- Mac Mail Gmail Not Working
- Mail App Mac Not Working
- Mail App On Mac Not Responding
- Mail App Mac Not Opening
- Mac Email Not Working
- Macbook Mail App Not Working
On more than a few occasions (read: a lot), I’ve had to help clients figure out why Apple Mail’s search function wasn’t working. It’s strange to be looking right at a message about. Mar 30, 2019 It seems that the Mail App is not working as expected for some Gmail users. More specifically, some Gmail users have said that after installing the macOS 10.14.4, and launching the Mail app, some Gmail users are asked to authenticate their email addresses. They get a notification saying: See also: macOS Mojave Freezes or Stops Responding, Fix. Aug 02, 2019 Michael, thanks for your advice. I have a slightly different problem. I have a Mac, running Catalina, and an iPad mini 4 running 13.1.3 and an iPhone XR running 13.1.3. I access Mail on all 3 devices. But if my Mac is turned on, mail is not delivered to the iPad and the iPhone – it is only delivered to the Mac. Sometimes email application setup fails or gets corrupt and it restricts users from accessing their emails. Hence, the basic thing you would logically try is re-install. Below are the guidelines to resolve yahoo mail not working with apple mail: Open the Mac Mail app; Click on “Mail” tab from the top menu; Now, select the “Preferences.
Try these steps first
Make sure that iCloud Contacts, Calendars, and Reminders are available. If there's an issue, try again after it's fixed. If there isn't an issue, try these steps.
Remember to back up your contacts, calendars, and reminders, so you don't lose anything.
Important: Upgraded reminders aren't compatible with earlier versions of iOS or macOS. Shared reminders are also not accessible to users with earlier versions of iOS and macOS, until they upgrade.
After each step, see if you still need help:
- Check for updates to your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC. To use iCloud, your devices need to meet the system requirements.
- See if the date and time settings on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC are correct.
- Make sure that you're signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID on all your devices and check your settings.
- On your iPhone, tap Settings > [your name] > iCloud. Check your Apple ID and make sure that you turn on what you want to update (Contacts, Calendars, or Reminders).
- On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Apple ID, then click iCloud. If you’re using macOS Mojave or earlier, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click iCloud. Check your Apple ID and make sure that you select what you want to update (Contacts, Calendars, or Reminders).
- On your PC, open iCloud for Windows. Check your Apple ID and make sure that you select what you want to update (Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and Tasks).
- If you sign in to third-party apps with your Apple ID, protect your account with two-factor authentication and use an app-specific password. If you don’t have devices that can be updated to iOS 9 or OS X El Capitan or later, you can set up two-step verification instead.
- Open Safari and go to www.apple.com to check your connection. If you can’t open the page, get help connecting to the Internet.
- Open a secure website, like your Apple ID account page, to see if you can access port 443. If the website won't open, contact your Internet service provider for help. Safari needs access to port 443 to update your information in iCloud.
- Keep your data within the limits. If you go over the limit, your data won't stay up to date.
If you still need help, try the steps for your device below.
Try the steps for your device
iOS 13 and iPadOS
After each step, check your contacts, calendars, or reminders.
Refresh your contacts and calendars
To refresh your contacts, open Contacts and swipe down on the list.
To refresh your contact groups:
- Open the Contacts app.
- Tap Groups in the upper-left corner.
- Swipe down on the list to refresh your groups.
To refresh your calendars:
- Open the Calendar app.
- Tap the Calendars tab.
- Swipe down on the list to refresh your events.
Set iCloud Contacts, Calendars, or Reminders as your default
If your contacts, calendars, and reminders are in iCloud, then iCloud automatically updates your information. See if your information is in iCloud or a third-party account, like Google or Yahoo. Then change your default account to iCloud. Changing your default account to iCloud will not move your existing information from a third-party service to iCloud.
To see which account your contacts are in:
- Open the Contacts app and tap Groups in the upper-left corner.
- Deselect the All [account] option for any third-party account, like Gmail or Yahoo.
