Email connection problems

[Simol]

I have a 2012 MacBook Pro and use four email addresses each for a specific purpose.

I now regularly get a triangle alongside the email on my desktop indicating there is a difficulty. The triangles disappear and then reappear.

How can I get stability back to the email function on my Mac.

 

[lclev]

You will have to provide more information. What version of OS X are you running, what are you using for your email app, and who are your email accounts with and what type are they - gmail, Microsoft, IMAP or POP3.

Lisa

 

[pm-r]

How can I get stability back to the email function on my Mac.

Quite often many email client applications have some sort of "Diagnostic Process" you could try using.

Do the "triangles" do anything if you hover your mouse over them or click them in case they open something to help fix the problem.

How's you internet connection and your browsing???



- Patrick
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[Randy B. Singer]

How can I get stability back to the email function on my Mac.

The first thing that I'd try, surprisingly, is to turn off, or even better, uninstall, any third party anti-virus program that you have running. Restart your Mac and see if things are better. Modern anti-virus utilities interact with your e-mail program, and any AV program you have running may not be updated yet and compatible with the version of the Mac OS you are running.

If that doesn't help, the next thing that I'd do is disable, or upgrade, or uninstall any Mail add-ins or helper apps. (e.g. Mail Act-on, SpamSieve, GPGMail).
Afterwards, restart your Mac and see if things are better.

If they aren't, then you might begin suspecting a corrupted/malicious e-mail that is causing Mail to choke. The way to deal with that is to log into your ISP's mail server using the Web-based interface most ISP's provide and to delete the problematic e-mail manually. The problematic one is usually easy to spot. It's usually either spammy or unreadable. (i.e. it's usually e-mail that you would delete anyway.) If your ISP doesn't offer a Web interface, you can use:

MyPOPBarrier (free):
Site de Th Rob
(Under "Applications" on this Web site.)

If that doesn't work, I'd quit Mail, move Mail's "Mail Downloads" folder (in your user Library folder) to the desktop, relaunch mail, and see if the problem is gone. If it is, your problem is a corrupted e-mail attachment.
To get there in recent versions of the Mac OS (where the user Library is invisible),
In the Finder
Option-click the Go menu
Your ~/Library will appear in the menu

You might also want to try dumping all of Mail's log files, which are located at:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Logs/Mail/

 

[Simol]

When I hover over the triangle I get the following message. "Connections to the server “imap.gmail.com” on the default ports timed out.

Mac OS version is 10.14.4

I use the standard Mail app on My MacBook Pro

I use gmail.IMAP and POP3. All are unstable.

However there is no problem getting my email on my iPad mini and my iPhone XR

- - - Updated - - -

Internet browsing is fine!

 

[IWT]

@Simol

This is a long shot - do you use a VPN at all?

If you do, and if you also use anti-ad or anti-tracking extensions or apps, this can cause the problem.

I discovered this, or rather the cause, by accident. I use Express VPN on occasion and reading its small print, it advised turning off/disabling these anti- products because conflicts could arise which could disrupt the normal working of mail/internet afterwards.

Following this up, I read the small print on the app I use (AdGuard) and it also said that it might not be compatible with some VPNs.

Since then, I've always disabled AdGuard before turning on the VPN. This may not happen with all VPNs - it doesn't with Private Internet Access, which I use occasionally.

Long shot, as I said.

Ian

 

[Simol]

No VPN in use but I do use an ad disabler. Will try. Currently removing an anti virus program

 

[pm-r]

No VPN in use but I do use an ad disabler. Will try. Currently removing an anti virus program

If you have trouble and have any of these installed, the uninstallers might help:
Uninstallers (removal tools) for common Mac antivirus software
Uninstallers (removal tools) for common Mac antivirus software—ESET Knowledgebase


- Patrick
======

 

[IWT]

That's really helpful Link, Patrick. I'll Bookmark that. Thanks.

Ian

 

[pm-r]

That's really helpful Link, Patrick. I'll Bookmark that. Thanks.

Ian

Google and other web search engines can really be your friends is one of my mottos.
They should actually get most of the credit.



- Patrick
======

 

[lclev]

There are a lot of people having issues with gmail and Mojave's latest update. So far the only fix I have seen that seems to be helping the most is to delete the gmail account and re-set it up fresh in System -> Internet Accounts.

I got luck and I went on the web gmail page, changed my password which forced my mail app to ask for the password again and so far it is working.

Lisa

 

[KennyC]

I also have had the same issue with my iMac and gmail but not with my iPhone or iPad. I get the triangle and a like sideways thunderbolt. It sometimes seems to correct itself or a I click and let it try to reconnect to mail server. Gonna try some of the suggestions here, thanks.

EDIT: I used Iclev's suggestion and I noticed in my e-mail settings of gmail I had pop downloads disabled and IMAP disabled so I changed both of those to be enabled. So I see if this helps.

 

[KennyC]

After all that I still get the triangle with exclamation account error.

 

[pm-r]

After all that I still get the triangle with exclamation account error.

I believe that indicates that there's a connection error, so maybe try using the included Connection Doctor to do some analysis and checking.
I'm assuming Apple has left that in the later macOS!!



- Patrick
======

 

[Simol]

I removed the ad blocker and Rapport. At the moment all email is now working. I have also been uploading a very large number of photographs to the Mac. Is there any possibility this process could have affected email?

 

[KennyC]

Patrick, I tried using Connection Doctor and it just times out. This morning I deleted e-mail passwords in keychain then went on web to login to gmail and was able to sign into both my accounts. So far no errors on iMac e-mail but haven't received one yet.

EDIT: I deleted both email accounts on iPad then added both accounts and that seems to have helped but too soon to tell.

 

[Rod]

If you have trouble and have any of these installed, the uninstallers might help:
Uninstallers (removal tools) for common Mac antivirus software
Uninstallers (removal tools) for common Mac antivirus software—ESET Knowledgebase


- Patrick
======

Me too Patrick, very handy link.


Sent from my iPad using Mac-Forums

 

[Rod]

This is the second post where Keychain passwords have been an issue recently. I must admit I never do any updating or Maintainence on Keychain. The UI is not very friendly so I tend to just leave it alone but I wonder if there is an "easy" way to clean it up, get rid of outdated and or corrupt data. I may be wrong but I think Keychain First Aid is no more. Chscag, I think you most certainly know more about this system app than I do, any suggestions?


Sent from my iPad using Mac-Forums

 

[pm-r]

This morning I deleted e-mail passwords in keychain then went on web to login to gmail and was able to sign into both my accounts. So far no errors on iMac e-mail but haven't received one yet.

This sounds like some positive progress Kenny, and to test sending and receiving an email on your iMac, try sending yourself a test message from each account and you should then receive each one in your appropriate account inbox.


- Patrick
======

 

[chscag]

Keychain troubles can occur when transferring data from one Mac to another. Supposedly, the Migration Assistant and or Time Machine will transfer keychain data when updating or changing machines but glitches do occur. Also, you may have keychain data that is old and out of date. That can happen when installing macOS over an earlier version rather than opt for a clean install.

Another way to screw up the keychain is by changing your user name. That usually winds up being fatal because most folks do not know how to correct that.

And since Apple has removed the Keychain First Aid option, keychain errors are usually best cured by deleting the keychain and creating a new one. Of course that can be a royal pain if you're not using a password manager.