Mail won't retrieve messages from my primary Comcast account

Apple Mail, Version 2.1 (752/752.2), downloads emails from my yahoo.com and gmail.com accounts, but it has suddenly stopped downloading emails from my primary Comcast account to my G5 iMac. I get no error messages.
Trying to retrieve email in Apple Mail can sometimes cause the Comcast email server to classify all unread messages as read. If Mail is set to "remove copy from server right away after retrieving a message," then all of my new messages are deleted from the Comcast server before I ever see them, even though they have not been retrieved.
Curiously, the only emails that Mail can access from my primary Comcast account are those that have been automatically forwarded from my secondary Comcast accounts. (Just out of curiosity, I tried manually forwarding a message from my primary account to my primary account; it could not be retrieved by Mail.)
My wife and daughter, on the same hard-wired ethernet LAN, have no problem accessing their primary Comcast email accounts with Mail on their Macs (MacBook and G4 iMac). Our settings for Comcast accounts seem to be identical on all three computers.
Perhaps coincidentally, I also have Comcast Digital Voice VoIP telephone service, and this email problem started while Comcast was troubleshooting problems with my voicemail. I use separate cable modems for phone (Arris TM402P) and Internet (Motorola SB5100).
I've tried: 1) rebuilding all of the mailboxes in my Mail Inbox; 2) deleting all of my emails on the Comcast server and emptying the trash; 3) setting the outgoing SMTP mail server on all of my email accounts to Comcast; 4) repairing permissions and running maintenance scripts; 5) shutting down the computer overnight; 6) Comcast support -- they try, but then give up and say that they don't support Apple Mail.
I'd appreciate any assistance.
iMac G5 1.9GHz Mac OS X (10.4.7) 1 GB RAM

This problem was apparently caused by one of two things: 1) trying to use Mail with an AIM.com IMAP account; or 2) corruption somewhere in my Rules and Mailboxes.
I had to rebuild my POP accounts from the ground up. First, I backed up Mail preferences and messages. After quitting Mail and deleting the preference file com.apple.mail.plist and the Mail folder from Users/Home/Library, I launched Mail and created new accounts and new rules.
Prior to this issue, I had been using Apple Mail for three years to retrieve POP mail from Comcast and other accounts. This was my first experience with IMAP.
iMac G5 1.9GHz Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Similar Messages

Mail won't retrieve messages from ISP

Please tell me this is my ISP's problem, not my iMac's! I have 2 email accounts, one with my ISP and another with a spam-filtering service. As of yesterday, Mail no longer retrieves messages sent to my ISP email address, although it does retrieve from the other account. I know I have messages, because I can log in to webmail and read them there--but what a pain. My ISP, a small local outfit, seems overwhelmed, and I can't get through to support--so I'm guessing this is their problem.
If not, any suggestions! Many thanks!

Anything in the Deleted Messages box?
First Quit Mail, then I'd backup these two Mail folders, by right clicking on them in the Finder, then choose Archive/Compress.
Users/YourUserName/Library/Mail
Users/YourUserName/Library/Mail Downloads
(Could be a different folder here if you chose such in Mail Prefs)
Right click on that Mail folder, choose archive, you'll get everything in the folder, and the folder itself in a file called Mail.zip, move it to a safe place, same for the Mail Downloads folder... only the plist is separate.
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist
I'd get EasyFind...
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/11076
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/8707
Search your whole drive for...
.emlx
Case Insensitive, Show Hidden, how many do we find? Sort by Date, when are the first & last?

Mail has stopped retrieving messages from Yahoo

Mail has stopped retrieving messages from Yahoo email account. I deleted the account, cleared Safari history and recreated the account. Successfully retrieved all folders and contents of folders but no messages. Watching the Activity, it appeared to be retrieving the messages but none appear. Looking at the log, I can see FETCH error server. Not sure where to go from here to resolve the issue. Thanks for your help.