- Make sure All iCloud is selected.
- Tap Done to see your list of contacts. If you don't see the contact you're looking for, it's stored in another account.
- If you have a copy of your contacts from a third-party service in vCard format version 3.0 or later, you can import the contacts into iCloud.
Set iCloud as the default account for your contacts in iOS 8 or later:
- Tap Settings, then Contacts.
- Tap Default Account.
- Select iCloud.
To see which account your calendars are in, open the Calendar app, then tap the Calendars tab.
Set an iCloud calendar as the default calendar:
- Tap Settings, then Calendar.
- Tap Default Calendar.
- Tap a calendar under iCloud to make it your default.
Set an iCloud reminders list as the default list:
- Tap Settings, then Reminders.
- Tap Default List.
- Tap a list under iCloud to make it your default.
Check your app settings
Make sure your iCloud Contacts and Calendars are set to appear in the Contacts or Calendars app:
- Open the Contacts app and tap Groups in the upper-left corner. Make sure that All iCloud is selected.
- Open the Calendar app and tap the Calendars tab. Make sure that all iCloud calendars are selected.
![Mail Mail](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126491157/225044605.jpg)
Make sure your Reminders appear:
- Tap Settings, then [your name].
- Tap iCloud.
- Slide to turn on Reminders.
Change how often your calendars update:
- Tap Settings, then Calendar.
- Tap Sync.
- If All Events is selected, choose a specific timeframe instead, like Events 1 Month Back. If a specific timeframe is selected, choose All Events instead.
- Return to your Home screen.
- Wait a few minutes, then open the Calendar app. Tap the Calendars tab, and swipe down to refresh.
Since the iCloud Birthdays calendar updates daily, you might not see changes to birthdays in the Calendars app until the next day.
Restart the Contacts, Calendar, or Reminders app
- Close the app.
- Return to your Home screen.
- Wait a minute, then open the app again.
Turn off iCloud Contacts, Calendar, or Reminders and turn it back on
- Tap Settings, [your name], then iCloud.
- Slide to turn off Contacts, Calendars, and Reminders.*
- If you see your calendars or reminders on iCloud.com or any of your devices, you can choose Delete from My [device]. If not, choose Keep on My [device].
- Wait a few minutes, then turn on Contacts, Calendar, or Reminders again.
* Local reminders will be deleted from your device, but your information won't be deleted from iCloud. Once you turn Reminders back on, your reminders will be re-synced to your device.
Restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
Restart your device. Here's how to restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
iOS 12
After each step, check your contacts, calendars, or reminders.
Refresh your contacts, calendars, and reminders
To refresh your calendars and reminders:
- Open the Calendar app.
- Tap the Calendars tab.
- Swipe down on the list to refresh your events and reminders.
To refresh your contacts, open Contacts and swipe down on the list.
To refresh your contact groups:
- Open the Contacts app.
- Tap Groups in the upper-left corner.
- Swipe down on the list to refresh your groups.
Set iCloud Contacts, Calendars, or Reminders as your default
If your contacts, calendars, and reminders are in iCloud, then iCloud automatically updates your information. See if your information is in iCloud or a third-party account, like Google or Yahoo. Then change your default account to iCloud.
See which account your contacts are in:
- Open the Contacts app and tap Groups in the upper-left corner.
- Deselect the All [account] option for any third-party account, like Gmail or Yahoo.
- Make sure All iCloud is selected.
- Tap Done to see your list of contacts. If you don't see the contact you're looking for, it's stored in another account.
- You can import the contact from a third-party service into iCloud.
Set iCloud as the default account for your contacts in iOS 8 or later:
- Tap Settings > Contacts.
- Tap Default Account.
- Select iCloud.
See which account your calendars are in:
- Open the Calendar app.
- Tap an event to open it.
- Tap the calendar name to see if the event is in an iCloud calendar.
Set an iCloud calendar as the default calendar:
- Tap Settings > Calendar.
- Tap Default Calendar.
