Mail won't quit and messages stuck in Outbox

Having a very strange problem with Mail on my father's Mac Mini. It is not my computer so I'm not sure what has lead to this, but Mail will not quit, and every message we try to send gets stuck in the Outbox. The version running is Mac OS X 10.6.8, and the version of Mail is 4.6 (1085).
I have tried removing all messages from the Outbox and then deleting Outbox.mbe. This hasn't worked.
Has anyone else had this problem?

Yes. Yes and yes. I don't want to sound like a broken record in these threads, but I got rid of Mac Mail shortly after 10.6. It became unstable and unreliable. I gave it another go with 10.8.1 and it was still a problem. IMHO it is a very weak client mail app.
Finally I had peace in going for a web client (gmail) and problems went away.
Just yesterday I spent hours on an unsolveable mail problem on my neighbors iMac. I finally just signed her up for gmail and imported address book and her old email server address. Simple.

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Mail won't quit and won't receive messages

My Mail.app won't quit (needs to be forced quit) and won't pick up new messages. It does send, but it won't register as having done so. How do I reinstall it? I don't want to have to reinstall Leopard from scratch. It seems to think it's offline, because it eventually times out, but it doesn't say it's offline in the menu and taking it offline and putting it back doesn't help. Thanks.

try the following:
1) log in as another user and try to use Mail - if you don't have another user created on your computer, just create one as a test. If with that other user you can access Mail and work in it, then you may have a user specific issue. If you still have the same issue then you may have a Mail specific issue.
2) If Mail works under another user, then go to application>utilities>disk utility and repair permissions. Then try Mail again under your main user account. If not solved then go to 3)
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hope this helps.

My mail won't quit and now my mac book will not shut down or restart ANY IDEAS

MY MAIL WONT OPEN AND IT WILL NOT QUIT SO NOW MY MAC BOOK PRO IS STUCK IT WONT REBOOT OR SHUT DOWN ANY IDEAS

Check this location:
~/Library/Mail/Bundles
If anything in there place them in
a folder named "Bundles Disabled"
(create one).
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If it quits OK then something in that folder
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Mail Won't Quit, and Keeps Reloading Old Mail from the Server

I recently had an apparent laptop battery failure while in Mail (while on battery). The machine abruptly shut down with no warning with about 55% power still available. It did this subsequently at random power levels. But, it always worked on the line power adapter. There have been no recurrences with a new battery.
Since I archive all my mail on my desktop machine, the laptop is set to NOT remove messages from the server after downloading.
1. After the first power failure with Mail active, on restart I got message from Mail to the effect that there was something wrong with the mail indexing, and if I would do X (don't remember what), then it would be fixed. I did X, and the system came up.
But, it had lost track of which messages had already been downloaded. Every time Mail was launched in downloaded the entire contents of the server spool, leading to massive duplications.
2. Then I discovered that I could not quit the application. If you tried, the first time it would close the message window, but remain active on the menu bar, with the "Quit" box grayed out.
I could force it to quit, but that may have been leading to it forgetting which mails it had already read.
I have run the disk utility, including the permissions check, and it reports that all is well.
I have reloaded Mail from the System disc, with no improvement.
I have tried deleting the com.apple.mail.plist file. But when Mail opens and brings up the Setup window, it fails to find the outgoing mail server.
Replacing the new plist with the original fixes the outgoing problem, but whether the new or old plist is in place, the multiple downloads and failing to quit both happen.
Since all of these attempts, a new symptom has emerged:
3. When dragging the Inbox messages to the trash (or using the Delete button), they do go to the trash, but remain in the inbox as well.
Any thoughts?