Based on what I've read in the forum, Yahoo mail has been having some problems.
Mail troubleshooting - Yosemite
What does Mail/Window/Connection Doctor Show? If the server is red, select it and look at the Show Details box.
Troubleshooting sending and receiving email messages
Troubleshooting sending email messages
SMTP servers keep going offline

Mail won't retrieve Junk from Hotmail

Hello, I recently began using Mail on my iBook to retrieve my hotmail account. Everything works great except for the junk mailbox in the hotmail account. Mail won't retrieve any of these messages. I have to log back into hotmail and place the junk into my inbox, which Mail receives fine. In checking settings on both accounts I don't find anything which obviously prevents the junk in hotmail from being sent to the junk box in Mail. Is there a workaround or a setting that I don't have correct? I searched for this problem but haven't seen it mentioned before.
Thanks.

Hi Jbird1023, and a warm welcome to the forums!
Not many helpers look into Solved topics for people needing help.
It's quite acceptable, even preferable to start a new topic of your own, it will get more individualized attention, and many more helpers!
It can be hard to sometimes find where to start a New Topic, so here's the link...
http://discussions.apple.com/post!default.jspa?forumID=753

Mail won't show messages from my .Mac account

I have set up 5 accounts in Mail. Two of these accounts are .Mac mail accounts and the other 3 are verizon accounts. When I receive an email in any account, the Mail icon bounces on my desktop and makes its alert sound. I can check the 5 inboxes and retrieve messages from the verizon accounts, but not the .Mac accounts. The .Mac inboxes will tell me how many messages I have in those accounts, but I cannot read them in Mail. I have to do go Mac.com to read these messages! The Mac accounts are enabled. All of the accounts were set up before the new Mail came out and Mail worked fine until then, but I have not been able to read my messages in Mail from the .Mac accounts since the new version of Mail. Is this a common problem and is there something I can do to fix my inability to read these messages in Mail?

Let’s check whether the rules could have a bearing on this:
1. Quit Mail.
2. In the Finder, go to ~/Library/Mail/.
3. Locate MessageRules.plist and move it to the Desktop. If there is a file called MessageRules.plist.backup, move it to the Desktop too. You may also see MessageSorting.plist files there; this is where Mail 1.x stored the rules, and they are no longer used by Mail 2.x, so just move them to the Trash if you see them.
4. Open Mail. As a result of removing the rules file, the junk filter will be disabled now. You may want to either tell Mail to go offline immediately after opening it, or shut down the Internet connection before opening Mail, to prevent it from downloading anything until the junk mail filter has been enabled again.
5. Go to Mail > Preferences > Junk Mail, enable junk filtering, and configure it however you wish.
6. Go online again if you went offline in step 4.
If the problem persists after doing this, then you know the rules have no bearing on it, and you may move the files on the Desktop back to the ~/Library/Mail/ folder, overwriting any files Mail may have created anew there (quit Mail first).
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 won't delete messages from Iphone unless I open Mail.

I have an Exchange account set up and use MS Outlook at work. I do receive my email via push on my Iphone 4s. However, when I delete a message from my MS Outlook at work, it won't delete from my Iphone UNLESS I open up Mail. Anyone else have this issue?
I did change the setting of pushing my delete items folder in the mail settings on my Iphone. Still did nothing.

Mel,
One more thing to check on your computer...iCal>Preferences...>Accounts>Account Information>iCloud>Refresh Calendars:>Push
If that is not helpful, go through the procedures listed in iCloud: Troubleshooting iCloud Calendar.

Mail won't retrieve messages any more.

I have a PowerBook G4 running OS X Panther. My Mail application no longer retrieves my mail messages. I am having to run my web mail account, which is getting the messages but is obviously more of a pain to use. I can see one message in my status bar and activity report, and it also says that I have another "92 Messages" or whatever is coming, depending on how many I've opened and read in webmail.
The "receive" function seems stuck on the first message, then seems to time out, give up, and give me the "no mail" alert sound. Any suggestions?