- Tap a calendar under iCloud to make it your default.
See which account your reminders are in:
- Open the Reminders app.
- Tap the list name in the upper-left corner to view all your lists.
- See if the list is stored on your device or iCloud. Open a list and tap Edit. If you see Sharing, then your list is in iCloud.
When you create a reminder, you can choose to store it in iCloud or on your iOS device.
Check your app settings
Make sure that your iCloud Contacts and Calendars are set to appear in the Contacts or Calendars app:
- Open the Contacts app and tap Groups in the upper-left corner. Make sure that All iCloud is selected.
- Open the Calendar app and tap the Calendars tab. Make sure that All iCloud is selected.
Change how often your calendars and reminders update:
- Tap Settings > Calendar, or tap Settings > Reminders.
- Tap Sync.
- If All Events or All Reminders is selected, choose a specific timeframe instead, like Events or Reminders 1 Month Back. If a specific timeframe is selected, choose All Events or All Reminders instead.
- Press the Home button.
- Wait a few minutes. Open the Calendar app, tap the Calendars tab, and swipe down to refresh.
Since the iCloud Birthdays calendar updates daily, you might not see changes to birthdays in the Calendars app until the next day.
Restart the Contacts, Calendar, or Reminders app
- Double-click the Home button to see your open apps.
- Find the app, then swipe up to close it.
- Press the Home button to return to your Home screen.
- Wait a minute, then open the app again.
Turn off iCloud Contacts, Calendar, or Reminders and turn it back on
- Tap Settings > [your name] > iCloud.
- Slide to turn off Contacts, Calendars, and Reminders.*
- If you see your calendars or reminders on iCloud.com or any of your devices, you can choose Delete from My [device]. If not, choose Keep on My [device].
- Wait a few minutes, then turn on Contacts, Calendar, or Reminders again.
* Local reminders will be deleted from your device, but your information won't be deleted from iCloud. Once you turn Reminders back on, your reminders will be re-synced to your device.
Restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
Restart your device. Here's how to restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
Force sync Calendar data on Apple Watch
To force sync Calendar data on your Apple Watch:
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone and tap the My Watch tab.
- Tap General, then tap Reset.
- Tap Reset Sync Data.
Mac
After each step, check your contacts, calendars, or reminders.
Refresh your calendars and reminders
You can refresh your calendars and reminders from the Calendars app:
- Open the Calendar app.
- Choose View.
- Refresh Calendars.
Since the iCloud Birthdays calendar updates hourly, you might not see changes to birthdays in the Contacts or Calendars app for an hour.
Check your default Calendar, Reminders, and Contacts account
If you store and edit your events in iCloud instead of another place, like On My Mac, Exchange, or Google, then iCloud automatically updates your calendars. If you use multiple accounts on your Mac like iCloud, Gmail, and Yahoo, make sure that iCloud is your default Calendar account:
- Open the Calendar app.
- Choose Calendar > Preferences.
- On the General tab, make sure that one of your iCloud calendars is the default.
After you set up iCloud Reminders, you might need to quit and reopen Reminders on your Mac. Then make sure that you set up your account correctly in Reminders:
- Open the Reminders app.
- Choose Reminders > Accounts.
- Click the iCloud tab and make sure that you're signed in with your Apple ID.
If you store and edit your contacts in iCloud instead of another place, like On My Mac, Exchange, or Google, then iCloud automatically updates your contacts. If you use multiple accounts on your Mac like iCloud, Gmail, and Yahoo, make sure that iCloud is your default Contacts account:
- Open the Contacts app.
- Choose Contacts > Accounts.
- Click the iCloud tab and make sure that you're signed in with your Apple ID.
Turn off iCloud Calendar and iCloud Reminders, then turn it back on
- Quit the Calendar and Reminders apps.
- Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Apple ID, then click iCloud. If you’re using macOS Mojave or earlier, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click iCloud.
- Deselect Calendars and Reminders.*
- Close System Preferences and wait about a minute.
- Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Apple ID, then click iCloud. If you’re using macOS Mojave or earlier, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click iCloud.
- Select Calendars and Reminders.
- Open Calendar and Reminders.
* Local reminders will be deleted from your device, but your information won't be deleted from iCloud. Once you turn Reminders back on, your reminders will be re-synced to your device.
Restart your computer
After you restart your computer, see if you fixed the issue.
iCloud.com
If you don't see all your updates or have another issue, try these steps on iCloud.com:
- Update your browser and clear the cache.
- If you don't see updates from other devices, open another app on iCloud.com, like Mail. Then go back to the Contacts, Calendar, or Reminders app.
- Sign out of iCloud.com, then sign back in.
- Clear your browsing history. Choose History > Clear History.
Since the iCloud Birthdays calendar updates daily, you might not see changes to birthdays in the Calendars app until the next day.
If you get a spam iCloud Calendar request
If you get a calendar request that you think might be spam or junk, let us know. Sign in to iCloud.com with your Apple ID and go to the Calendar app. Open the event that you wish to mark as Junk, click Report Junk, then click OK. We'll automatically delete the event from your Calendar on all your devices signed in with the same Apple ID.
You can also go to the invitation from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac and choose Report Junk > Delete and Report Junk.
Microsoft Windows
After each step, check your contacts, calendars, or reminders.
Reminders are called Tasks in iCloud for Windows.
Refresh Outlook
Turn off iCloud Contacts, Calendar, and Tasks, then turn it back on
- Open iCloud for Windows.
- Deselect Mail, Contacts, Calendars and Tasks, then click Apply.
- Wait a few seconds, select Mail, Contacts, Calendars & Tasks, then click Apply.
- Open Outlook.
Make sure the iCloud Outlook Add-in is active
In Outlook 2010 and later:
- Click the File menu.
- Click Options in the left panel.
- Click Add-Ins in the left panel of the Outlook Options window.
- Look at the list of add-ins in the Active Application Add-Ins section.
- Select the iCloud Outlook Add-in.
In Outlook 2007:
- From the Tools menu, select Trust Center.
- Select Add-ins from the left column.
- In the list of add-ins in the Active Application Add-Ins section, select the iCloud Outlook Add-in.
Learn how to manage Add-ins with Microsoft Outlook.
Check your default account in Outlook
- In Outlook 2010 and later, select File > Info > Account Settings > Data Files. If iCloud is the default account in the Comments column, select a different account, and click Set as Default.
- In Outlook 2007, select File > Data File Management > Data Files. If iCloud is the default account in the Comments column, select a different account, and click Set as Default.
Restart your computer
After you restart your computer, see if you fixed the issue.
If you still need help
If you still need help, contact Apple Support. You can also use these steps to remove duplicate contacts or calendars.
Having trouble using your Mail app on macOS Catalina?
It is very frustrating to not be able to send an important email simply because the Mail app is not working all out of a sudden. Many Mac users have recently increasingly reported this issue with no sight of a fix released from Apple to address it.
On the brighter note, this guide is written with tried and tested solutions which we were suggested from users, readers as well as massive amounts of research. The guide will discuss the reasons why your Mail app is not working correctly and the corresponding solutions for you to try are arranged according to the level of complexity of the issue from the easiest to the most tedious so that you can proceed to cross off the list one by one.
Without wasting any more of your time, let’s jump right in!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
How to Fix Mail Not Working in macOS Catalina: 8 Ways
1. Check Internet Connection.
If you find that you’ve not been getting any new emails in your Mail app then it’s important to first make sure that your internet connection.
Here’s how to check the status of your Internet in macOS Catalina:
- First and foremost, quit any apps that are open and then connect to your Wi-Fi network.
- Next press and hold down on your Option (Alt) ⌥ key and then click to open Wireless Diagnostics from the Wi-Fi status menu . You will need to enter your administrator name and password when prompted.
Help! I don’t see the Wi-Fi Status Menu. How do I get it to show up?
