Mail opens with a blank message that can't be deleted on Mac mini
Mail opens with a blank message that can't be deleted
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
Original Title: mail opens with blank message
Mac mini, macOS 15.5
Mail opens with a blank message that can't be deleted
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
Original Title: mail opens with blank message
Mac mini, macOS 15.5
Based on your description, I’m not certain if I share your issue, but it’s possible.
Blank windows kept appearing every few minutes. They wouldn’t close, and they were empty. All I could do was hide them.
This behavior started when I sent a humongous email. I suspected this was the problem, so I tried to delete it, but I couldn’t find it in Drafts.
I quit Mail, but when I reopened it, the windows started popping up again. I restarted my Mac, but it didn’t help. I used the Atl key modifier to close all windows at once, and all of them closed, except for the irritating blank ones.
I resolved my dilemma by erasing the substantial but unsent message that had eluded me in the Drafts folder. To locate it, I utilized the search feature of Mail. I looked for the email address of the intended recipient, but any keyword would have been effective.
Once I deleted this email, my problem and the pesky pop-ups disappeared.
Configuration details
I sent the email from a Gmail account.
MacBook Pro using Sequoia 15.5
Mail Version 16.0 (3826.600.51.1.1)
By changing retrieval rate from every 1 minute to manual the number of blank messages is almost eliminated. When opening manually there is no blank message.
Previously I tried safe start, Clean My Mac, pressing shift key while opening Mail with no effect.
Inadvertently left mail active during Sleep overnight. Upon wakeup there were a ton of those blank messages. System very busy, flashing pink. Keyboard useless, cursor still alive. Pressed start/stop button to power down. Restarted into normal lock screen and normal password access.
"Untitled Messages" seems to be the problem. When mail starts up it shows the normal mail screen, shortly afterwards an "untitled message," a bit later many more. Thanks to Google AI for this lead. AI suggests switching on auto preview, which I can't find.
Thanks MichelD2 for the suggestion. I use an uncommon setup to get to an ancient printer (HP D4360). Its driver is incompatible with my new mac mini so it sits in a 2010 iMac. I use Bluetooth to transfer files from my mac mini. Infrequently, the transfer crashes, but only on a pdf. This happened just before the blank file problem. I'll do some looking. Fortunately I still have the subject file. Thanks again.
PROBLEM SOLVED! Following the suggestion to delete outbox messages others have reported, I went to each of three mail accounts and mercilessly deleted a lot of garbage I did not realize existed. The Mail information column on the left has rows that don't indicate a message count. For example "Archive". CLEARING ONE OR MORE OF THOSE ROWS FIXED THE PROBLEM. Thanks to MichelD2 for engaging this issue.
Eliminating 1 minute retrieval is not the answer. Over 20 blank messages in about 2 hours. When they are minimized (delete won't work) they get cleared after quiting mail app.
Format of blank messages is full screen. Different icons.
Top left:
Top right
Only "Aa" has a drop down
[Edited by Moderator]
The "real" culprit. When Verizon moved folks to AOL I failed to delete the abandoned Verizon account. Deleting that account fixed the blank message problem!
Mail opens with a blank message that can't be deleted on Mac mini