Mine seemed to be related to my gmail account. I resolved it by logging into my gmail account via my web browser and cleaning up all unwanted messages and folders. Now when I check for email on my MacBook pro I immediately get the feedback message "no new messages" instead of "downloading xxxx new messages"

Good luck

Did I just solve this by "disabling Google calendar sync in Internet Accounts System Preferences. Worked for me including re-enabling calendar sync." ?Courtesy of itsolver.net. For the past hour I haven't had downloading issue, and I did re-enable google calendar.

I suppoedly have 4,850 new messages. Not a chance. Nothing is showing up in my inbox. I have no idea where they are being downloaded. I am running mcOS Sierra version 10.12.6 and MAIL version 10.3 (3273).

Apple does not make this "Downloading Messages" obvious being at the bottom os the left hand column. I suspect more people have this "undocumented feature" because they are just not seeing the message.