This is a continuation of the Mac Issues series of posts, you can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
I was having a problem with the Mail app on my Macbook Pro. The problem was that Mail wasn’t working at all, and I had to force quit every time I opened it. When the app would launch, the viewer window wouldn’t launch with it. I knew all of my information was correct with my SMTP setup, as it was showing I had a strong connection to my account, so I knew it had to be something with the install.
After checking thoroughly on the internet, I called up Apple support and found out that there is a bug with the newest version of Leopard (10.5.6) for anyone upgrading from Tiger. What happens is that the Mail program installs incorrectly for some reason, so here’s what you have to do if you’re having the same problem:
Close all running applications, then go into your ~User/Library/Mail/ directory and move everything with a white paper icon temporarily to your desktop, leaving all files with folder icons in the directory. Restart your computer and then open Mail and you should be at the “Import Your Messages” screen. Go through this section and when you’re done Mail should open up and be working.
Update: Once you can confirm that Mail is working and you are able to send and receive messages, you can delete the white paper icons from your computer.
I’m not a support guy, but this trick worked like a charm for me. It was so simple that I’m surprised that Apple doesn’t say anything about it on their support site, especially since they know about it. Also, I’d like to just put a disclaimer out to everyone to use at your own risk, this is a trick that worked for me and I can’t be held responsible for anything that might happen if you try it yourself (though I’m sure there isn’t really a risk at all…).
It’s stressful to have computers that aren’t running correctly when you have so much work to do, so I’m really thankful that after 2 weeks of torture things seem to be on the up and up. Hopefully I won’t have to worry about another hard drive crash any time soon, but if it happens I know that I’ve got a Time Machine on my side.
So ends the saga “Mac Issues”, at least I hope.
Thank you for your help !! Very helpful indeed.
No problem, glad I helped someone! :D
Really, great, Seventhfury, for posting this, I had the same problems after upgrading from Tiger to Leopard 10.5.6. Your suggestions worked for me like magic as well…
The only thing is: what am I to do with the white paper icon files that I temporarily moved to my desktop? Mail seems to work fine without them (one – envelope index – has been automatically replaced by a new one) Should I trash them? Put them back? You don’t mention this in your message.
Thanks anyway :-)
Jaco, I’m glad I could help! Thanks for your question, I made an update in the post and I’ll share it with you here as well. Once you can confirm that Mail is working and you are able to send and receive messages, you can delete the white paper icons from your computer.
Glad to hear this worked for you, hopefully it will help some other people as well.
Seriously dude. I was pretty screwed until i came across your post. Thank you!
No problem Dave! I’m glad that taking the time to post about this has helped others, especially when I know I’ve spent time searching for answers to problems like this before only to find the answers on blogs or forums, not on the official Apple Support site. Cheers!