Mail says my home directory is full

I've been having some major system problems of late.
Following the successful restoration of my laptop's hard drive today I launched Mail. It was very sluggish & came up with the error message:
"Mail cannot update your mailboxes
because your home directory is full.
You must free up space in your home folder before
using Mail. Delete unneeded documents or move
documents to another volume."
My hard drive has 23 GB of free space.
My home folder is 47 GB in size.
Can someone please explain what's going on here? Mail won't launch until I sort this issue.

Yay! It seems to have solved the problem with my e-mail. Thanks very much.
Now, I'll mention this here, as I know you'll be checking back, but I'll also start a fresh thread in the proper place about another irritating system problem I'm having.
When I try to copy from my home directory to an external hard drive, (about 600mb of data in this instance), it starts to copy in the normal way, saying about a minute remaining) then suddenly stops...
... and waits, while "time remaining" increases.
A short while ago it got as far as saying 40 minutes!! For 600mb!!
I tried to launch my browser while this was happening & it was having none of it.
I tried to launch the "force quit applications" window. Again nothing.
Then I stopped it copying & the other things opened.
It's as if "copying" suddenly asks for more power than the computer can supply & everything else takes a back seat. The copying begins, but at an absolute snail's pace.
If I left if for 40 minutes it would probably copy successfully, but why so slow? I have about 30GB of data I need to remove from my hard drive before I can do a clean install, but at this speed I don't think I'm going to live long enough!

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Mail not opening, "Home directory is full" ???

I am unable to open my mail application. I'm getting the following error message:
"Mail cannot update your mailboxes because your home directory is full.
You must free up space in your home folder before using Mail. Delete unneeded documents or move documents to another volume."
I don't understand. When I check my home folder there is plenty of space.
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Thank you
Aaron Yassin

Hello Aaron.
With the Mail.app quit and using the Finder, go to Home > Library > Mail > Envelope Index.
Delete the Envelope Index file and empty the Trash.
Using the Finder, go to Home > Library > Mail. Copy the Mail folder and place the copy on your Desktop for backup purposes.
Launch Mail and you will be prompted to import all mailboxes available within the Mail folder at Home > Library > Mail.
Select OK and allow the import process to complete. It really isn't importing anything but replacing the deleted Envelope Index file and re-indexing (so to speak) all messages.
When completed and after confirming all mailboxes and messages are available, you can delete the copy of the Mail folder from the Desktop.

Mail says my Home folder is full?

Strange, Mail keeps telling me it can't save changes (i.e. do anything) because my Home folder is full and that I should move documents? What's the deal? I have no documents in the documents folder in Home... Any ideas?

Corruption of ~/Library/Mail/Envelope Index is known to cause this bogus error message in Mail even when there is enough disk space available (but you must make sure that there is enough space available first).
Verify/repair the startup disk (not just permissions), as described here:
The Repair functions of Disk Utility: what's it all about?
After having fixed all filesystem issues, if any, and making sure that there's enough space available on the startup disk (a few GB, plus the space needed to make a backup copy of the Mail folder), try this:
1. Quit Mail if it's running.
2. In the Finder, go to ~/Library/Mail/. Make a backup copy of this folder, just in case something goes wrong -- e.g. by dragging it to the Desktop while holding the Option (Alt) key down.
3. Locate Envelope Index and move it to the Trash. If you see an Envelope Index-journal file there, delete it as well.
4. Open Mail. It will tell you that your mail needs to be "imported". Click Continue and Mail will proceed to re-create Envelope Index -- Mail says it's "importing", but it just re-creates the index if the mailboxes are already in Mail 2.x format.
Note: For those not familiarized with the ~/ notation, it refers to the user's home folder, i.e. ~/Library is the Library folder within the user's home folder.

