I never quite fully understand

Q: Mail problem with El Capitan

Hello!

I'm reposting this issue as, although I thought it had been solved with good advice, the problem has reoccurred on my MacBook and has also now manifested itself on my wife's brand new iMac also running El Capitan.

 

Since upgrading to El Capitan, my mail is a bit unstable at times. This particular problem is that when I click to reply to an email, a blank message pops up and can't then be closed by clicking on the red button. I have to close Mail down and reopen it. I am then able to close this message but I am left with a message in the drafts folder which also needs to be deleted. I try to reply again and sometimes the message opens up correctly and other times I get another blank message and have to go through the same procedure. If it continues several times, I reboot the computer and it works as normal. This is an intermittent fault and very annoying. I've run first aid in disc utility and, following advice from when I first posted this problem, booted into safe mode during which, apparently, certain caches maintained by the system will be rebuilt.

 

My OS and Mail seem to be the latest versions, so I don't know what might be the cause or how I might solve it. Does anyone have any ideas of what I might do to resolve this please?

 

Thanks,

Stuart

MacBook, OS X El Capitan (10.11.2), 13-inch, Late 2009

Posted on Jan 19, 2016 6:16 AM

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Q: Mail problem with El Capitan

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  • by joe_7399,

    joe_7399 joe_7399 Jan 20, 2016 11:42 AM in response to I never quite fully understand
    Community Specialists
    Jan 20, 2016 11:42 AM in response to I never quite fully understand

    Hello Stuart,

    Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.

     

    I understand from your post that when your wife is trying to reply to an email in the Mail application, sometimes a blank white reply window will appear, which is unresponsive.  Before being able to determine what the issue is, we need to first start with isolating the issue.  First, is this only happening with a single email account?  If you don't have another email account, you can create a free one with iCloud, or Gmail for example, and then add that to Mail and try to replicate the issue.  

     

    If the issue continues in another email account, I'd like you to next create a test user account on the Mac and try to replicate the issue:

     

    How to test with another user account

    You can figure out if unexpected behavior is related to user file or setting by trying to reproduce the issue from another user account. This process includes creating a new user account, logging in to it, and testing for the issue.

    Create a test user account

    1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
    2. Click the Users & Groups icon in the System Preferences window.
    3. Click the lock icon, then enter an administrator name and password.
    4. Click the Add button (+) below the list of users.
    5. Choose a type of user from the New Account pop-up menu.
    6. Give the user a full name, account name, and password.
    7. Click OK.
    8. Close the System Preferences window.

    If there are documents from your original user account that you want to test with, place a copy of these items in the Shared folder in the Users folder. Press the Option key while dragging a file to this folder to create a copy.

    Log in to the test user account

    Log out of your current user account by choosing Log Out from the Apple menu, then log in to the new account you created. If you're prompted to sign in with your iCloud account or Apple ID when you log in, skip this step.

    Try reproducing the issue

    Try the same steps that caused the unexpected behavior to appear before. For example, if you were unable to print, try printing from this user account. If you were unable to connect to the Internet, try browsing a website from this user account.

    If you were using any specific settings that testing depends on (such as using a specific email account or iCloud account) set up the same account in the test user. For email and most other settings you can use the Internet Accounts pane in System Preferences to set up these kinds of accounts. If files from your home folder are needed for testing, copy them to Shared folder in the Users folder (/Users/Shared). After logging in as the test user, copy these items to the same location in the test user's home folder to test with.

    How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac

     

    Please report back with your findings so we can continue to troubleshoot if necessary.

     

    Take care.

  • by I never quite fully understand,

    I never quite fully understand I never quite fully understand Jan 21, 2016 12:05 PM in response to joe_7399
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Jan 21, 2016 12:05 PM in response to joe_7399

    Hello Joe and thanks for taking an interest in my problem.

     

    This first manifested itself on my MacBook and I posted to this forum (thread/7410054) and got a reply from Linc Davies telling me to restart in safe mode which would rebuild certain caches and thus repair things. I'd also run First Aid in Disk Utility. This seemed to solve the problem, so I marked it so on that thread. Unfortunately, since then, it has reappeared on my MacBook and, and I think this might help your diagnosis, my wife has noticed the same phenomenon one time on her brand-spanking new iMac. I did a restart in safe mode for her and it's OK for the minute. It happened once again for me today and I ran First Aid and restarted in Safe Mode, then again and it's OK again.

     

    The problem is an intermittent one but, once it happens, I need to do something to return to normal. Sometimes merely rebooting works. So this is the problem:

    1.     I click reply to an email (doesn't matter whether I click at the head of the message or in the menu bar) and a new, completely blank email opens, neither the address, nor original message appear.

    2.     Clicking the red dot will not make this new message disappear. I close Mail

    3.     When I reopen Mail, this empty message opens but I can now delete it. I'm asked if I want to save it as a draft. I click 'no' but a copy remains in the draft folder.

    4.      Having closed and reopened Mail, it sometimes behaves correctly. If not, I need to reboot and, if that doesn't work, reboot into safe mode.

     

    I've been exclusively Mac for over ten years and never seen this problem before. As it manifests itself over two, separate Macs, and it's a recent problem, I rather think that this might be linked to the updated operating system's teething problems.

     

    It's an occasional, but nevertheless very annoying, problem, so I'm not sure that opening another account is going to help us get to the root of this. I did the latest El Capitan update yesterday evening and have since had one instance of this fault today.

