Graham Giles
Level 1 (20 points)

Q: Mail - minor faults in El Capitan

Since I installed El Capitan  Mail does not remove the blue dot to mark emails as read. A tiny but annoying detail like so many others encountered since upgrading. Folders no longer open for drag and drop and signatures are often not placed at the end of mails.Is there any action I can take to remedy this ? I have considered re-installing. Is that wise ?

iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011), El Capitan 10.11.2

Posted on Jan 24, 2016 4:15 AM

by arthur,Solvedanswer
arthur arthur
Level 5 (5,193 points)
iBooks
A:

I like TimeMachine (which comes with your Mac). I use it to make automatic backups over my home wifi network, on an external hard drive that is plugged into the USB port on my Airport Extreme. Here's a TimeMachine reference: Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac - Apple Support

You can also plug the external drive directly into your Mac and do a backup that way.

There are some other options for backup, like Carbon Copy Cloner, the advantage of which is that your backup is then bootable. https://bombich.com/

Backups are extremely important for a few reasons:

  1. it's kind of like flossing: Only floss the teeth that you don't want to lose. Only backup the files that you don't want to lose. If you don't mind losing your files, then don't back up.
  2. If you do anything major like install a new OS, you need a good backup first. It is easy to restore your mac's software to a previous (working) state with TimeMachine. Trying to restore a previous installed OS without a backup is much more difficult and labor intensive. For example: a few OS's ago I did some hardware modifications on my Mac, which required some software modifications. Installed the new OS upgrade and the software modifications weren't compatible- mac wouldn't start up. In a few clicks I was able to restore from the backup I made prior to the upgrade. Very easy. Then I was able to fix the problem and install the new OS.
  3. Similarly if you are trying to troubleshoot a software problem you should have a backup first.

Posted on Jan 24, 2016 5:31 AM

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Graham Giles

Q: Mail - minor faults in El Capitan

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  • Helpful answers

  • by arthur,Helpful

    arthur arthur Jan 24, 2016 5:11 AM in response to Graham Giles
    Level 5 (5,193 points)
    iBooks
    Jan 24, 2016 5:11 AM in response to Graham Giles

    Before reinstalling El Capitan I would try:

    1. make a backup
    2. use disk utility to repair your hard drive https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201639

    Do you have any "cleaners" like CleanMyMac or MacKeeper or another "utilities"  like that installed? Or have you in the past?

  • by Graham Giles,

    Graham Giles Graham Giles Jan 24, 2016 5:16 AM in response to arthur
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Jan 24, 2016 5:16 AM in response to arthur

    I tried Disk Utility. No I don't have any cleaners installed but may have used something years ago.How should I make a backup ??

  • by arthur,Solvedanswer

    arthur arthur Jan 24, 2016 5:31 AM in response to Graham Giles
    Level 5 (5,193 points)
    iBooks
    Jan 24, 2016 5:31 AM in response to Graham Giles

    I like TimeMachine (which comes with your Mac). I use it to make automatic backups over my home wifi network, on an external hard drive that is plugged into the USB port on my Airport Extreme. Here's a TimeMachine reference: Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac - Apple Support

    You can also plug the external drive directly into your Mac and do a backup that way.

    There are some other options for backup, like Carbon Copy Cloner, the advantage of which is that your backup is then bootable. https://bombich.com/

    Backups are extremely important for a few reasons:

    1. it's kind of like flossing: Only floss the teeth that you don't want to lose. Only backup the files that you don't want to lose. If you don't mind losing your files, then don't back up.
    2. If you do anything major like install a new OS, you need a good backup first. It is easy to restore your mac's software to a previous (working) state with TimeMachine. Trying to restore a previous installed OS without a backup is much more difficult and labor intensive. For example: a few OS's ago I did some hardware modifications on my Mac, which required some software modifications. Installed the new OS upgrade and the software modifications weren't compatible- mac wouldn't start up. In a few clicks I was able to restore from the backup I made prior to the upgrade. Very easy. Then I was able to fix the problem and install the new OS.
    3. Similarly if you are trying to troubleshoot a software problem you should have a backup first.

  • by CT,Helpful

    CT CT Jan 24, 2016 6:42 AM in response to Graham Giles
    Level 6 (17,882 points)
    Notebooks
    Jan 24, 2016 6:42 AM in response to Graham Giles

    Depending upon your mail service, Mail in El Capitan is, so far, a bit of a mess.

  • by Graham Giles,

    Graham Giles Graham Giles Jan 24, 2016 6:50 AM in response to arthur
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Jan 24, 2016 6:50 AM in response to arthur

    Yes I do exactly as you outline except that my disc is connected directly. It is 4TB and backs up everything. Since downloading OS updates began I feel there is a potential for there to be small mistakes in the operation.So I guess I will do it again.

  • by Graham Giles,

    Graham Giles Graham Giles Jan 24, 2016 6:54 AM in response to CT
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Jan 24, 2016 6:54 AM in response to CT

    I agree. My feeling is that the team who control this application haven't been doing a proper job for years.The next thing to happen will be that Apple decide to do away with Mail and force us to look for alternatives, as they have with so many other applications that are no longer supported.

  • by arthur,

    arthur arthur Jan 24, 2016 3:23 PM in response to CT
    Level 5 (5,193 points)
    iBooks
    Jan 24, 2016 3:23 PM in response to CT

    Just curious here- how is it a mess, and which "mail services" would I have to have to have a problem with Mail?

    I get mail from Gmail, Outlook, Roadrunner, Verizon, and iCloud with Mail.app, and I've never had a problem.

  • by CT,

    CT CT Jan 25, 2016 5:00 AM in response to arthur
    Level 6 (17,882 points)
    Notebooks
    Jan 25, 2016 5:00 AM in response to arthur

    I have two imap accounts, one with a university where I work and one with a regional provider. With Yosemite and pretty much everything before it things worked smoothly.  With El Capitan, the university account is prone to periods of sustained extreme CPU usage which I seem to be able to stop if I go and delete some logs in a library somewhere.  This is intermittent.  The regional provider's account intermittently fails to retrieve new messages, so I have to keep a webmail window open to see if I have any new mail.  Even when things seem to be working ok, the Mail process is using 10-15% of my CPU when it's not doing anything.  Well, it's doing something since the "Activity" window is repeatedly flickering "No new messages" most of the time.   I am deleting preferences, reconfiguring accounts, etc. - the usual troubleshooting strategies.  I guess I will have to try to work in Safe Mode for a while to see if that changes things. Maybe I will stumble upon some lucky fix. Never really had to do any of that in the past.  

  • by Graham Giles,

    Graham Giles Graham Giles Feb 20, 2016 2:06 AM in response to Graham Giles
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Feb 20, 2016 2:06 AM in response to Graham Giles

    I have solved part of this problem. It's called 'Spring loaded folders' and appears as an option in system preferences under accessibility. El Capitan had removed the tick in the box which actuates this feature. However read mail is still not marked as read ! I have to do this for each item after reading.