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Apple mail says "Offline" but works
#55542 08/03/20 09:07 AM
Joined: Aug 2009
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ryck Offline OP
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Joined: Aug 2009
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Earlier I wanted to look at something in my Mail prefs but, as soon as I opened them, the status of may mail account changed to "Offline". When I tried to get it back online I got a message that neither my User Name nor my Password were recognized.

I re-entered both but kept getting the same message. During all of this I sent myself some test messages but did not receive them on my iMac. I checked the ISP's webmail account and the test messages had arrived there.

Then I checked my iPad but it had a message similar to the iMac message ....about not being able to connect to the server. I assumed that two machines not receiving must mean the problem was with the ISP server, not my Mail app(s).

Then, like magic, the test messages came in, so I sent a new one which went and was received successfully. However, even though mail is coming and going, the Prefs panel on my iMac still says "Offline". Why would that be? Is it an issue with the app or can it be some weird thing with the server?



NOTE: There is an extenuating circumstance. Historically my ISP, Telus, has had big issues with server failures and have recently decided to move their clients to something called "enterprise-grade G Suite" and are doing it in a phased method. I have not yet been moved but wonder if all their phasing activity could be screwing up other things.

Last edited by ryck; 08/03/20 09:20 AM.

ryck

"What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits" The Doobie Brothers

iMac (Retina 5K, 27", 2020), 3.8 GHz 8 Core Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 2667 MHz DDR4
OS Ventura 13.6.3
Canon Pixma TR 8520 Printer
Epson Perfection V500 Photo Scanner c/w VueScan software
TM on 1TB LaCie USB-C
Re: Apple mail says "Offline" but works
ryck #55547 08/03/20 03:50 PM
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Have you quit and relaunched Mail? Have you performed a cold boot (ie. powered down, paused a few seconds, then restarted)?


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Apple mail says "Offline" but works
joemikeb #55558 08/03/20 06:19 PM
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ryck Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: joemikeb
Have you quit and relaunched Mail? Have you performed a cold boot (ie. powered down, paused a few seconds, then restarted)?

Yes to both. I also took these actions:

1. Booted into Recovery and ran Disk Repair from Disk Utility
2. In Cocktail, ran the Daily, Weekly, Monthly scripts
3. In Cocktail, rebuilt Launch Services database

Is it not reasonable to assume the issue might be with the ISP's server, not my Mac software, since the issue was common to both my iMac and my iPad?

Last edited by ryck; 08/03/20 06:21 PM.

ryck

"What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits" The Doobie Brothers

iMac (Retina 5K, 27", 2020), 3.8 GHz 8 Core Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 2667 MHz DDR4
OS Ventura 13.6.3
Canon Pixma TR 8520 Printer
Epson Perfection V500 Photo Scanner c/w VueScan software
TM on 1TB LaCie USB-C
Re: Apple mail says "Offline" but works
ryck #55559 08/03/20 06:24 PM
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I had a similar problem with Mail, but it was not my ISP (Spectrum): I could receive emails by using Outlook instead of Mail (Outlook is not my first choice). In addition, I could log into Spectrum's webmail with the same password. The solution was to create a new account in Mail. This was Apple's idea and it has worked.

Several years ago, when I was using MS Entourage, my account became corrupted and I had to do the same thing.


Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: Apple mail says "Offline" but works
jchuzi #55572 08/04/20 03:54 PM
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Originally Posted By: jchuzi
I had a similar problem with Mail, but it was not my ISP (Spectrum): I could receive emails by using Outlook instead of Mail (Outlook is not my first choice). In addition, I could log into Spectrum's webmail with the same password. The solution was to create a new account in Mail. This was Apple's idea and it has worked.

Several years ago, when I was using MS Entourage, my account became corrupted and I had to do the same thing.


By "create a new account in Mail" do you mean an account with a new e-mail address and password, or just delete the old IMAP account and recreate it as new? The latter is safe to do, the former requiring some (more complex?) transitioning.


On a Mac since 1984.
Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.
Re: Apple mail says "Offline" but works
Ira L #55575 08/04/20 04:03 PM
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I made a HUGE MISTAKE in deleting the old account. The Apple tech told me to do it and I did, without thinking. The result was that I lost all the emails associated with that account and had to do a lot of legwork to retrieve them. You can see the whole sordid mess in this thread. Had I kept the old account, all the emails would have been there, even if I had trouble with the account.


Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365

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