Mail says "Downloading" an attachment, but it doesn't download anything

I frequently have a problem with mail showing an attachment, giving the filename, and saying "Downloading…", but it never downloads.
There does not seem to be an option to force it to download, and I cannot find any solution.

This does not happen will all attachments, and I have been unable to figure out why only some have this problem.

Has anyone else had this problem?

iMac, macOS High Sierra (10.13.2), iPhone 5, Powerbook G4 17"

Posted on Aug 27, 2018 11:15 PM

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21 replies

Apophis Author

Level 1

59 points

Aug 30, 2018 8:45 AM in response to Eric Root

I didn't expect that to work because it hasn't downloaded the document, so there is nothing to copy. Sure enough, it hasn't.

Nov 8, 2018 3:09 PM in response to DonScottfromHoedspruit

I am having this same problem. Just started recently. Haven't noticed it being a problem until this past month.

Nov 14, 2018 2:15 AM in response to melissiafromtualatin

Same with me - I even hoped that upgrading to Mojave would solve the problem but, no. Seems many others, on other forums, have the same problem. Can it be a bug or a problem with Apple?

Nov 14, 2018 7:05 AM in response to meh_67

No, not specific to Mojave as I UPGRADED to Mojave, hoping to eliminate the very same problem. Must be with MacMail!!!!

Nov 14, 2018 2:06 AM in response to Apophis

I have this problem as well on my 2013 iMac with Mojave - but it also occurred with High Sierra.

The attachments appear to be there when I look at my Gmail account online but I get an error trying to open it from there with the message - 'Failed to load PDF document'.

The attachment is downloaded when I use my iPhone and the iOS Gmail app. From there I can 'share' it with myself using Message which allows me save the file to 'Downloads' on my iMac. Not very elegant but it is a workaround.

It's about time Apple sorted this out.

Apophis Author

Level 1

59 points

Aug 31, 2018 12:55 AM in response to Eric Root

No, it's in the message panel.

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Mail says "Downloading" an attachment, but it doesn't download anything