WGQ
Level 1 (19 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Mail preview text flickering in MacOS Sierra

Whenever I access a Mac Mail mailbox, the preview text of all the messages flickers initially, then stops.  This is a new issue since upgrading to Sierra.  I haven't seen this reported by anyone else, so I'm hoping it's something that can be resolved.  Is anyone else seeing this, and is there a known solution? 

iMac, macOS Sierra (10.12), 27" Screen

Posted on Sep 24, 2016 3:18 PM

by WGQ,Solvedanswer
WGQ WGQ
Level 1 (19 points)
Mac OS X
A:

I completed my re-install and it seems to have resolved the issue.  No more email preview text flickering.  I wiped my disk and re-installed everything instead of using upgrade/restore.  Haven't done that in years.  I didn't get the noticeable performance gain I was hoping for, but everything seems very stable and a lot of unused junk has been deleted from system directories.  I will report back if the flickering returns, but otherwise all is good.

Posted on Oct 10, 2016 11:12 AM

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Q: Mail preview text flickering in MacOS Sierra

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  • by WGQ,

    WGQ WGQ Oct 9, 2016 1:48 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 9, 2016 1:48 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    Thanks for the suggestions.  This did not affect the problem for me.

  • by WGQ,

    WGQ WGQ Oct 9, 2016 1:54 PM in response to IHaddow
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 9, 2016 1:54 PM in response to IHaddow

    I'm going to try a clean re-install from the ground up.  I haven't done one of those in years, and I think (hope) it will be worth the effort for performance gains.  I'll need to schedule a day without my iMac to get it done, so it might not be right away.  I'll report back and let you know if it resolves the email preview text flickering bug. 

  • by Steve27,Helpful

    Steve27 Steve27 Oct 9, 2016 2:11 PM in response to WGQ
    Level 1 (18 points)
    Oct 9, 2016 2:11 PM in response to WGQ

    I just completed my install.  It took hours to download, but the install itself didn't take that long, maybe :45.

     

    For now no flickering, but we'll see if the problem comes back.

     

    The installer gave me no choices (clean install, erase and install, etc.)  it just installed over the old install leaving all my data intact.

     

    I will post again after a few hours to let you all know if the flicker returns.

  • by Steve27,

    Steve27 Steve27 Oct 9, 2016 4:23 PM in response to Steve27
    Level 1 (18 points)
    Oct 9, 2016 4:23 PM in response to Steve27

    Flickering is back after reinstalling Sierra.

  • by Peter Resele,

    Peter Resele Peter Resele Oct 10, 2016 12:38 AM in response to WGQ
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 10, 2016 12:38 AM in response to WGQ

    In my case it is not the preview, but the list of messages (headlines) that is flickering like crazy (seems like the Tableview gets refreshed five times after any change like a status change of an email).

     

    In my case I have 50.000 items in my mailbox, though, so this might not be visible to others.

     

    Was never a problem before Sierra.

  • by WGQ,Solvedanswer

    WGQ WGQ Oct 10, 2016 11:12 AM in response to WGQ
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 10, 2016 11:12 AM in response to WGQ

    I completed my re-install and it seems to have resolved the issue.  No more email preview text flickering.  I wiped my disk and re-installed everything instead of using upgrade/restore.  Haven't done that in years.  I didn't get the noticeable performance gain I was hoping for, but everything seems very stable and a lot of unused junk has been deleted from system directories.  I will report back if the flickering returns, but otherwise all is good.

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Oct 10, 2016 3:09 PM in response to Peter Resele
    Level 5 (5,758 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 10, 2016 3:09 PM in response to Peter Resele
    In my case I have 50.000 items in my mailbox,

    You definitely need to archive or move the messages out of the Inbox. Not only should this help the flickering problem, you'll find scrolling to find messages much easier along with sync to IMAP. At the most only have the current year in the Inbox. Archive anything older than Jan 1 2016.

     

    Personally, I keep only a few hundred messages in my Inbox.

  • by Steve27,

    Steve27 Steve27 Oct 17, 2016 2:21 PM in response to IHaddow
    Level 1 (18 points)
    Oct 17, 2016 2:21 PM in response to IHaddow

    Still flickering.  Happens a lot.  I quit and relaunch mail and it goes away, but not for long.

     

    Very annoying.

  • by WGQ,

    WGQ WGQ Oct 17, 2016 4:10 PM in response to Steve27
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 17, 2016 4:10 PM in response to Steve27

    The problem has returned for me.  I don't know how to remove the 'solved' flag from my previous answer.  Very irritating. 

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Oct 17, 2016 5:26 PM in response to WGQ
    Level 5 (5,758 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 17, 2016 5:26 PM in response to WGQ

    We should see Sierra v10.12.1 released soon. Hopefully this will fix the issue so it does not return.

  • by Steve27,

    Steve27 Steve27 Oct 18, 2016 4:36 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (18 points)
    Oct 18, 2016 4:36 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    Other than this thread I've found no other mention of this problem.

     

    Wondering about Mail plug-ins being the cause.  The only plug-ins I use are Daylite Mail Integration (DMI) and MsgFiler.

     

    Any of the other participants in this discussion use either of those?  Other plug-ins you are using?

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Oct 18, 2016 4:53 PM in response to Steve27
    Level 5 (5,758 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 18, 2016 4:53 PM in response to Steve27

    Try disabling your plugin to eliminate those as a source of the problem.

     

    It could also be tied to your hardware. What Mac. For example, I have an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014). You can find the info under “About this Mac”. An older Mac's hardware might have more problems with the new macOS.

  • by Steve27,

    Steve27 Steve27 Oct 18, 2016 4:58 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (18 points)
    Oct 18, 2016 4:58 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    I have disabled MsgFiler and will wait and see.  DMI i have to uninstall, which would be my next test if the problem continues.

     

    Running a Macbook Air 13" Mid 2012.  Only 4GB of RAM, but that doesn't seem to be a problem.  Possible, but unlikely imo that the RAM is causing this strange issue.

  • by comyan,

    comyan comyan Oct 18, 2016 10:20 PM in response to Steve27
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 18, 2016 10:20 PM in response to Steve27

    Yes I am also using the Daylite Mail plugin! This is unlikely to be a coincidence... I'll try to disable it and then I'll let you know.

  • by comyan,

    comyan comyan Oct 19, 2016 1:16 AM in response to comyan
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 19, 2016 1:16 AM in response to comyan

    After I uninstalled Daylite plugin, the flickering was gone. But I don't want to call it solved yet, because in the past the flickering was on and off. Plus, I am still observing locked user interface (Mail becoming unresponsive to clicks for 10-20 seconds) sometimes.

    Still, seeing that people here are using Daylite, too, makes it a very likely candidate to be the root cause of the flicker.

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