Mail slow in moving messages

I have MacBook Air (2022) with the latest software Sonoma v 14.2.1 and find that moving messages in mail (whether deleting or moving to another folder) is really slow going. Messages that were moving got piled up in the hundreds, with nothing moving at all (i.e., stuck at message 1 trying to move 1 of xxx). I tried re-booting, rebuilding inbox, restarting mail..nothing worked. The only thing that helped somewhat was to delete the mail account, and then add it back in. It at least eliminated the hundreds of messages to be moved, but it is still extremely slow to move messages (even when it's 10 or less). It does seem to finally get them moved if you let it sit for an extended time (20 min to an hour depending on # of messages being moved). I've read one person say you should not move a large number of messages at once. That's a crazy solution, and tells me this still needs a fix from Apple.

MacBook Air, macOS 14.2

Posted on Jan 17, 2024 11:12 PM

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Jun 16, 2024 05:36 AM in response to GinnyandGerry

Apple Mail has been generally useless with IMAP moves for years, so little chance this will be sorted out any time soon, if ever.


So think different: Grab a download of Mozilla Thunderbird and install Import Export Tools NG Add-On. This lets you load Thunderbird local folder(s) with Apple Mail style mbox(s), including those restored using TimeMachine backups. Also create your IMAP account on Thunderbird.


Quit Mail and ideally stop any other devices (phone etc.) accessing the IMAP server.


Move stuff around, enjoying the fast responding "message n of N" feedback - assuming your connection and IMAP server are reasonably fast 1000 messages will take a couple of minutes?


Verify everything is as desired, quit Thunderbird and maybe overwrite your pwd with rubbish (until next time)?


Fire up Apple Mail etc. Enjoy.


This sounds like a pain but is nothing compared to the utter waste of time trying to do this inside Apple Mail ;-)


Maybe use "Rebuild Mailbox" as a final clean up on mailbox(es) you just changed behind Mail's back!


--thenohogeek

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Mail slow in moving messages

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