FYI: I found that there were two very-similarly-named folders in the users/(home)/Library/Mail folder.
One was called: POP-(username)@(ISP popservername).(ISP domain).
The other was called POP-(username)@(ISP popservername)@(ISP domain).
They both contained some of the core mail boxes, e.g. Deleted Messages, INBOX, Junk etc.
However, only one had the file: MessageUidsAlreadyDownloaded.
I copied the user mailboxes elsewhere and trashed these two folders. But opening Mail recreated them with all the same issues.
I trashed them again, along with the (boot disk)/Library/Mail, and the (bootdisk)/Applications.Mail.app file.
Then I reloaded the Mail app from the OS 10.5 Install DVD.
Launching Mail and setting its preferences cleared up the problem. Only one of the pop folders showed up and it correctly tracked the already downloaded files, and quit normally when asked.

Mail Won't Quit, and won't let me restart/shutdown...

Mail --> Quit Mail gives me no response. Using the red "x" in the upper left corner, removes it from my screen (but of course doesn't close mail). When I click on the Mail icon in my Dock, nothing reappears. I have to do a File --> New Viewer Menu, turn on the toobar, etc. to use Mail.
Mail cancels efforts at Restart and Shutdown of the computer. If I turn off the power, it starts right back where I am now? (Mail version 1.3.11, OS X version 10.3.9)
Suggestions?

Quit the Mail.app first and using the Finder, go to Home > Library > Mail. Copy the Mail folder and place the copy on the Desktop for backup purposes.
Using the Finder, go to Home > Library > Preferences > com.apple.mail.plist. Move the com.apple.mail.plist file to the Desktop.
Note: Moving the com.apple.mail.plist file out of the Preferences folder will require re-entering all email account information when re-launching Mail.
The only exception to this is if you have a .Mac account which will be entered automatic and/or any email account you created as part of the original computer setup assistant when first turning on the computer when new.
Launch Mail and decline any prompt to import mailboxes. After re-entering all email account information, the Mail.app should rediscover the existing account named folders and mailboxes at Home > Library > Mail.
After confirming all mailboxes were successfully rediscovered, you can delete the copy of the Mail folder and old com.apple.mail.plist file from the Desktop.
Test if this resolves the problem.

Have problems with Mail on MacBook running OS X Mavericks. It suddenly became stuck: won't quit and won't display any messages. Please help.

Have problems with Mail on MacBook running OS X Mavericks. It suddenly became stuck: won't quit and won't display any messages. Please help.

Select Force Quit from under the Apple menu and select Mail (it may say that it isn't responding).
Clinton

Mail won't open and it won't let my computer shut down

mail won't open, the little light by the icon in the dock won't go away, it won't quit, and it won't let my mac shut down even if i let the battery die, it just goes to sleep until you plug it in. Someone please help me!!

Launch Activity Monitor (in /Applications/Utilities folder), find the Mail process, and force quit it from there. If this is NOT an admin-privileged account, then log out, log back in to an admin-privileged account, run Disk Utility Verify Disk. IF problems are reported, reboot from installer DVD and run Disk Utility Repair Disk from the installer DVD. Launch it from Utilities menubar item once the menubar is visible. If you are now running booted off the installer DVD, when repair disk is complete reboot normally and log back in to admin account and download 10.6.2 combo update from http://support.apple.com/kb/DL959 and reapply it. Then run software update from the  menubar item. Let us know if that works or not.

Apple Mail won't quit!

Installed OS X, now I can't shutdown because mail won't quit. Help somebody!!!

Same issue here. 15 MBP Retina Late 2012. MacOS 10.9 and have installed the Mail Update for Mavericks to no avail.
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Mail won't quit when offline

I have a problem with Mail where, if my internet connection isn't working (some problems at my local cable ISP), the Mail app won't quit and I have to force quit. I just wanted to see if others had this problem and if there is a solution other than force quitting.

This happens on my machine as well but I also find that force quitting seems to be the only way out....

