Q: El Capitan update, Mail won't complete 'validating mailboxes'
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Dec 16, 2015 4:22 PMby Linc Davis,HelpfulThe 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, or because of a bug in the conversion code.
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 often use POP. If your ISP is one of your mail service providers (or the only one), you may not be able to use this procedure. See the section below in that case.
If you know that the conditions above are satisfied, please continue as follows.
Quit Mail if it's running. Back up all data.
Open the Internet Accounts pane in System Preferences. Make a note of the settings for each Exchange or IMAP account, then delete the account. The messages will remain on the server. Leave the preference pane open.
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."
In the Internet Accounts pane, recreate your mail accounts other than iCloud with the same settings as before. To recreate an iCloud mail account, 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
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.
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Dec 16, 2015 3:43 PMby J.Gloria,I followed your instructions, I believe I have pop accounts through godaddy. This is the message in console:
12/16/15 6:31:03.217 PM mdworker[3426]: Cannot determine mailbox status for /~/Library/Mail/V3/POP-
I went to the thread you posted, and tried to follow that, but when I go to Library/Mail/ Account types is the only file and the file is empty.
Not sure how to proceed. Appreciate your help.
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Dec 16, 2015 4:35 PMby J.Gloria,LInc,
I finally found the Library folder, hidden, and dragged the mbox files for each account to the desktop. Mail now opens, but I can't access those old emails. Is there a way to import them? Thanks again. I now have mail working. And yes, I went to the thread you suggested and was able to follow the instructions after reading it a few times.
Ok, just realized I can import the mailboxes from my desktop. Again, thank you for the help. I can now go back to what I know how to do...making art.
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Dec 18, 2015 11:09 AMby RJ in Castro Valley,God morning,
I deleted my e mail accounts and moved the “mail” library to the desktop. Mail now opens and I can use my iCloud account. However, when I try to add my comcast account, which is my mail account, back in, it tells me that it already exists and I can’t get my comcast mail. The mailbox pane in mail still shows my comcast account but is is “dimmed”.
