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Mail has suddenly started to quit over and over almost as soon as I open it. I tried shutting down and restarting but it continues to quit. when I open Mail, it appears just for a moment and then quits. what should I do?
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.12
I suggest starting by using the Mail Connection Doctor to see if there is an issue with either your Internet connection or with any of your email accounts: Use Connection Doctor in Mail on Mac - Apple Support
If that does not uncover any issues, then try the following steps:
This issue may also be attributed to only one of your email accounts. Of course, I'm assuming that you have more than one configured in the Mail app. If so, I would suggest repeating John's procedure, but this time after the Mail app opens, temporarily disable each of your email accounts. Then shutdown, and then, restart the Mail app. If it does not crash with none of the accounts enable is the first step.
Now, enable one of the accounts. It doesn't matter which one. Shutdown & restart the Mail app. Try accessing the Inbox for that account. If it crashes, you narrowed down which account would have the problematic email(s). If it doesn't crash, leave that account enabled, and then, enable another one. As before recycle the app and try opening the Inbox until you find the account that is the culprit. Let us know your results.
Mail may be opening to a message that is malformed, causing the Mail app to crash.
The solution may be very simple: Quit the Mail app if it is running. Then, press and hold a Shift key while launching Mail again.
That causes Mail to open in windowed mode (not full screen) with no message selected. If Mail opens and stays open, you may be able to find the message causing it to crash.
If that does not work, read If you can't open Mail on your Mac - Apple Support.
So as not to disregard his instructions, try Tesserax's suggestions also.
I'm running OSSierra 10.12.2
Update it: Keep your Mac up to date - Apple Support.
Just to be sure, did you disconnect your Mac from the Internet BEFORE launching the Mail app? If so, and it still crashes, what version of macOS is your Mac running?
The reason I'm asking is the next steps to try will depend on the version ... and that is to delete the "envelope" index.
The basic steps to do so are:
Thank you for the swift reply. When I try to launch mail, as you suggest, it appears for only a split second and then crashes, or vanishes back to the icon. There isn't time to click on mail>preferences>accounts>account information. I tried, but in the time it takes to move my arrow from the mail icon in the dock to the mail info bar at the top of the screen, ka-poof! - the mail page has disappeared. Any further suggestions? Thanks, Garrick930
Hello Tesserax,
I definitely disconnected from the internet before launching the mail app.
I'm running OSSierra 10.12.2
I will quit the app (so the little black dot next to it in the dock is not there.)
And then I will run the Terminal app (I don't think I've ever run that before, but I probably can find it) and follow the steps you suggest precisely.
I'll let you know what happens.
thanks again,
Garrick930
I carefully went through the terminal procedures, oh yes, ya have to be careful to put spaces where the spaces are between things (that's not so easy to see in the message) and when I did that (and did not get the "no such file or directory" message, then I restarted mail and it still crashed instantly.
Next, I used John Galt's suggestion, and yes, Mail opened and then I went to the different mailboxes and deleted all the erased, the junk, erased the trash, and even marked all messages as read, in my inbox and...the sent mail opens alright (!) the flagged mail opens alright (!) the drafts open alright (!) but when I click on my inbox, it crashes at once. I think you're right there must be a malformed message in there causing the problem. but how do I locate that one and remove it? ps. You guys are fabulous helping me like this.
When I finally got the typing right, here's what it looked like in Terminal. Was I supposed to do something special after doing this? Other than just trying to open Mail and keep it open?
Garricks-MacBook-Pro:MailData garrickbeck$ cd ~/Library/Mail/V4/MailData
Garricks-MacBook-Pro:MailData garrickbeck$ rm -rf Envelope\Index*
Garricks-MacBook-Pro:MailData garrickbeck$ rm -rf ExternalUpdates.storedata*
Garricks-MacBook-Pro:MailData garrickbeck$
At this point, I will want you to hold off doing any more Terminal activity. Let's see if you can narrow down which email account is the problem. Once found, we can try using some commands in Terminal, should they prove necessary.
Well, I thought I had only one account, but when I opened "Accounts" there was one account called @Nets mail -- and another account called @Nets notes. so I disabled that one and Voila!!! there is my mail program opening as it should. You guys are really geniuses. Is there a charity I can make a donation to on your behalf???
Thanks for the offer, but helping others here is all we are about. Remember we are just fellow Apple-product users. You never know, you may just get "hooked" doing the same and we might see you here helping others yourself.
Awesome. It's such a true community. I met Steve J - briefly - when we were at Reed College together in 1969, and when he went to Robert Friedland's Apple farm in McMinnville, Oregon...hence the name. Best to you both, and again...many thanks!!!
I would strongly second John Galt's suggestion to try first before going the Terminal route. This would be far easier and "safer" than using Terminal, especially if you are not familiar with it.
You're welcome, and thanks for that anecdote about Steve. Fascinating!
Mail quits repeatedly