If you don’t see the Wi-Fi status menu, then simply go into your Apple menu > System Preferences > Network > Wi-Fi. From there check the option to “Show Wi-Fi status in the menu bar“.
- Now the Wireless Diagnostics will begin analyzing your wireless environment.
- To diagnose whether the Wi-Fi problem is intermittent, then when prompted with the below screen, choose to Monitor my internet connection. This helps in identifying if there are any hidden fallacies with your internet which may be the reason causing the Mail app to not work.
- Great! Once done, you can choose to see the summary of the diagnostics by clicking on the info button next to each item in the summary to see details about that item. Based on the take action on the recommendations and improve the aspects of suggested. If there are test errors, try to restart your modem or router and try the test again by going back to Step 1.
If you find that there are no issues with your internet connection but the Mail app was still able to not download it, then proceed to the next method.
2. Check Mail Authentication Logs.
It is also possible that you have authentication problems when you log in to the email server. This happens usually when you update the password of your email directly on the website. There is no way for the Mail app to know if you’ve changed the password from the website without throwing an authentication error.
Mac Mail Gmail Not Working
However, if you haven’t made any changes, then it could be that the file which holds all your authentication data (username and passwords) may be corrupted. To fix this you need to update the data of your account that is configured in the Mail app.
For both of the situations discussed, the following steps will help patch up any authentication errors and subsequently help update the Mail app with the right credentials:
- Go ahead and launch your Mail app in your macOS Catalina.
- Then click the Window option in the main menu and click Connection Doctor option.
- Now if there are issues with the connections, click the Log Connection Activity option and try again. Click on Show Logs option to check issues details of the issues.
- Next, search for the Keychain Access app and launch it.
- Then type in @ symbol in the search bar and press enter.
- Click on the account to highlight and delete the password from your iCloud keychain by doing right-click and click on Delete.
- Go back to your Mail app, click on the Preferences option, and then Accounts.
- Now delete your email account and add it back again with the correct details.
- Finally, restart the computer and relaunch the Mail app.
Now that you have updated the data of your email account in the Mail app, you will be able to connect to the server with no issues. But if you are still not able to download your new emails from the server, proceed to the next method.
3. Disable or Uninstall Any Third-Party Security Software.
There is a chance that your anti-virus software or firewall application on your Mac is not allowing you to download the email files to your computer. Some third-party security software does not have that configured by default. To be sure, disable (or uninstall) all unnecessary antivirus software and try to download your email again.
Once you’ve done that, you will be able to download your email files successfully. This solution has proven to have worked for a couple of users who managed to get their Mail app working after disabling their antivirus software on their Mac.
If the issue with the Mail app is fixed and you’re deciding to re-enable back the antivirus software, then make sure to contact their technical support beforehand and explain the situation. You will need to ask for their assistance on how to configure the software so it will not block the email download process responsible for the Mail app.
If the issue persists with the Mail app, then depending on the error message you get let us know by commenting below so that we can help. ?
4. Delete Mail Plist File.
Getting an error message which says, “Mail cannot save information about your mailboxes because there isn’t enough space in your home folder”?
This error message usually prompts when you try to launch the Mail app. As the error implies, the issue is with the storage space with your home folder. To fix it, you will need to delete a file called Plist which will force the Mail app to load it’s default preferences.
Here’s how you do it:
- Go ahead and launch the Finder App on your macOS Catalina.
- Then click Go and select Go To on the menu list.
- Now copy-paste the following command below into the search bar provided and press the Enter key:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/
- Now select the Preferences folder.
- Here’s where you need to pay close attention: Look for com.apple.mail.plist on the search result and Delete it.
- Finally, restart your macOS Catalina and then try opening up the Mail program again. Done ✅
Now that you are able to open the Mail app, you can now use it to download new email messages. If you can’t, you can check out Methods 1 to 3 (above) for that. However, if your Mail application keeps crashing, then you may proceed to the next method.