Mac Newbie - Problem opening Mail, says home directory is full

I am new to Mac so forgive my ingnorance. I have been using Mail with no problems but just now (and each successive time despite restarts), when I open Mail a box pops up that says
"Mail cannot update your mailboxes because your home directory is full. You must free up space in your home folder before using Mail. Delete unneeded documents or move documents to another volume."
I appreciate any help.
G-Mc

Try the following.
Quit the Mail.app first and using the Finder, go to Home > Library > Mail > Envelope Index. Delete the Envelope Index file and empty the Trash.
Copy the Mail folder and place the copy on the Desktop for backup purposes.
Launch Mail and you will be prompted to import all mailboxes located in the Mail folder at Home > Library > Mail.
Select OK and allow the import process to complete. This process isn't really importing anything but replacing the deleted Envelope Index file and re-indexing all mailboxes.
If this resolves the problem and after confirming all mailboxes and messages are available, you can delete the copy of the Mail folder placed on the Desktop.

Mail Prog will not open ...says home directory is full

mail program wont open , says mail cannot update your mailboxes because your home directory is full.. Ive 87 gig of space , Ive cleaned a heap off and ran disc utility repair permissions , retsrated , but it just dont wanna open.. does anybody have any clues here please ..many thanks Snog O

Hi Snog,
"Mail cannot update your mailboxes because your home directory is full' alert"...
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24486

Mail wont open says home directory is full. HELP?

I dont know what happend but i restarted my powerbook today and when i got back to the desktop and tried launching mail it gives me the following message.
MAIL CANNOT UPDATE YOUR MAILBOXES BECAUSE YOUR HOME DIRECTORY IS FULL.
You must free up space in your home folder before using mail. Delete unneeded documents or move documents to another volume.
what happend to cause this and what can i do to fix it.
Thanks

If your hard drive has at least 5GB of free space available, quit Mail first and using the Finder go to Home > Library > Mail > Envelope Index. Move the Envelope Index file to the Desktop.
Afterwards, copy the Mail folder and place the copy on the Desktop for backup purposes.
Launch Mail and you will be prompted to import all mailboxes available in the Mail folder at Home > Library > Mail.
Select OK and allow the import process to complete and a new Envelope Index file will be created automatically by Mail within the Mail folder.
After confirming all mailboxes were successfully imported and are available, you can delete the copy of the Mail folder and the old Envelope Index file from the Desktop.
This should resolve the problem.

Mail will not open - error message says home directory is full

I am running 10.4.3 on a dual 800 PowerPC G4 with 1.5 GB SDRAM.
I also run 10.4.3 on one PowerBook G4 and 2 iBooks.
I retain on my computer a large number of email messages but have plenty of room in my .Mac file
I run several hundred email messages per day.
Three days ago when I attempted to open Mail, I rec'd error message "Mail cannot update your mailboxes because your home directory is full. You must free up space in your home folder before using Mail. Delete unneeded documents or move documents to another volume."
I have deleted many files from the home folder and moved others. I still get the same error message.
I have experienced no problems with accessing my mail using my PowerBook G4 with similar config and OS.
johncleek
Power Mac G4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Try this:
Try the following:
With Mail quit and using the Finder, go to Home > Library > Mail.
Move the Mail folder to the Desktop.
Launch Mail and a new Mail folder (and account named folders within) will be created automatically.
All new mailboxes will be empty but if this allows the Mail.app to function properly, you can use the Import Mailboxes feature to import selected mailboxes or manually replace mailboxes from the old Mail folder one at a time to determine which mailbox was causing the problem

Mail "Home Directory is Full" again

Allan Sampson said on 6th July 2006 "With the Mail.app quit and using the Finder, go to Home > Library > Mail > Envelope Index. Move the Envelope Index file to the Desktop.
After doing so, copy the Mail folder and place the copy on the Desktop for backup purposes.
Launch Mail and you will be prompted to import all mailboxes available within the Mail folder at Home > Library > Mail.
Select OK and allow the process to complete. This isn't really importing anything but replacing the Envelope Index file and re-indexing all mailboxes.
This should resolve the problem
After confirming all mailboxes and messages are available, you can delete the copy of the Mail folder and the old Envelope Index file from the Desktop."
I have done all that Alan has outlined but all I get now in the beachball rotating for at least 20 minutes. If I go to the desktop I cannot access mail and if I force close Mail it comes up with the same "Home directory is full". In case I got it wrong first time, I've now repeated it three times with the same result the spinning beach ball which never stops. Help!
Mac mni Mac OS X (10.4.7) I have five macs and two PCs

