Why is Mac Mail Not Receiving Emails? Top 12 Tips to Fix It

For Mac users, Apple or Mac Mail is one of the widely known platforms for seamlessly managing or syncing email with other Apple devices. Often, some disruptions like “Mac Mail not receiving emails” lead to inconvenience in accessing the Apple Mail emails seamlessly.

The issue of Apple Mail not sending or receiving emails on macOS causes trouble for professional, business, and personal communication. Now, seeking ways to fix the problem of Mac Mail, here is the complete troubleshooting guidance to resolve it and improve your productivity.

Quick Fixes

If Mail isn’t receiving messages, try these four things first to resolve the issue quickly:

• Check the internet.
• Open webmail for that account, like Gmail.com, iCloud.com, or Outlook.com. If you see new messages there, the problem is local; if not, the problem is on the server side.
• Quit and reopen Mail (Mail > Quit Mail, then relaunch).
• Restart your Mac.

How Mail Works

Apple Mail (the Mail app) connects to remote mail servers using two main incoming protocols:

• IMAP: Mail stays on the server, and shows a replica of the data on all the synced services, like Gmail, Outlook, or any other. It is best when you need to access the data from multiple services.
• POP3: Mail is downloaded to the device and removed from the server. Not recommended if not properly configured, because emails exist only on that single device. It will set a boundary on accessing data from only a single device or application. 

Outgoing mail uses SMTP and is separate from incoming.

What Happens If My Mac Mail Not Sending Emails?

Undoubtedly, the problem of Mac Mail not receiving emails offers numerous challenges for Mac users when it comes to organising or accessing their mailbox data. From the fear of missing out on important emails, you may be skipping crucial meeting updates. Certainly, the consequences of these glitches are disturbing, especially delays in sending or receiving emails.

Additionally, users might experience failing to get responses on time. However, many users deal with these same issues with other email clients, too. Often, problems happen due to various reasons, so let’s dive in to find them quickly.

Why Does Mac Mail Not Receiving Emails? Know Potential Reasons

Experiencing the issue of Mac Mail not sending emails on Sonoma, Ventura, or earlier macOS versions. Here are the most common factors behind raising the problem on any Mac system.

• Incorrect Mac Mail Settings:- Unknowingly, Mac users alter the default settings to streamline their emails. On the flip side, it will result in preventing access to or sending emails on Apple Mail. Some of the common misconfigurations happen with incorrect server addresses, port numbers, syncing issues, and more.
• Connection Issue:- Many of you might be ignorant of checking the stable connection, causing Apple Mail not working on Mac. This issue is capable of halting the services of Mac Mail on macOS. Therefore, check the connection to prevent failure.
• Wrong IMAP/ POP Settings:- For handling incoming or outgoing emails, Mac Mail provides IMAP or POP protocol. Hence, these two different protocols help to fetch new emails on Mac Mail. Unfortunately, some incorrectly configured settings bring the issue of Mac Mail not receiving emails on the Mac machine.
• If Storage is Full:- Whether it’s macOS or Apple Mail, insufficient storage significantly impacts the complete mailbox. With this, users might face the issue of clogging of the inbox or errors in sending recent emails.
• Unsupported/ Outdated Version:- If you’re using the outdated versions of both macOS and Mail, it perhaps adds inconvenience in managing the inbox while loading, sending, or receiving the emails. Hence, this unfolds the compatibility issue; therefore, check out the recent updates of applications.

Overall, these are the common reasons behind can’t send or receive emails on a Mac. This problem can happen to anyone, so don’t immediately panic. Here, we are going to provide some simple and best ways to fix this problem completely. Further, we will provide both basic and advanced-level step-by-step guidance to fix Apple Mail not sending emails easily.

12 Easy Tips for Apple Mail Stopped Sending Emails – Troubleshooting Guidance

In the following section, we will list some of the go-to manual troubleshooting tips to fix the two different issues of Apple Mail: can’t send or receive emails on Mac Mail. So, read and implement the steps below to resolve the issue quickly.

Tip 1: Get a Seamless Connection

It is one of the basic troubleshooting steps when facing the issue of Mac Mail not receiving emails. For the same, Mac users can turn Off/On the network connection to get uninterrupted connectivity. It helps users to access Apple Mail emails easily on macOS.

