Mac Mail - Reading Pane blank

[Helga@Cloud007]

When I click on a Mail, in my List pane, the mail does not appear in the reading pane(Only the Header), I need to reply, to see contents of the Mail

 

[pm-r]

When I click on a Mail, in my List pane, the mail does not appear

Have you tried a Restart of your Mac, or maybe better yet, ShutDown wait 30-40 seconds and Restart again and try your mail again.

Also you might want to try Rebuilding your mail boxes using the Mail.app option.

And just curious, but how large are your Mail mailboxes???



- Patrick
=======

 

[Helga@Cloud007]

I have tried, restart; rebuild; cleaned the mailbox, but still, the reading pain is blank, - not for all mails.
I open Mail, look though my mails, then one of them show a blank reading pane. If I do a Reply or forward, the Forwarded/Replied mail, contains all the content, but not in the reading pane. If I Quit Mail, and relaunch Mail, I navigate straight to the Affected mail, there it is in all its glory. The blank mails, - have nothing in common, not even the ”Count” I can systematically move down the View Pane, selecting the mails sequentially, or selecting mails at random, once a selected mail is not visible in the reading pane, - No other mails are visible. - Relaunch mail, and they are all there, ….. until they are not. I have tried opening mail - gone to make a cup of coffee, come back, follow same exercise, same thing happens, then i try it again, and all mails are visible…. Help.

Helga

 

[IWT]

Hi Helga

I think it was Patrick who first suggested rebuilding your Mailboxes.

To do this:

Left Click on a Mailbox and the very last item on the dropdown is "Rebuild". Click on that and wait, wait!

You should start on those Mailboxes that seem to be worst affected. In the end, you may need to do this for them all. Just see how it goes after you've rebuilt the worst of them.

Ian

 

[ferrarr]

Did you try "safe mode' startup? Or maybe set up a new user account on the Mac. Add all your email accounts (do you have multiple email addresses and is it affecting all addresses?) and see if it still happens?

 

[Helga@Cloud007]

Good afternoon,
Thank~You for your responses,

I already have:
1. Done a rebuild on all accounts.
2. I Am using 2 different iMac’s
A) iMac (late2015) 21.5 inch - with an iCloud and Gmail account (8Gb Ram 512Gb SSD) RSA fibre 100Mbits up & Down
B) iMac (Late 2021) 27 inch (72 GB Ram; 2TB Nvme Drive) With iCloud account, g-Mail Account Plus another eMail Account. Run from Namibia - LTE connection 40Mbit up & Down
3. The email addresses on both devices are different e-mails.
4. Issue occurs on both devices - all addresses.
5. Once one of the mails is not visible on the reading pane, none of the other mails show, on the reading pane. The only way to get these mails to appear on the reading pane is to relaunch MacMail.
6. Then for a period all works well.
Both iMacs are operated in Dark Mode. - Am currently trying Light mode, to see if there is a different effect.

Thank-you once again.

Helga

 

[IWT]

Hi Helga

I didn't know there was a late 2021 27" iMac - sure it's not mid 2020? And 72GB RAM? No matter.

Member @ferrarr suggested trying Safe Mode and/or creating a new User account. Any luck?

Relaunching the Mail app suggests the fault line lies therein which is why Safe Mode might help if there's a conflict with another app. I presume you don't have another app like SpamSieve that filters out spam or such?

I'm sorry, I'm not being helpful.

Ian

 

[ferrarr]

If it is an issue affecting two Macs, maybe there is too much Mail being retained?

Just for confirmation you are using macOS Mail app? Same version on both Macs? Also, what settings are you using in Mail Preferences/Settings > Privacy?

 

[pm-r]

Both iMacs are operated in Dark Mode. - Am currently trying Light mode, to see if there is a different effect.

If you still end up with the problem after doing all the suggested fixes, maybe try a Google search and check out some of the obvious hits from its list here:

Mac Mail - Reading Pane blank - Google Search

Good luck.

EDIT:
Just a crazy thought here, but is there a remote possibility that the reading pane has been closed off or changed somehow so the reader pain is not working as it is supposed to??? Just wondering...

But from your description, that doesn't seem to be the case the way it is behaving.

I would definitely try the suggested mailbox rebuilds, Safe Boot, and completely ShutDown and Restart of the Mac.




- Patrick
=======

 

[Helga@Cloud007]

Hi Helga

I didn't know there was a late 2021 27" iMac - sure it's not mid 2020? And 72GB RAM? No matter.

Member @ferrarr suggested trying Safe Mode and/or creating a new User account. Any luck?

Relaunching the Mail app suggests the fault line lies therein which is why Safe Mode might help if there's a conflict with another app. I presume you don't have another app like SpamSieve that filters out spam or such?

I'm sorry, I'm not being helpful.

Ian

Hi Ian,

72 GB Ram, that is correct, I Bought it with (Special Order 32GB Ram) and upgraded, (Bought 2 X 32 GB RAM, replacing 2 of the 8GB Rams,), I ordered the iMac in early 2022 - (About my Mac - indicates late 2021).

When our Power comes back, I shall try the safe mode - currently on light Mode - all good for now. I shall check tomorrow if it still works well.

Thank-you, you are most hel[pful.