My mail won't open and keeps on "not responding"

My mail won't open and keeps on "not responding"

Do a backup.
Go to Finder and select your user/home folder. With that Finder window as the front window, either select Finder/View/Show View options or go command - J. When the View options opens, check ’Show Library Folder’. That should make your user library folder visible in your user/home folder. Go to Library/Containers/com.apple.mail. Move the folder com.apple.mail to your desktop. You must move the entire folder, not just the contents.
Restart, re-launch Mail and test. If the problem is solved, recreate any required Mail settings and import any emails you want to save from the folder on the desktop. You can then put the folder in the Trash. If the problem remains, return the folder to where you got it replacing the one that is there.
Information learned from Linc Davis. Thanks to leonie for some information contained in this.

Mac pro/mail won't quit thus computer can't shut down

mail won't quit, thus computer won't shut down

Try:
Force an app to close on your Mac - Apple Support

Quit and message will be sent to Apple. I am then given an option to reopen but can't

Unable to open Safari browser since yesterday. Repeated message appears on screen stating that Safari has unexpectedly quit and message/report will be sent to Apple. I am then given an option to reopen but can't.

Launch the Console 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 Console in the icon grid.
Step 1
Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar.
Enter the name of the crashed application or process in the Filter text field. Select the messages from the time of the last crash, if any. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message (command-V).
When posting a log extract, be selective. In most cases, a few dozen lines are more than enough.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Important: Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.
Step 2
In the Console window, look under User Diagnostic Reports for crash reports related to the crashed process. The report name starts with the name of the process, and ends with ".crash". Select the most recent report and post the entire contents — again, the text, not a screenshot. In the interest of privacy, I suggest that, before posting, you edit out the “Anonymous UUID,” a long string of letters, numbers, and dashes in the header of the report, if it’s present (it may not be.) Please don’t post shutdownStall, spin, or hang logs — they're very long and not helpful.

Mail won't send. Just sits in outbox

Mail does not send. Messages sit in outbox. Account settings have not been altered. I don't get any error messages when I hit send button.

What email provider are you using? It appears your outgoing mail server is incorrect. One possible solution is to delete the account and add it again.

My Firefox won't quit and gives a "not responding" message after I use Google Mail. I have tried starting in "safe" mode and the problem still occurs.

I have an issue where Firefox wont' quit and gives a "not responding" message after I have been using Google Mail. It works fine when I am not using that program. I have tried Safe Mode and the problem still happens when I go to Google Mail, so it is not connected with add-ons, extensions, etc.

Many site issues can be caused by corrupt cookies or cache. 
Clear the Cache 
'''''Firefox/Tools > Options > Advanced > Network > Cached Web Content: "Clear Now"'''''
 and 
Remove Cookies '''''Firefox/Tools > Options > Privacy.''''' 
Under '''History''', select Firefox will '''Use Custom Settings'''. 
There is a button on the right side called '''Show Cookies'''. 
If there is still a problem,
'''''[https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode Start Firefox in Safe Mode]'''''
 While you are in safe mode; '''''Firefox Options > Advanced > General'''''. 
Look for and turn off '''Use Hardware Acceleration'''. 
Poke around safe web sites and see if there is still a problem. Then restart.

Messages stuck in outbox when using "Send to Mail recipient" and outlook is closed

A user who uses RPC over https all the time on his desktop in the office. In general
he has no problem to send/receive emails. But when he tried to send a File through right click - > send to -> Mail recipient , New Email window opens and He changes
the subject and add receipt and send email when outlook is close. The email stuck in outbox.
any idea and how to fix it?
Thanks in advance.

Hi,
As what Roady says, it is an expected behavior. This is because the
“spooler” which is something that manages the MAPI transports is working when Outlook is running. So when you sending messages when Outlook is not running, there is no spooler running, and so nothing is going to send your mail. The next time you launch Outlook,
you will see the mail in the Outbox.
For more information about this behavior, please refer to A trip back in time—the evolution of Outlook part of the following link:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/office_resource_kit/archive/2013/08/15/the-mysterious-outlook-outbox.aspx
Regards,
Winnie Liang
TechNet Community Support

Mail won't quit and messages stuck in Outbox

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