     

    Over to you and thanks again for your attention,

    Stuart

  • by ariefromamsterdam,

    ariefromamsterdam ariefromamsterdam Feb 2, 2016 12:27 PM in response to I never quite fully understand
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 2, 2016 12:27 PM in response to I never quite fully understand

    I have the same trouble on my iMac. I bought it half a year ago, the problem started after el Capitan was installed. It is verry anoying, and I wished it would be solved with the last update.... But not. My current solution is to reply using my iPad..... but that is not what i have this iMac for...

  • by reneefrommi,

    reneefrommi reneefrommi Feb 2, 2016 1:19 PM in response to I never quite fully understand
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 2, 2016 1:19 PM in response to I never quite fully understand

    I am having the same issue. I cannot reply to or forward emails. A blank screen comes up and cannot be deleted. This is a recent occurrence, showing up just before I upgraded to the latest version of El Capitan.

  • by DeccieC,

    DeccieC DeccieC Feb 5, 2016 3:33 AM in response to I never quite fully understand
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Feb 5, 2016 3:33 AM in response to I never quite fully understand

    Having the same problem here too. Happens on both my POP3 and IMAP accounts.

  • by wyntingley,

    wyntingley wyntingley Feb 5, 2016 4:12 AM in response to I never quite fully understand
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 5, 2016 4:12 AM in response to I never quite fully understand

    Exactly the same problem. Very annoying.

     

    OS version 10.11.3

  • by derekwebworkers,

    derekwebworkers derekwebworkers Feb 19, 2016 11:24 PM in response to joe_7399
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 19, 2016 11:24 PM in response to joe_7399

    I have also started having this issue. This page does not have a solution, could you perhaps point me to one that does - I cannot find this problem mentioned anywhere else in my searches other than here.

  • by JMK49,

    JMK49 JMK49 Mar 5, 2016 3:26 AM in response to derekwebworkers
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 5, 2016 3:26 AM in response to derekwebworkers

    Hi, the same problem also has developed itself on my iMac. It is not every day, but very regularly.

    Mail has to be switched off and hopefully after switching on, it is OK, but again not always.

    It is a very irregular problem that starting a few weeks ago.

    I do have various users on my iMac and more than one e-mail account and it happens on all accounts with every user.

     

    Is there anybody who can solve this issue.

    All help would be very much appreciated.

     

    hans.

  • by DawnGraphics,

    DawnGraphics DawnGraphics Apr 11, 2016 8:53 AM in response to I never quite fully understand
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apr 11, 2016 8:53 AM in response to I never quite fully understand

    After moving to El Capitan I am experiencing this same problem with Mail, but also with Messages and Safari. Upon waking—not every time, but often—if I try to type a reply in Mail, or Messages, or a search in Safari the keyboard locks and won't place letters in the window, then tries to show alternate punctuation for the letter in a bar, then starts making repeated "bingety bingety bong bong bong bong" sounds until I restart. In Safari, text on web pages shows up as o,o,o,o,X,o, with weird math symbols—unreadable. The restart clears up the problem until another sleep cycle, but I am forced to restart as often as six times a day, so it is annoying and I have searched all the forums for a resolution. Turning off energy saver does not help.

  • by philw1776,

    philw1776 philw1776 Apr 11, 2016 10:20 AM in response to DawnGraphics
    Level 1 (27 points)
    Apple TV
    Apr 11, 2016 10:20 AM in response to DawnGraphics

    I have a similar problem using Comcast webmail.

    Using Activity Monitor I notice that after time Safari takes more & more memory.

    At the same time the Kernel Task eats more and more memory.

    What happens is that memory gets so full that there is no space for apps to run, Safari freezes and needs to be killed.

    Once Safari is shut down (be patient) memory is again free.

     

    Only the Comcast mail causes this.

    When I run Comcast mail on Chrome, no problem.

  • by DeccieC,

    DeccieC DeccieC Apr 12, 2016 12:32 AM in response to DeccieC
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Apr 12, 2016 12:32 AM in response to DeccieC

    Still having the same problems with the latest version of OSX 10.11.4.

     

    However I have found that if I quit Safari before replying/forwarding mail it seems to stop the issue happening. This may just be a co-incidence but so far it is working.

     

    I've tried the safe start-up suggestion and that did not fix anything.

  • by AndresPelao,

    AndresPelao AndresPelao Apr 12, 2016 9:48 AM in response to I never quite fully understand
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 12, 2016 9:48 AM in response to I never quite fully understand

    Hi,

    I have the same problem with Mail.

    I cannot answer o reply messages. Every time when I tried to do, I get a black new message, without old history, without contact, and without matter.

    It started some weeks ago, and it is giving me a lot of troubles.

     

    How can I solve this...?

     

    Many thanks.

  • by I never quite fully understand,Solvedanswer

    I never quite fully understand I never quite fully understand Jul 2, 2016 11:40 PM in response to AndresPelao
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Jul 2, 2016 11:40 PM in response to AndresPelao

    Having tried lots of things to solve this problem, it just went away. I know that it wasn't something I did as I've been trying to solve it on my MacBook before doing the same thing on my wife's iMac. Spontaneously, a few weeks ago, the problem just stopped happening (it used to bug me several times a day) and Mail has been stable on both computers since. I imagine that Apple have changed something under the bonnet somewhere. Mysterious but I'm obviously happy everything is back to normal