5. Remove Saved State Files in Mail.
Find that your Mail app keeps crashing whenever you try to launch it? Well, there is a possibility that the application may have been corrupted and the solution to fix it is to delete these corrupted application data files and then allow the application to automatically replace the deleted corrupted files with new, default values.
It is easier said than done. Regardless we’ve made it super simple by laying down step-by-step on how you should go about it:
- Go ahead and open Activity Monitor from the Utilities app.
- Then search for data related to the Mail app, highlight them all and click on the x in the top left corner of the screen to stop the app.
- Now open up the Finder app and click on the Go option while holding down the shift key. Click on Library from the drop-down list.
- Find and click Containers, then click on com.apple.mail, then Data, then Library, and then Saved Application State.
- Then, find the com.apple.mail.savedState and delete it by moving it to trash.
- Next, go back to the Finder app, press the Option key and click Go option on the menu.
- Now copy-paste the following command below into the search bar provided and hit the Enter key:
~/Library/Containers
- Once you are in the folder, delete com.apple.mail and com.apple.MailServiceAgent.
- Again, go back to the Finder app, press the Option key and click Go option on the menu.
- This time, copy-paste the command below into your search bar and press Enter key:
~/Library/Mail/MailData
- Now delete the envelope files such as Envelope Index, Envelope Index-shm, and Envelope Index-wal by dragging them to trash.
- Finally, empty your trash, restart your macOS Catalina and launch the Mail app again.
Now that your Mail app has loaded the default values of the app, you can now use it with no crashing issue.
6. Use First-Aid App.
Another possibility is that the disk where your Mail app is stored is having errors. In order to diagnose and repair these errors related to the disk utility in your macOS Catalina, here’s what you do:
- Go ahead and type in Disk Utility on spotlight search and press enter.
- On the list, click on Disk Utility, then click View, and then Show All Devices.
- Now choose the disk you want to repair and click the First Aid button. If the utility tells you your disk is about to fail, back up your data and replace the disk.
- Then click the Run option and then click on the Continue option. A repair process for your disk will take place. Learn more about what to do if the repair process fails.
- Finally, reboot your macOS Catalina and re-launch the Mail app.
Now that you have repaired your disk errors on your macOS Catalina, you should be able to run the Mail app with no crashing issues.
7. Delete Entire Mail Files and Re-populate
Mail App Mac Not Working
The Mail app’s settings are one common source of issues where it may have been affected during the repair process – where a part of the disk may have been removed or rearranged which can cause the app not to function correctly.
Mail App On Mac Not Responding
The best way to resolve this issue is to delete the entire Mail files and re-create the account on the app.
Here’s how you can do it:
- Go ahead and launch your Mail app on your macOS Catalina.
- Then find and click Mail option and then Accounts.
- Now, select the account you want to remove and click the Remove button.
- Restart your macOS Catalina and relaunch the Mail app.
- Click on the Mail option, then click on Add Account, choose an account type and enter the account information.
- Now, enable the Mail option for the account by checking the mail checkbox.
- Close the Mail app and relaunch it to re-populate your email messages.
By doing this, you have renewed the settings of your Mail app. After the process, you should be able to use the Mail app without issues.
8. Reach Out to Apple.
Mail App Mac Not Opening
If you are having a hard time following the technical terms of the method, don’t worry. You can always seek the assistance of Apple-certified technicians at your nearest Apple Store.
If you have done all or part of the methods above, explain your attempts to resolve the issue. It will be helpful for the technicians not to repeat the same method and will save you some time. Just make sure to check your warranty options beforehand if a replacement is suggested.
Mac Email Not Working
Don’t have an Apple Store near you? Check out the support that is available in your place. There is an option where you set an online appointment for repair where you can just send your Mac through a carrier. They can repair it in their lab while you monitor the repair progress through their website.
Macbook Mail App Not Working
As we close this guide, we hope that this article has helped you fix your Mail not working in macOS Catalina issue. Thank you for reading this article and for your continuous support. If you have questions related to this topic, please feel free to leave a comment below and we will love to help you out. ❤