Mail takes Account Offline Randomly

OS 10.6.5 - Mail set to check the server every 5 minutes which it does for many cycles
But it is randomly asking me to re-enter my password for my one account.
I click on Cancel & then go to the Mailbox Menu.
Under the Mailbox Menu, Take All Accounts Offline is dimmed.
Clicking on Take All Accounts Online solves the problem.
Is there a fix for this bug?
Thanks!
...John

Setting the polling interval to 15 minutes made no apparent difference.
2 separate episodes today where the Account was taken off-line & the request for the password appeared.
Once again, going to the Mailbox Menu & clicking on 'Take All Accounts On-line' rectified the problem.
Not a big problem but a bit of a hassle!
Thanks for the effort!
...John

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Hi Nuch1,
I found an article that is contains very thorough Mail troubleshooting steps:
OS X Mail: Troubleshooting sending and receiving email messages
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3276
You can use that article to figure out what part of the email "ecosystem" is the cause of the issue, and it can also help you attempt to resolve it.
Hope that helps,
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Apple Mail - all accounts offline

Without warning all of my email accounts are completely offline on my MacBook Pro running Mavericks 10.9.3. My Mail version is 7.3.
I cannot send or receive. Clicking on "Take all Accounts Online" has no effect, and doesn't even bring up an error message or info box. It might possibly have happened after the mac was asleep, but hard to tell - I just noticed it in the middle of the day when I hadn't had any mail for a while.
I have quit and re-opened Mail a few times, re-started the mac a couple of times but neither of those helped. The connection doctor gives everything a red blob. And I definitely have a network connection.
I can get Mail for all the same accounts on my iPad and iPhone, so the problem is not with the accounts, and they are a mixture of POP and IMAP accounts with various providers, so no common theme.
Any ideas as to what I should try next?
Cheers

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually login automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

Apple mail -- all accounts offline after sleep

I am having a problem with the mail app on a late 2010 MacBook Air. Specifically, all accounts are offline after resuming from sleep.
I am running apple mail (7.3), and OS X 10.9.3. Once the network reconnects, only the mail app remains a problem.
The problem seems to have coincided with EITHER (or both) my having messed around with the DNS configuration in order to try an app called Blockless and/or having upgraded to OS X 10.9.3. I have four mail accounts, all but one of which are Gmail IMAP accounts (the 4th runs from Bluehost mail, and is also an IMAP account). I currently have the DNS set at the default number, but might try going back to 8.8.8.8. Mail works fine on my several iOS devices.

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SMTP accounts offline. Can not get them online!

Using Mail 4.6. Several of my SMTP accounts are marked as "offline" and the the menu choices for changing accounts to online are greyed out. This is only interfering with sending mail from a single Gmail account, and I have checked the settings and attempted to change the SMTP server, but it consistently shows up as "offline" no matter what I do. I am receiving mail from this account and can both receive and send mail from my other Gmail accounts, and all other accounts.
Is there some way to change the status of the SMTP settings to "online"? Deleting and re-entering them has not worked. Under the Mailbox menu "Take All Accounts Online" is greyed out and the only options shown with Online Status are to take accounts Offline; the accounts that are offline are not shown at all with any option to take them online. Any ideas about why this is happening?

I am using a MIFI (ATT) as we live in the country and cannot get any other providers. On the same machine with a different user, there is no problem. There is no "offline" and the server is iCloud (iCloud). But on this user, setting up everything the same, it will keep "offline',although the Clonnection Doctor says that mail is connected to the Internet. But it doesn't work!! Any other information? Thanks for any help.

MAC MAIL (smtp server - offline)

This is to address smtp server going offline:
troubleshooting steps:
Option 1.
- Mailbox - Take account Online
if that doesn't work...
Option 2.
- check smtp server
- Mail - Preferences - Accounts - Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)
- remove current smtp server then add again
- take account offline then online
- quit and reopen Mac Mail
Option 3.
- delete and recreate account
Anyone experiencing the same problem? I have att.net. One email working with same smtp server. Other email setup, same att account with the same settings but smtp offline. Is this a Mac update issue? Time warner email accounts having the same problem.

