For several weeks now I have been unable to open Mail. If I click on it, it just sits there with the black dot underneath it. I've tried: opening Mail from Applications folder - doesn't work; restarting in safe mode; reinstalling the OS; I've run Malwarebytes. Mail remains frozen and unresponsive.
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.5
I'm not really understanding....I delete the webmail immediately it downloads into Mac Mail. The Messenger Company costs a certain amount each month but more if you want to store emails. I had to move to The Messenger Company when the internet provider stopped providing email addresses. Here is the email on my Mac Mini. As you can see I've created files for different types of emails. Family History, Furniture Storage, Hillclimbs, Laani my dog, Passwords, Receipts, Sale of house, Tax Documents. I transfer emails I want to keep to one of these files.
[Edited by Moderator]
Email folders that are, by the very name of " ON MY MAC " means exactly that
The Only Location of the emails and any file attachments are No Where Else but Physically On the Computer
That would mean, if you were to " Erase All Content and Setting " aka "Start Over from Scratch "
The emails would be lost forever
Now, using Time Machine Backup or some other form to back up the computer Before you explore the Start Over from Scratch
Whatever is currently in Your User Account ( Home Folder ), that would include the emails ON MY MAC would be safe guarded aka backed up
Which means you, and Restore them
Good luck on whatever you decided to do or not do
One Last Thing and this is in the best interest of the computer
For future purposes
To truly protect your non replaceable Data
Have a 3-2-1 Rescue Plan in place and always current
3 Backups using 2 methods and 1 off site incase of natural disaster or un-natural disaster.
Each of the above should be done to a Dedicated Single Purposed External Drive
Below link is intended to augment what TM Backup does, not replace it
CleanMyMac is very polite. It always asks first, "Would you like me to disappear all the necessary system files?" and the correct answer is "Not now". I've always been very careful of that and have used it for years. But now I understand that Apple doesn't actually recommend it even though I got it from the Apple store, I won't use it again. If it had cleaned up all the system files for Mail, I don't think Mail would work on the guest user, which it does?
Illawarrian wrote:
I think luck is what is needed right now! I'll have a big think about all this and see if Brain comes up with anything.
Luck ?
" Luck" is a notion that more so built upon wishful thinking and less so built upon fact.
As mentioned early, good luck on whatever you decide to do or not do
Illawarrian wrote:
CleanMyMac is very polite.
"CleanMyMac" is toxic. It wrecks Macs. Getting rid of it won't help. The only way to recover from the effects of actually having used it (which you appear to have done) is to erase the Mac. Your Mac will never work properly until you do.
Well, everything else seems to be fine except Mail on my usual user account, but when I use the guest user account, mail opens and operates normally, so I assume this means Clean My Mac hasn't actually removed any of the important bits of Mail, or surely it wouldn't work on any of the user accounts?
Perhaps an oversight , that can happen with so may people are offering to help
Using an excerpt from an early suggestion
This types of applications ( implied BrickMyMac ) can or will Muck Up your User Account ( Home Folder ) of this machine.
When you make a New User Account on the computer . . . guess what ?
CMM has not yet had the pleasure, yet, To Muck up the New User Account ( Home Folder )
I would not make that assumption. You have adequate reason to conclude your earlier suspicion is correct:
Wondering if "Clean My Mac" has "cleaned" away necessary files (or system files) affecting Mail app?
The answer to that is almost certainly yes — specifically, the "cleaning" app removed one or more files essential for that User Account's Mail message management database, rendering it corrupt and unusable.
Although it is not possible for such things to corrupt or otherwise alter macOS itself, of which the Mail app is an integral component, anything in the user space — including files and operating system components essential for the proper functioning of the Mac — is fair game for them to remove, rendering that User Account corrupt in ways that are not practicable to correct or restore.
There are measures short of erasing the Mac but they are time-consuming and (in my opinion) not worth the effort. You can, for example, completely remove all Mail-related files in that User Account, methodically add each email account all over again, but given the unfettered ability for non-Apple "cleaning" products to affect other, completely unrelated apps it will always remain a concern until the Mac is completely erased and rebuilt from the ground up.
But now I understand that Apple doesn't actually recommend it even though I got it from the Apple store, I won't use it again.
To be clear, Apple makes no recommendations for or against any software, no matter where it's from. The fact it may be in the App Store has no bearing on that. Arguably, most apps in the App Store are garbage products no one needs. But everything in the App Store makes money for the developer as well as for Apple, so that will never change. If their installation and use results in a Mac working poorly, sometimes the user will conclude the Mac is just too old and worn out and needs replacing, so they go out and buy a new Mac whether it's justified or not. Apple certainly won't mind.
Thank you kindly ... am learning more about Clean My Mac from this discussion :-)
Re: "If it had cleaned up all the system files for Mail, I don't think Mail would work on the guest user, which it does?"
Agreed ... good way to find out ... yet we'll see what eventuates concerning the original account.
I'll check that out right away!
99 GB of 245 GB used.
[Edited by Moderator]
I have Gemini (latest update), Malwarebytes (as of yesterday), CleanMyMac. Are any of those a problem? I have no virus-checkers other than Malwarebytes, no VPN, no ad blockers, no cleaners.
I hope that's it!
Thank you for the Etrecheck report!
Have requested those with the expertise to please help interpret the report
Mail won't open in 2021 Macbook Air Sequoia
