Apple Mail crashes 3-4x daily and doesn't refresh email properly- Please Help!

[j3fflan3]

The mail program on my Macbook Pro crashes almost every time that I use it.



Symptoms:

When I want to turn my computer off or restart it the Mail program from Apple always stops me from restarting and the system says it's not responding - then I have to Force Quit Mail just to allow the computer to restart.



Mail is synced to my iPhone and my Macbook Pro. When I get a new message my phone will alert me and if I open my mail program the message will take sometimes more than a minute to appear. When I click on the new message it will take another minute or two to load the message.



I'm up to date with Apple updates. I've been using the Mail application for years and noticed these issues about six months ago. On my phone I've downloaded the Gmail application so that my mail works but there isn't a good Gmail application for macOS (that I'm aware of).



What I've tried

-I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling all of my three mail accounts more than 3x with no noticeable difference



Equipment

MacBook Pro mid 2015

macOS High Sierra 10.13.4

 

[dianeoforegon]

Testing in a new User will quickly tell you if the problem is system wide or if it's your User's folder that contains the problem.
CREATE A NEW USER

Go to System Preferences --> Create a New User in Users & Groups.
Switch to the New User by logging out/in or use Fast User Switching.
You can skip logging in with an Apple ID unless you need to test iCloud apps. Hit continue then skip.

Add your accounts one at a time in System Preferences > Internet Accounts. Test the account before adding other accounts.

I would use Gmail in your browser. Gmail is not standard IMAP.

 

[lemonkid]

Do you by any chance also switch off your wifi or break-up your internet connection when you close your computer? Because what you describe looks also like Mail can't connect when you want to stop.

Does this problem also happen when you close Mail before you turn off the computer? You should then wait until Mail is finished. I have this problem when my internet connection breaks down. Mail then wants to connect to your account but can't because there is no internet. It needs to perform closing scripts like delete old messages or junk etc etc . It needs some time to do this and before it recognises there is not internet and finally registers a 'time-out'. It will close but this takes a while.

I regularly get upset, especially when automated updates from my ISP or my own router are the cause. I then perform a force quit to make Mail stop.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Mail is synced to my iPhone and my Macbook Pro. When I get a new message my phone will alert me and if I open my mail program the message will take sometimes more than a minute to appear. When I click on the new message it will take another minute or two to load the message.

To clarify, you're talking about the "mail program" on your Mac here?

What I've tried

-I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling all of my three mail accounts more than 3x with no noticeable difference

When removing and re-adding the accounts have you deleted the data in /Users/[youraccount]/Library/Mail? Testing in a new User Account as dianeoforegon suggested should give the same result but wouldn't necessarily narrow the issue down to the data in that folder.

I've seen a single, corrupt email give similar results to what you're seeing.

Are all the accounts Gmail based?

 

[bsbeamer]

Have been running into nearly the same identical problems as the OP. There is also a bug in the Apple Mail app that fails to "refresh" connections to mail account servers. Will often fail to get notifications in macOS, but will get notifications on iOS or via webmail. If I quit the Apple Mail app hourly, it functions "normally" but if I forget to do that, I'm often missing email alerts. It's frustrating.

 

[j3fflan3]

Do you by any chance also switch off your wifi or break-up your internet connection when you close your computer? Because what you describe looks also like Mail can't connect when you want to stop.

Does this problem also happen when you close Mail before you turn off the computer? You should then wait until Mail is finished. I have this problem when my internet connection breaks down. Mail then wants to connect to your account but can't because there is no internet. It needs to perform closing scripts like delete old messages or junk etc etc . It needs some time to do this and before it recognises there is not internet and finally registers a 'time-out'. It will close but this takes a while.

I regularly get upset, especially when automated updates from my ISP or my own router are the cause. I then perform a force quit to make Mail stop.

Thanks for your response. I do not switch off my wifi or internet. Yes this is happening before I close my computer as well as whenever I try to get new mail or close the application.
[doublepost=1524162714][/doublepost]

To clarify, you're talking about the "mail program" on your Mac here?



When removing and re-adding the accounts have you deleted the data in /Users/[youraccount]/Library/Mail? Testing in a new User Account as dianeoforegon suggested should give the same result but wouldn't necessarily narrow the issue down to the data in that folder.

I've seen a single, corrupt email give similar results to what you're seeing.

Are all the accounts Gmail based?

Yes I am referencing an issue that I am experiencing on my MAC not on my iPhone. I've never tried deleting the data folder but I will try that right now! I will report back if it makes any difference. Thanks for the idea.
[doublepost=1524162759][/doublepost]

Thanks for your response. I do not switch off my wifi or internet. Yes this is happening before I close my computer as well as whenever I try to get new mail or close the application.

Thanks for your response. I do not switch off my wifi or internet. Yes this is happening before I close my computer as well as whenever I try to get new mail or close the application.
[doublepost=1524162714][/doublepost]
Yes I am referencing an issue that I am experiencing on my MAC not on my iPhone. I've never tried deleting the data folder but I will try that right now! I will report back if it makes any difference. Thanks for the idea.

[doublepost=1524162714][/doublepost]
Yes I am referencing an issue that I am experiencing on my MAC not on my iPhone. I've never tried deleting the data folder but I will try that right now! I will report back if it makes any difference. Thanks for the idea.

Yes all accounts are gmail based.

 

[bsbeamer]

Running into the failure to alert Apple Mail issue with accounts from multiple providers, including mainstream and privately hosted accounts. It does not appear to be isolated to Google/Gmail. Sometimes only one of the accounts will fail to retrieve, while retrieving the others (but will not appear offline or alert in any way that others are failing to retrieve). Other times multiple accounts will fail to retrieve. Sometimes it's after 1-2 hours of usage, other times works perfectly fine all day long. This laptop is on almost all day long and is mainly an email, internet and document machine during the day while working on a Mac Pro tower.

10.13.4 (17E199) on MacBookPro late 2013