Gerald Gifford wrote:
I have not been able to send via my Mac.com/Me.com account since about 5PM PDT today.
I can send and receive (at my Mac.com mailbox) using att.net and gmail.com. The same message sent from the Mac.com smpt server fails as it is never sent.
I have just been able to send mail again. It is 2222hrs., 23 May.
Jerry
Any one else having this problem?
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Mail takes all mail account offline. I have duplicated this twice now. Let see if we can solve this.

I see others have had this problem but I do not see a solution. Simply put mail takes all accounts offline. The user is unable to return them to online status. Logging out or restarting will not allow the reenabling of the accounts. It takes deleting some of the files associated with mail and re entering the accounts info. I have seen this happen only when I have high date rate incoming internet traffic and mail attempts to retrieve the mail and it may take a few times. I download quite a few linux dvd isis so at time my bandwidth is full. This is when it has happened every time.
Even after the traffic has ceased mail is unable to connect. I ran disk util to see if there was a permission problem. I disabled the firewall to see if something changed there. Now note only mail seems affected i.e. internet usage is not. I tried pinging the smtp server no returns.
PING non-de-p14-imap.mail.me.com.akadns.net (17.151.226.82): 56 data bytes
Request timeout for icmp_seq 0
Request timeout for icmp_seq 1
Request timeout for icmp_seq 2
--- non-de-p14-imap.mail.me.com.akadns.net ping statistics ---
4 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100.0% packet loss
traceroute to non-de-p14-imap.mail.me.com.akadns.net (17.151.226.82), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets
1 192.168.10.1 (192.168.10.1) 0.589 ms 0.298 ms 0.232 ms
2 * * *
3 dtr01olvemo-tge-0-2-0-19.olve.mo.charter.com (96.34.52.217) 13.574 ms 12.964 ms 12.181 ms
4 bbr01olvemo-bue-5.olve.mo.charter.com (96.34.2.16) 13.945 ms 15.636 ms 17.989 ms
5 bbr02chcgil-bue-2.chcg.il.charter.com (96.34.0.12) 26.860 ms 23.622 ms 23.886 ms
6 prr02chcgil-bue-5.chcg.il.charter.com (96.34.3.122) 19.154 ms 18.771 ms 19.307 ms
7 17.1.148.17 (17.1.148.17) 18.822 ms 17.895 ms 19.729 ms
8 17.0.148.75 (17.0.148.75) 64.609 ms 63.703 ms 67.025 ms
9 * *
What files contain the config data for mail? The plist file?
Before I forget this is a macbook pro running 10.9.3 OS X Mail is Version 7.3 (1878.2)
connection doctor says mail was able to connect to the internet( notice trace route appears okay) but then complains the servers are unreachable.
Any thoughts, things to try etc.?

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually login automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

Mail takes all accounts offline for apparently no reason

For reasons unknown, Mail takes all my accounts offline. If I take all my accounts online and then click "get mail" all accounts are taken offline. This started with one account and suddenly spread to the other accounts. They are all POP accounts. The first account that did so for some reason would not allow me to change the smtp and the only choice was "account name - offline". Any ideas? I check mail manually and dont have it set to check automatically so it is not a question of checking too often. My iPhone is not set to check the accounts either...I dont have mobile me. Thanks...

I can't help here... but give my input about mail- I get sporadic weird things with mail and just learned to ignore them like a fly buzzing around the head. After a while it goes back to normal. Things like mail asking for passwords (I now just cancel this instead of re entering passwords), accounts going off line, mail freezing- this happened like three times this week... but not last month...

When I open Mail, all accounts are offline. It takes time to get them back online. This is an on-going problem that has been chronic and it has finally gotten me "inspired" to ask the Community

When I open Mail, all accounts appear offline. I have to get back "online" before mail is delivered or sent. Hassle. Any Ideas??
joehouston

Joe
I was having this same issue all week. I'm also using 10.8.5 It was driving me crazy. I think I found a solution. I downloaded and installed the latest security update from Apple in the App Store. I have not had a reoccurance since (?). Maybe that will help you as well.