Helga

 

[Helga@Cloud007]

If it is an issue affecting two Macs, maybe there is too much Mail being retained?

Just for confirmation you are using macOS Mail app? Same version on both Macs? Also, what settings are you using in Mail Preferences/Settings > Privacy?

Hi Bob

Yes Confirm MacOS Mail app, Same version (Latest) I shall check the Privacy settings in the morning (We have power outage at this time).

Thank-you
Helga

 

[Helga@Cloud007]

If you still end up with the problem after doing all the suggested fixes, maybe try a Google search and check out some of the obvious hits from its list here:

Mac Mail - Reading Pane blank - Google Search

Good luck.

EDIT:
Just a crazy thought here, but is there a remote possibility that the reading pane has been closed off or changed somehow so the reader pain is not working as it is supposed to??? Just wondering...

But from your description, that doesn't seem to be the case the way it is behaving.

I would definitely try the suggested mailbox rebuilds, Safe Boot, and completely ShutDown and Restart of the Mac.




- Patrick
=======

Hi Patrick,

Yee, I already have done that - no Luck,
At this stage, I am trying “Light Mode” - shall continue in the morning when we have power. Then I shall too attempt safe mode.

Thank-you

Helga

 

[krs]

I just came across this thread.
I have this problem with Apple Mail on occasion with the odd email.
Tried all the suggestions listed - nothing atually "fixed" the issue.
Sometimes, opening the email a second or third time works, other times I click to forward the email and then the message shows up (without actually forwarding anything).
Just a guess, but it seems to me that those problem emails have some embedded code to a website, then can't pull the info from that website for whatever reason and the header shows up but not the body of the email.
If that is true, then one can't really do anything on the Mac or Apple Mail to fix that.

 

[pm-r]

Sometimes, opening the email a second or third time works, other times I click to forward the email and then the message shows up (without actually forwarding anything).

At least that gives the user with the problem a chance to try your suggestion and see if it will at least work and allow them to read the email if it actually displays.

I guess they use your could also try using webmail to access their email.



- Patrick
=======

 

[krs]

I guess they use your could also try using webmail to access their email.

That's a very good idea, I never tried that.

 

[Helga@Cloud007]

Good morning Patric & KRS,

Yes I did try all the above suggestions, the only things that work (none a real solution)
1. Reply on message, message viewed in reply - not actually replying though
2. Forward message, same as reply,
3. Relaunch Mail (sometimes works)
4. Opening a second instance of Mail, then a third….

Using web Mail is a good idea, except in the case you have more than one email. Also an issue, if you require off line access to your Mails.

Thank-you for all of your efforts.

Helga

 

[krs]

Helga.....
How often does that problem typically happen for you?
I haven't seen it myself for a while and when it did happen it seemed rather random.
I'm still trying to figure out what causes the problem - is there something common to all the emails where it happens.

 

[Helga@Cloud007]

Helga.....
How often does that problem typically happen for you?
I haven't seen it myself for a while and when it did happen it seemed rather random.
I'm still trying to figure out what causes the problem - is there something common to all the emails where it happens.

Hi KRS,

On my 27” it happened also truly randomly, I too thought it was “Weird” and thought I may have done something odd…. If I did NOT relaunch Mail App, it eventfully “Crashed”. (Unfortunately, I did not send a report to Apple - I shall do this next time). I travelled to South Africa from Namibia, to visit my sister, She has the 21”, My sister uses her iMac for Design (Graphic Designer), I on the other hand use mine for Bookkeeping & IT Support. So when I arrived here she Approached me about this issue happening to her. Every day at least once, usually more often, she has to reLaunch the Mail App. I Had a look, Recognised the issue from my own experience, only she never Waited for the App to crash, I asked her to let Mail App run till it crashes, the only issue is, in RSA, they have Power Load shedding, so twice a day, she has to switch her iMac off, before the Power is cut….. As indicated above I tried all the suggestions and then some. With no success.
I shall continue Looking for a solution, I am, though, open to any suggestions.

Thank-you so much

Helga

 

[svensvensson]

This could be the Mail app protecting you from tracking. Try opening Mail Settings>Privacy>Protect Mail Activity and uncheck all options. Then re-select the problematic email in the Mail app and see if it loads instantly.

I have noticed that some emails do eventually display some content if I leave it to load for 60 seconds. I suspect there is some tracking code that is failing to run when the IP address hiding and content blockers are enabled. When it times out, or reply/forward is pressed, the bits of the email content that have not been blocked are displayed.

 

[IWT]

Try opening Mail Settings>Privacy>Protect Mail Activity and uncheck all options

A good suggestion from our newest member. Welcome @svensvensson.

Just to correct a minor thing:

It's Open Mail app: then use Command plus comma to go into Mail Preferences: Click on Privacy (last one on right). It's there that you will see "Mail Privacy Protection". You can try unchecking that as @svensvensson suggested.

I mentioned this because Mail Settings doesn't exist - it's called Mail Preferences. A minor point but the OP might spend ages trying to find it

BTW, in any Macintosh app, Command plus comma will take you to the Preferences for that app.

(The longer way is to click on the App's icon in the top menu bar and choose Preferences from the drop down menu).

Ian