OS X Sierra Mail does not get new messages after it was opened

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Level 1

7 points

OS X Sierra Mail does not get new messages after it was opened

Hello:

Unfortunately I had to upgrade to Sierra because my Xcode got updated to version 8 while using 10.11 and that made a mess - but this was another story.

After upgrading to Sierra, Mail gets new messages only the instant it is opened. The emails received after the Mail was opened are no longer coming in. If I want to read the following e-mails, I have to quit Mail and open it again.

Any help would be appreciate it! (including suggestions for decent Linux boxes)

Thank you,

Paul

Mac Pro, macOS Sierra (10.12)

Posted on Oct 6, 2016 4:45 PM

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Answer 1

trevoz

Level 4

1,990 points

Oct 6, 2016 8:17 PM in response to cizmas

What is Mail > Preferences > General - Check for new messages set to?

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Answer 2

cizmas Author

Level 1

7 points

Oct 6, 2016 8:18 PM in response to trevoz

I tried both "automatically" and "every minute" but it did not work.

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Answer 3

trevoz

Level 4

1,990 points

Oct 6, 2016 9:11 PM in response to cizmas

Bummer. Does it work if you manually check - the envelope in the top right of the Mail window?

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Answer 4

cizmas Author

Level 1

7 points

Oct 6, 2016 9:16 PM in response to trevoz

No, it does not. The only way it works is to quit Mail and start it again.

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Answer 5

trevoz

Level 4

1,990 points

Oct 6, 2016 10:23 PM in response to cizmas

If you open the activity monitor (Mail > Window > Activity) does anything happen when you try a manual refresh?

Does Mail > Window > Connection Doctor show any errors?

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Answer 6

cizmas Author

Level 1

7 points

Oct 7, 2016 7:58 AM in response to trevoz

Activity window in blank - nothing happens if I click the message icon.

The Connection Doctor says that the status is okay.

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Answer 7

trevoz

Level 4

1,990 points

Oct 7, 2016 1:57 PM in response to cizmas

Check the password entries for the mail servers in Applications > Utilities > Keychain Access. Click "local items" in left hand sidebar, then use the app's search box to find the mailservers. There should be only one entry for incoming and one entry for outgoing mail server. If there are two entries for any of them, delete one.

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Answer 8

cizmas Author

Level 1

7 points

Oct 7, 2016 4:21 PM in response to trevoz

I do not have "local items" under Keychain Access but I have "All Items". I did a search using "exchange" and found this

I do not see any duplication, however.

I did not see entries for either incoming or outgoing.

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Answer 9

trevoz

Level 4

1,990 points

Oct 7, 2016 4:46 PM in response to cizmas

Final idea. Open an Applications > Utilities > Terminal window and paste the following command:

mv ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail ~/Desktop

and then reboot.

This moves the folder to the desktop for safekeeping and, in the normal course of events, Mail should recreate it though you may need to redo some Mail preference customisation. You can always reinstate it if necessary with:

rm -r ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail

mv ~/Desktop/com.apple.mail ~/Library/Containers/

and reboot. You can also simply trash it if all is well.

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Answer 10

cizmas Author

Level 1

7 points

Oct 7, 2016 6:26 PM in response to trevoz

I moved the com.apple.mail folder and rebooted. This fixed the problem for one account: my iCloud account. My second account, Exchange is still not getting the new messages unless I quit and open Mail again.

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Answer 11

trevoz

Level 4

1,990 points

Oct 7, 2016 7:05 PM in response to cizmas

Well one out of two ain't bad 🙂

If you haven't already, try booting in safe mode, then rebooting in normal mode. If that doesn't work, then I'm afraid I'm fresh out of new ideas for the Exchange account issue.

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Answer 12

cizmas Author

Level 1

7 points

Oct 7, 2016 7:06 PM in response to trevoz

I ended up removing the account that was not getting the mail and creating it again. Finally it works. Thank you for your help with this!

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