Mail app asking for passwords it already knows, taking accounts offline, intermittently failing to connect IMAP/SMTP

Recently I have been experiencing intermittent connection failures with Mail in OS X 10.7.5 on both our Mac Pro and MacBook Pro.
The little "lightning bolt" icon or the "exclamation point" icon will occasionally appear next to some or all of my accounts in the left column and Mail will (sometimes) prompt for passwords already in my keychain and then take the accounts offline. Sometimes the failures take place during IMAP logins and sometimes during SMTP sends. Sometimes they affect my iCloud accounts, sometimes my Gmail accounts, and sometimes both.
When I try to take the account(s) back online, Mail sometimes fails to do so. Quitting the Mail application completely and relaunching it will randomly result in the problem persisting or going away. What makes this so confusing is about half the time, Mail works just fine.
This is only happening on OS X, in Apple Mail, our iPad and iPhones appear unaffected even when running on the same router with the same ISP. I can also verify that all the iCloud and Gmail accounts in question can be reached successfully using other mail client software from Windows in my various virtual machines. Therefore I believe this is an application issue and not something related to my network.
When the issue is evident, Connection Doctor will fail on some or all counts...when it goes away Connection Doctor will show all green lights again.
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Same issue, too. But I have nothing better to do than try to fix Apple problems that appear mysteriously and randomly; I'm sure you're the same way.
The REAL REASON, which can no longer be overlooked, is that Apple's (probably underpaid sweatshop Chinese) employees build toys for grown-ups and do little more than that. I wish I had never bought my Mac (2009) since few things about Apples are "intuitive" unless you've been an Apple cultist since Jobs introduced the first Mac. Oh, and because things mysteriously stop working, something I don't recall happening with any of the PCs I've owned.
Apple's version of Excel is a total joke and on an update that I did not ask for, the "Save As" feature, a convention that was 30 years old and worked well, was removed in favor of "Duplicate, Rename, Save." What 22 year-old Apple product manager was allowed to make this change?
I foolishly compounded my Mac purchase error by buying an iPhone 4S. On that lovely ($200 Verizon-subsidized) product, I can no longer discover my home network, rendering my ($100) Airplay for outdoor music useless. (But I probably can post a picture directly to Facebook or something! More toyish behavior in which Apple specializes.) Can I get support on these POS with a phone call? No, I need to rely on a Aapl cultist to devise some esoteric key combo or a "jailbreak" on a Support board or blog site.
I'm eligible for a phone upgrade on 8/13 and I'm counting the days. Will upgrade to a good large-screen laptop asap as well and then throw the Mac out my office window. Junk, just junk. Apple's stock is at $433 from $700 and it's still overpriced. How long will this rant last before it's sanitized by the Cupertino Big Brother? Maybe what the children who design product ought to do instead is BUILD BETTER STUFF.

How can I keep just one of two accounts offline in Mac Mail?

I recently switched from Comcast to Cox Cable. Cox has a known issue with push notifications and email doesn't show up at regular intervals. You have to go offline and back on or quit Mail and then open it again to see new messages. It's a pain but it works.
I still have my Comcast email account enabled on Mac Mail because I need access to old emails and if I disable it (via Preferences), it disappears. I want to take it offline but clicking on the Comcast account and "take comcast.net offline" always takes my Cox account offline as well. I can't get them to both stay online because the Comcast account hangs when it can't connect to Comcast. This really exacerbates the already annoying issue of having to take Cox offline and back on.
I tried going into the Comcast account via Preferences and unchecking "include when automatically checking for new messages" but when I did so, it kept the Cox account from receiving any messages at all (I confirmed this by checking webmail, and by toggling it on and off to see what happened).
I need some solution that allows me to see the comcast account in mail without having it be active in any way. I have other mailboxes archived but that process doesn't offer the search capability that I need.