Verify/repair your disk first (not just permissions), as described here:
The Repair functions of Disk Utility: what's it all about?
After having fixed all filesystem issues, if any, try the following variation of the procedure to re-create the index (it could be that you didn't also get rid of Envelope Index-journal, for example):
1. Quit Mail if it's running.
2. In the Finder, go to ~/Library/Mail/. Make a backup copy of this folder, just in case something goes wrong -- e.g. by dragging it to the Desktop while holding the Option (Alt) key down.
3. Locate Envelope Index and move it to the Trash. If you see an Envelope Index-journal file there, delete it as well.
4. Move any "IMAP-", "Mac-", or "Exchange-" account folders to the Trash. Note that you can do this with IMAP-type accounts because they store mail on the server and Mail can easily re-create them. DON'T trash any "POP-" account folders, as that would cause all mail stored there to be lost.
5. Open Mail. It will tell you that your mail needs to be "imported". Click Continue and Mail will proceed to re-create Envelope Index -- Mail says it's "importing", but it just re-creates the index if the mailboxes are already in Mail 2.x format.
Note: For those not familiarized with the ~/ notation, it refers to the user's home folder, i.e. ~/Library is the Library folder within the user's home folder.

Mail message telling me 'home directory is full'????

Hello There, I have been happily using mail (with a gmail email account) for about a week now, but today I received a message and when I went to reply I get a message "Mail cannot update your mailboxes because you home directory is full" It then tells me to free up space in my home folder before using Mail. Delete unneeded documents or move to another volume. - I don't understand what it wants me to do or why!! I have 30 Gbs of free space on my hard drive so what's it's problem?? Any solutions?? Thanks in advance

Hello zeetog.
Corruption of ~/Library/Mail/Envelope Index (which in turn might be caused by some filesystem corruption) is known to cause this bogus error message in Mail, even when there is enough space available on disk — but you must make sure first that there is actually enough space available (a few GB) and that the error message is indeed bogus.
Verify/repair the startup disk (not just permissions), as described here:
The Repair functions of Disk Utility: what's it all about?
After having fixed all the filesystem issues, if any, and ensuring that there’s enough space available on the startup disk (a few GB, plus the space needed to make a backup copy of the Mail folder), try this:
1. Quit Mail if it’s running.
2. In the Finder, go to ~/Library/Mail/. Make a backup copy of this folder, just in case something goes wrong, e.g. by dragging it to the Desktop while holding the Option (Alt) key down. This is where all your mail is locally stored.
3. Locate Envelope Index and move it to the Trash. If you see any other “Envelope Index”-named file there, delete it as well.
4. Open Mail. It will tell you that your mail needs to be “imported”. Click Continue and Mail will proceed to re-create Envelope Index — Mail says it’s “importing”, but it just re-creates the index if the mailboxes are already in Mail 2.x format.
Note: For those not familiarized with the ~/ notation, it refers to the user’s home folder. That is, ~/Library is the Library folder within the user’s home folder, i.e. /Users/username/Library.

On 10.4.11 Mac Mail I get this: Mail cannot update your mailboxes because your home directory is full. You must free up space in your home folder before using Mail. Delete unnedded documents or move documents to another volume. I can't open mail.

On 10.4.11 iMac Mac Mail I get this message: "Mail cannot update your mailboxes because your home directory is full. You must free up space in your home folder before using Mail. Delete unneeded documents or move documents to another volume." I can't open mail to do this. I have reinstalled software but no effect. How do I get into Mail to delete?