Tip 2: Restart Your macOS and Mac Mail

It is yet another basic tip for all Mac users if they encounter the problem of Apple Mail not sending emails. To resolve the issue, users need to first restart Mac Mail and macOS to fix the minor syncing error.

Additionally, users can refresh the inbox of Apple Mail in a few simple steps. First, go to the Mailbox and then click on Get All New Mail or enter Command + Shift + N. Implementing these steps will help users to fetch new emails smoothly.

Tip 3: Reconfigure Your Email Account

Sometimes the IMAP authentication failed error is unable to connect to the Mac Mail. Hence, it disrupts the sending and receiving of emails on Apple Mail. Now, users need to log out and reconfigure the existing account on Mac Mail. Here are the steps to perform on macOS:-

1. Open your macOS, and select the Apple icon from the left corner.
2. Go to System Preferences and then Internet Accounts.
3. Now, select the email address offering trouble.
4. Move to the (-) icon from the bottom.
5. After this, click on the (+) icon to provide the email.
6. Lastly, again sign in to your Account and launch the Mail App.

Now, try to monitor the working of your Mac Mail. In this way, users can fix the problem of Mac Mail not sending emails easily. Besides this, there are other methods to resolve the issue. So, dive in to find them.

Tip 4: Check the Mail Rules

Generally, making changes in mail rules causes trouble. Moreover, these rules are set to create a clutter-free inbox. Unfortunately, playing with these settings brings errors in sending and receiving emails on Apple Mail. Now, read the instructions to fix the issue easily.

1. Open your Mac Mail and then click on Mail > Preferences.
2. Go to the Rules section and either click on Remove or Edit the settings.
3. In this way, users can resume the services of Apple Mail.

Tip 5: Check Server Outage

If facing the issue of Mac Mail not receiving emails, it happens due to a server outage. In this situation, users need to first visit the official page of Apple support to find the recent updates and issues related to the Mac Mail when sending or receiving new emails. Now, if there is any available update, then wait for some time to get the accessibility.

Tip 6: Update the Mail Application and macOS

Using the outdated version may cause incompatibility issues as Apple Mail not working on Mac. To avoid these challenges, ensure working on the updated edition of Mac Mail and the Mac system. Here’s the step-by-step guidance to update the Mac machine:-

1. Move to System Preferences and then select Software Update.
2. If you found any available updates, hit the update button.

Tip 7: Use Force Quit

Another method to fix the problem of Mac Mail not sending emails includes Force Quit. Here are the ways to implement it at once.

1. Go to the Apple menu and click on Force Quit.
2. From the Force Quit Application, select the Mail app and hit Force Quit.

Tip 8: Disable Email Account

There are several instances when the issue with the email account can prevent Mac users from accessing Apple Mail emails. In this case, users need to disable the account, here’s the quick steps to do it manually.

1. Check the Apple Menu and move to System Settings.
2. Go to Internet Accounts.
3. Now, open the account you want to delete > tab on Delete Account.
4. Lastly, press OK.

Also, find out why is Apple Mail not syncing with Gmail.

Tip 9: IMAP/POP/SMTP Settings & Port Checks

Wrong server names, ports, or security settings will block connections. To verify the same:

• In Mail, select the Preferences option.
• Click on Accounts > Server Settings (or Accounts > Advanced in older macOS) and confirm:
  • Incoming (IMAP) server (hostname), e.g., imap.gmail.com.
  • Port: IMAP over TLS 993 (IMAP+SSL/TLS); IMAP without TLS uses 143 (rare). POP over TLS commonly uses 995.
  • Authentication: Password or OAuth.
• Use TLS/SSL: enabled for modern providers.

For the outgoing (SMTP) server, verify the hostname and port:

• 587 with STARTTLS
• 465 with SSL
• Authentication required (username/password).

Tip 10: Corrupted Mail Data and How to Repair It

If Mail is crashing or showing errors when rebuilding, you might have corrupted message data.

1. Back up ~/Library/Mail and ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail first. Always make a replica of your data on your system with a professional Email Backup Wizard before attempting repairs.
2. If Mail crashes on launch, start in Safe Mode (hold Shift during boot) and try launching Mail. If it works in Safe Mode, the issue may be caused by third-party plugins. Removing the plugins can fix the issue instantly.