Aha! I have been doing just that. However, what has been tripping me up is that I am also used to clicking the Go Online/Go Offline toggle button on the top menu bar when I manually check for messages on Cox. Apparently when you take one inbox offline, that button switches to Off even though the other inbox is still online. If I just ignore that button and go on or off via the cox mailbox listing, it keeps comcast from being reactivated.
Thanks so much for helping me think this through.
Edited to add: I removed that dang button from my menu so I can stop clicking it.

Anyone know how to keep accounts offline in Mac Mail?

Hi,
I use Mac Mail for business and personal accounts. I'm trying to prevent myself from getting distrated with personal email while I'm working, but I want to be able to recieve emails to my business account. So I take my personal accounts offline, and just keep my business account online when I'm working. But the problem is if I click the Get Mail button it takes all my accounts back online. Anyone know, is this a bug or is there some way around this? I can click on the mail box and select Syncronize account, but would be easier if I could just click the Get Mail btn without taking all the accounts online....
Any ideas?
Thanks!!

Mail App all accounts offline

I have the latest Mavericks install on MAc Book Pro and all software is updated. However my mail app takes all the accounts offline every few days.
I am not checking gmail, just a pop mail accounts.
This is extremly annoying. I have tried the suggested fixes, (taking all accounts offline, avoiding mac to go to sleep, closing and reopening mail, rebuilding mailbox etc.)
I have reinstalled the os and it works for a few days, but then starts failng. And apple apparently doesn't care.
However the problems persists. Anybody out there who can help me? Thanks for any tips you may have.

I want to do the same thing, but it seems 'Mail' doesn't.
Eudora does this 'delay' thing beautifully; I'm often sorry I ever changed over to Mac's 'built-in' mail. Interfacing with Address Book really isn't all that much of an advantage, I'm beginning to think. And I can't get Mail to search comprehensively for text strings; it ignores some mail boxes: and no, 'Privacy' has not been set on any of these!
SDG

Mail lost all passwords and has taken all accounts offline

Using OS 10.9.4, Mail Version 7.3 (1878.6) and Keychain Version 9.0 (55153)
My mail went offline Saturday and I haven't been able to get back into it. I have verified access into all the accounts using Browser based access so have ruled out their being server issues etc.
Chrome kept asking me for passwords from keychain after the latest OS updates, I checked with Keychain and it stated that my Keychain file needed be repaired, so I selected repair, Chrome fixed and no longer asks. However now I cannot get into Mac Mail, all accounts are shown offline, it won't store any passwords and repeatedly asks me for passwords if I try and update or take the mailboxes on line.
If I go into Keychain I cannot unlock the keychain (ie click the padlock to unlock the login keychain) and I have nothing showing..
Is there any known issues with keychain? I don't know enough about it to try things without risking breaking it...
Any suggestions gratefully received.
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Back up all data.
Launch the Keychain Access application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Keychain Access in the icon grid.
Select the login keychain from the list on the left side of the Keychain Access window. If your default keychain has a different name, select that.
If the lock icon in the top left corner of the window shows that the keychain is locked, click to unlock it. You'll be prompted for the keychain password, which is the same as your login password, unless you've changed it.
Right-click or control-click the login entry in the list. From the menu that pops up, select Change Settings for Keychain "login". In the sheet that opens, uncheck both boxes, if not already unchecked.
From the menu bar, select
Keychain Access ▹ Preferences ▹ First Aid
If the box marked Keep login keychain unlocked is not checked, check it.
Select
Keychain Access ▹ Keychain First Aid
from the menu bar and repair the keychain. Quit Keychain Access.

Mail accounts offline after sleep

Hi,
Mail is driving me crazy at the moment. After the laptop has slept all acounts appear offline. The the only wayI can get them back is to restart the app. Choosing 'take accounts online' does nothing.
Seen various posts onolder versions of osx saying delete prefs but they appear to have moved / changed ??
Any ideas how to sort this out ? Or is it a known bug ?
Thanks

At least for the time being, I may have resolved this by using Google's public DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4)

Mail takes Account Offline Randomly

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