Found this on the "more like this" Worked like a charm!
With the Mail.app quit and using the Finder, go to Home > Library > Mail. Copy the Mail folder and place the copy on the Desktop for backup purposes.
Go to Home > Library > Mail > Envelope Index. Move the Envelope Index file to the Desktop.
Launch Mail and you will be prompted to import mailboxes. Select OK and allow the import process to complete.
After confirming all mailboxes were successfully imported and available, you can delete the copy of the Mail folder and old Envelope Index file from the Desktop and this should resolve the problem.

Unable to open Mail. Home directory is full.

Suddenly I can no longer open my Mail program. The error message I am confronted with is:
"Mail cannot update your mailboxes because your home directory is full.
You must free up space in your home folder before using Mail. Delete unneded documents or move documents to another volume."
I have gone in to my home folder and deleted a ton of stuff. But I am still unable to open my Mail application.
Any assistance would be much appreciated.

What is your hard drive capacity and available free space after deleting a ton of stuff?
Try the following.
With the Mail.app quit and using the Finder, go to Home > Library > Mail > Envelope Index.
Move the Envelope Index file to the Desktop.
When re-launching Mail, you will be prompted to import all mailboxes located within the Mail folder at Home > Library > Mail. Select OK and allow the import process to complete.
After confirming all mailboxes were successfully imported, you can delete the old Envelope Index file from the Desktop and this should resolve the problem.

"Mail cannot update your mailboxes because your home directory is full"

I have a 250 GB hard disk, 4.34 GB of which is in my "Home" folder. (Total HD usage is about 27 GB.) This happened suddenly after Mail had been working fine for eons. I deleted a bunch of files (107 MB) in a "Drafts" folder (none show up in the Mail app's "Drafts" icon), but it made no difference. I re-installed the Mac OS X 10.4.11 combo update... no difference. Mail version is 2.1.3.
Any help here? I cannot use Mail at all.
Message was edited by: Bill Strohm

Hey there,
Have you had a chance to look at this Apple support document relating directly to this issue. Hope it helps.
[Mac OS X 10.4: "Mail cannot update your mailboxes because your home directory is full" alert|http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24486?viewlocale=en_US]
B-rock

Mail account cannot update because home directory is full. But I can not get into mail without freezing. Is there a back door entry?

mail account cannot update because home directory is full. But I can not get into mail without freezing. Is there a back door entry?

Do you mean that your startup disk is full?

Mail Reports that the home directory is full

My iBook has Norton Firewall on it and when I connected it to the high speed internet in a hotel room, the Firewall went crazy logging thousands of hits in a few minutes. Eventually the iBook stopped and a multi-lingual message requested that I reboot the iBook.
In the meantime, I had started the Mail program.
Once I managed to get the iBook working again, (it took some time and I had to restart the machine with the shift key down), I ran the usual disk clean-up utilities, Disk Utility, DiskWarrior and Drive Genius. The machine then rebooted and everything except mail worked correctly. Mail will not start but instead reports the following:
Mail cannot update your mailboxes
because your home directory is full.
You must free up space in your home folder before
using Mail. Delete unneeded documents or move
documents to another volume.
There is lots of free disk space on this machine and I can work with files with other programs so I think a mail file must be corrupted. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who knows how to fix this problem.
iBook G3, G4 Minitower Mac OS X (10.4.6)

My question has been answered by a posting made to another member during the time I was typing in my problem.
Thanks

Mail tells me my home directory is full,

When I start up Mail, I get the following message.
Mail cannot update your mailboxes because your home directory is full.
The only option is a quit button.
However, I have emptied every mail folder in the home directory, and moved a bunch of stuff off the hard drive (there is now over 7 gigs free). I have reinstalled mail from the install disk, and repaired permissions with Tech Tool.
Running 10.4.11 and WAS using mail 3. Any suggestions?

Hi David, and a warm welcome to the forums!
Couple of things to try...
In your home folder, try moving this folder to the Desktop...
/Library/Caches/Mail
http://www.hawkwings.net/2006/02/08/rebuild-your-database-and-speed-up-mailapp/
Move Envelope Index to the Desktop in...
/Library/Mail
Oh wait... are you using FileVault?

Mail says my home directory is full

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