Tip 11: Firewall & VPN

Sometimes, security measures, or VPN, can block ports or interfere with TLS. Disabling them solves the Mac Mail not receiving emails issue most of the time. If you work in a company and you don’t know about a proxy, then follow these steps to get complete information:

• Go to System Settings.
• Click the Network > Advanced
• Lastly, hit the Proxies option.

If you found any proxy enabled, disable it to make your Apple Mail work smoothly.

Tip 12: Server-side/ Provider Issues

1. If the provider flags spam or abuse, they can suspend incoming mail. Check your account email or support.
2. Some servers limit concurrent IMAP connections. If you have many devices or mail clients open, try logging out others.
3. Providers can block a new client for suspicious sign-in; Gmail sends a security email or SMS asking you to confirm it was you. Log in via webmail and look for security alerts.

Secure Your Mailbox with a Server Backup

If Apple Mail (or any client) is failing to receive or sync, the safest move before deep fixes is to secure a server-side backup of the mailbox via IMAP. For the same, MVPs and IT professionals suggested opting for SysTools IMAP Backup Software. It connects directly to your mail server over IMAP and exports your data to local formats (PST, MBOX, EML, MSG, & PDF), which you can restore or open later, without depending on the Mail app.

You can also use it as a migrator to move data to Outlook, Thunderbird, or any other email client, as it can export IMAP to PST, MBOX, EML, MSG, and PDF formats, which can be easily imported in these clients, i.e. Outlook (PST), and Thunderbird (MBOX).

Try this now for free, and make your data accessible even if your email client is not working.

Why do experts recommend this?

• Backs up mail directly from IMAP servers, i.e. Gmail, Outlook/Office 365, iCloud, Yahoo, and custom hosts
• Supports secure IMAP over SSL/TLS (port 993) for encrypted transfer
• Preserves original folder hierarchy
• Date-range filter to export emails from specific time periods
• Incremental backup to download only new emails after the first run
• Maintains email metadata (To, From, Subject, Date, attachments, headers)
• Keeps attachments intact in all supported export formats
• Handles large mailboxes without size limitations
• Compatible with app passwords and accounts protected by 2FA

Rollback plan

If something goes wrong:

• Restore the ~/Library/Mail folder from your backup (if you made one). Replace the folder you moved earlier.
• Replace ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail if you backed it up.
• Restart Mail. If it fails, you can reinstall macOS Mail by reinstalling macOS, but that’s rarely necessary.
  

Always back up before major changes.

Preventive maintenance & best practices

I recommend these to avoid “Mail not receiving emails” problems:

• Use IMAP instead of POP as it keeps a server copy safe.
• Keep a backup of ~/Library/Mail occasionally, especially before macOS upgrades.
• Use OAuth for Gmail/Outlook when available.
• If your provider uses 2FA, create app passwords for old clients.

Mac Mail Not Receiving Emails – FAQs

Q. Why is my Apple Mail app not receiving new emails?

There are multiple reasons behind not receiving or sending emails on Mac Mail:-

1. Incorrect Rule Settings
2. Bad Internet Connection
3. Mac Storage is Full
4. Using Outdated Software
5. Apple Server Outage

Q. How do I fix Mac Mail not sending emails?

Follow the tips to resolve the problem of Apple Mail can’t send or receive new emails:-

1. Look for a good connection
2. Check Mail Rule Settings
3. Choose the Force Quit Option
4. Restart Your Mac Email Account
5. Update macOS System

Q. Mail is slow or stuck downloading

Large attachments can slow sync. Check the Activity window. If a single message stalls, then delete it from the server (if not important).

Q. After the macOS upgrade, Mail stopped receiving?

Mail upgrades sometimes change folder structures (V7 to V8). To fix it:

• Rebuild the index
• Remove and re-add accounts
• Check Keychain entries.

Concluding Words

In summary, we have provided the best go-to troubleshooting step guidance to resolve the issue of Mac Mail not receiving emails. By implementing these ways, users can manually fix the Mac Mail problem irrespective of any data modification. Further, users can either back up the data in case of quick accessibility of the Apple Mail mailbox.