Mail is combining random incoming emails into single jumbled messages

Question

Mail is combining random incoming emails into single jumbled messages

Since upgrading to El Capitan Mail (and some other iCloud-using apps) has nose-dived in reliability. Once or twice a day Mail seems to have a period of merging distinct emails into single emails. Here's an example of a marketing email from Thread (fashion) which has been merged with a marketing email from Planet X (bikes), but there are many more.

I can see individual emails correctly on my iOS and webmail browsers, so the issue is with the desktop Mail app. As well as merging random emails it also, from time to time, pulls emails back in, resetting their 'unread' status and assigning new timestamps to them. It all sounds like an issue with how it communicates with the server.

In case it is relevant, I will also say that iCal and Pages have also crashed and thrown up errors since the El Cap upgrade, having previously been rock steady.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013), OS X El Capitan (10.11.3)

Posted on Apr 3, 2016 5:37 AM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Apr 3, 2016 10:29 AM in response to Darren Franks

Please quit Mail. Force quit if necessary.

Back up all data before proceeding.

If you're running OS X 10.11 ("El Capitan") or later, triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

~/Library/Mail/V3/MailData

If you're running an older version of OS X, use this line:

~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData

Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select

Go ▹ Go to Folder

from the menu bar. Paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V, then press return.

A folder window will open. Inside it there should be files with names as follows:

Envelope Index

ExternalUpdates.storedata

Move those files to the Desktop, leaving the window open. Other files in the folder may have longer names that begin as above. Move those files, if any, to the Trash.

Relaunch Mail. It should prompt you to re-import your messages. You may get a warning that the index is damaged and that Mail has to quit. Click OK. Typically, the process takes a few minutes, but it may take hours if you have gigantic mailboxes. In that case, you may be able to speed things up by temporarily adding your home folder to the Privacy list in the Spotlight preference pane. Remove it when Mail has finished importing.

If the import operation stalls or fails with an error message, quit Mail, delete the two new index files (keeping the original ones that you moved to the Desktop), and try again. According to many reports, the second attempt may succeed after the first one has failed.

Test. If Mail now works as expected, you can delete the files you moved to the Desktop. Otherwise, post your results.

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