Default email address settings for Apple Mail

[pine man]

Running Sonoma 14.4.1 on my Silicon M1 iMac.

I have two email addresses, the main one being my iCloud address and a little used alternative being my gmail address.

Just recently I have noticed that whenever I compose a new email the ‘From’ address is shown as my gmail account and the only drop down alternative is ‘Hide My Email’.

In Mail settings I go to ‘Composing/Send new messages from’ and the only options I am presented with are ‘Automatically Select Best Account’ or my gmail address.

I can’t find any option to set my iCloud account as the default. Am I missing something?

Any advice will be much appreciated.

 

[ferrarr]

In Mail, look at Settings and select the Composing tab. Check to see what has been selected for "Send new messages from:". Mine is set to "Automatically select best account".

 

[pine man]

Mine is set to "Automatically select best account".

As is mine and it always seems to think that gmail is the best account! The only alternative for that setting is my gmail address and no option for iCloud.

 

[pine man]

I've just noticed that if I reply to an email sent to my iCloud address the From address is shown as gmail.

Edit: My iPhone always selects the iCloud address as default. My iCloud address is my Apple ID.

 

[pine man]

Cracked it!

In the settings for the accounts the address box for iCloud was blank so it couldn't be used as an alternative option.

 

[ferrarr]

Good catch. That was my next question.

 

[pine man]

UhOh!

I haven't cracked it. The email address in settings is blank again after restarting my iMac so no options in Mail to use my iCloud address.

 

[IWT]

Cracked it!

In the settings for the accounts the address box for iCloud was blank so it couldn't be used as an alternative option.

View attachment 39407

I know you haven't cracked it, but here's something which may help. I did this with an elderly gentleman yesterday and got it working for him. So:

Go to the place you posted, as above.

Now click on "Server Settings".

You should see - Outgoing Mail Account, with options shown by double arrowheads. Make sure that the Outgoing Server is the correct one - in other words, irrespective of which email account you use, you probably have just one Outgoing Server. Make sure it's correct anyway.

Next: Click on your chosen/correct Outgoing Server and you will see "Edit SMPT Server List". Click on that.

Now: re-enter your User Name if it's wrong - leave alone if correct.

Now re-enter your Password - I've found this works several times in the past.

Make sure that "Automatically manage connection settings" is ticked.

Then Click on "OK".

Ian

 

[pine man]

Thanks for that Ian

I’ve had a look and the Outgoing Mail Account is set to iCloud for the iCloud account and Google for the gmail account. These settings are the same as those on my iPhone.

I checked out Edit SMTP Server list for each account and they are both completely blank.

This problem has only arisen since I added the gmail account to Mail. Prior to that I only used Mail for iCloud and a separate, different, app for gmail.

Before I start entering info into the SMPT Server list I am going to see if it is Google that is causing the problem.

 

[pine man]

Well I'm not going to say I've cracked it again BUT I removed the gmail account and then setup the iCloud account properly ensuring that in Settings/Composing the 'Send new Messages From' section was set to my iCloud address.

I restarted the iMac and everything was as it should be so I added the gmail account again and it seemed to be working ok. Restarted the iMac and it looks as though all of the iCloud settings have been retained as I set them and it is now the default for new Messages.

I'll switch it off overnight and see what happens tomorrow

 

[IWT]

Well, Peter (pine man), I admire your stamina and determination. Fingers crossed for the morrow.

Ian

 

[pine man]

Well it seems to be OK after a nights sleep. All settings have remained and it defaults to my iCloud email address.

Thanks to you both for your input.

 

[pine man]

it defaults to my iCloud email address.

Not any more it doesn't!

iCloud is not an option for sending new emails. Only gmail is listed.

So I removed gmail completely and reset all the settings for iCloud email. It then shows iCloud as the one to use for new emails BUT not for long. I get no options to send an email until I set up Mail again.

I have tried manually setting up smpt, removing iCloud email from Mail and re-adding it. Whatever I do, if it isn't used for a while, the settings for iCloud email are lost.

I am seriously considering going back to Microsoft Outlook as my email client.

 

[MacInWin]

I am puzzled by your dilemma. On my Sonoma 14.4.1 system, when I compose a message in Mail, the "From:" address is pre-populated with an email address for an old account that I still have from my ISP, but which I don't use. But if I click on the "From" address, I get a list of all active accounts and can select the proper one that I want to use. Furthermore, in Mail>Settings, on the Composing tab is a section on addressing, and I can set what I want there as well. Currently it is "Automatically select best account" which generally ends up being the account to which an email is addressed, or the account I am currently using. Does your system not have those options?

 

[pine man]

Does your system not have those options?

Unfortunately not.

If I set up Mail from scratch for just the iCloud email address it works exactly as it should.........................for a short while! Then if I select new message there is no email address there just 'Hide my email'. If I look in settings/compose/Send new email from, it shows 'Automatically select best account' but no other options - nothing else, nada.

I originally thought it was an issue with me adding the gmail account but that no longer exists in Mail and when it did only that address was available in mail not iCloud.

I have spent days on this and seem to be getting nowhere.

As I said earlier I might end up going back to MS Outlook - a bit cumbersome but at least it always worked when I used to use it.

 

[Jimmysb]

In Mail server settings I have each account set to send from that email account, in this instance iCloud, I could have every account send from the same account.

Can't see why there is an issue.


If I have an account open (in mail) and I sent an email that become the default server, but as Jake has mentioned click From, as below and choose a different account (server), (truncated to hide emails):

 

[pine man]

I have each account set to send from that email account

Me too.

click From, as below and choose a different account (server)

If only I could. When it stops working there are no choices.

Probably the best way to explain what happens is the Mail is losing its settings BUT only for iCloud email.

 

[pine man]

I have achieved a slight improvement

After much messing around I have got to the point where Mail remembers my iCloud email address BUT when composing a new email, or replying to an email, it always defaults to Hide My Email, however my iCloud email address is now shown as an option!

It appears that Hide My Mail cannot be removed as an option but, at least, Mail is now more usable.

 

[pine man]

I might end up going back to MS Outlook - a bit cumbersome but at least it always worked

Whoa!!!

Just installed the free version of Microsoft Outlook. Every time I opened an inbox it was populated with spam and the Rules settings do not allow for iCloud email accounts so you can't even get them sent to junk.

Tried to revert to the legacy version of Outlook to see if it was any better. It was but you have to take out a subscription to continue using it!

Looked on the Microsoft support site and found loads and loads of complaints about the spam in free Outlook. The response from MS was, words to the effect, it's free what do you expect something's got to pay for it! Their solution was to take out a subscription which might, just might, remove the spam.

Think I'll stick to Mail for the time being and see if the next OS fixes the issue.

 

[IWT]

Think I'll stick to Mail for the time being and see if the next OS fixes the issue.

Welcome back to the other side

Ian