Sometimes messages left on the server clog up the account there, or Mail chokes on a message it cannot download and that prevents it from downloading the rest as well. Solving this problem will probably require removing one or more messages from the server. Assuming this is a POP account, what are your Preferences > Accounts > Advanced > Remove copy from server settings?
You may tell Mail to remove from the server all the messages that have already been downloaded by means of Preferences > Accounts > Advanced > Remove now. Alternatively, if the account allows web access, you may also remove messages from the server that way.
Try removing from the server messages that have already been downloaded and/or the first message(s) not downloaded yet (i.e. the message(s) that Mail appears to be choking on).
You may want to try to download those messages with another mail client such as Thunderbird first, to avoid losing them — and use Eudora Mailbox Cleaner to import them back into Mail afterwards if you wish.

Mail won't retrieve messages?

Hi there
I just got my first mac, a MacBook Pro. I have been setting it up today, and all was going well. I logged in my mail account and it was retrieving all my emails from my hotmail account (past messages that I have already read). Then randomly it stopped working, I can still use the app, but it has stopped receiving emails, even though it is not yet up to date. I have received new messages that came through on my iPhone but nothing on my mac. I have tried opening Mail's activity monitor and then clicking get mail. It connects to my hotmail account, says checking for new mail, the switches to "preparing to retrieve new messages" and stays there for quite a while, then eventually just goes blank. Any ideas what the problem is? I have tried closing the app and opening it again, restarting the computer etc.
Thanks in advance for any help

Judy,
Welcome to the Discussions.
If you Upgraded from 10.4.11 or earlier to Leopard 10.5.6, it is probably what has been covered by the support document at the link below:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2537
If you also find any files named to include MessageSorting (which would mean you once have upgraded from a version of OSX earlier than 10.4), remove those, also, but never restore those.
To find the correct location for the Mail folder, open a Finder window, click on the icon of a house in the Sidebar (this is known often as "Home"), click on Library in that Home user directory, and then to open the Mail folder found there.
Ernie

Mail won't download messages

There is a thread similar to this on the Tiger mail forum -as of this afternoon (18th) mail suddenly will not download new messages. I know not why but need a fix ASAP! When I click on 'Get Mail' it seems to connect to the server and starts to fetch the first of however many new messages have accumulated (an ever growing number) but then stops after about a minute and no new messages. When looking at the console.log it says that the connection with the incoming server 'timed out'. Seems to be a mail issue, at least so says my ISP (Web.com -formerly interland). Also seems to be happening to some people on the Tiger forum who have reached a similar conclusion -but no fix as far as I can see.
My incoming account is a POP -nothing special about it.
Any help greatly appreciated.
TIA
Hub

Had the same issue in that suddenly (Mail 10.3.9) would not download my messages from my primary identity (account) through my cable modem with Comcast/Time Warner (no router).
I did the below process mentioned in this thread, then closed Mail and rebooted cold. No change. :-((
Still no email download from my primary identity. Panic set in. Sleep on it. Pray to Woz.
Next day. Perfect! Can anyone explain this?
Jonathan
[email protected]
Something to try.
Quit Mail first and using the Finder go to Home >
Library > Mail > this POP account named folder (named
by the user name and incoming mail server for the
account) > MessageUidsAlreadyDownloaded.
Delete the MessageUidsAlreadyDownloaded file and
empty the Trash.
Launch Mail and a new MessageUidsAlreadyDownloaded
file will be created automatically within the account
named folder and if successful, any previously
downloaded messages that remain on the server will be
downloaded again along with any new messages
available on the server not yet downloaded.
Solution worked for me.
Thanks
PowerMac G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9) RAM maxed @2G

Mail won't download messages after checking with Mail2web webmail

Yesterday I spent the day on a wi-fi network that blocked POP mail, so I checked my email many times with the www.mail2web.com web mail site. Now that I am home, Apple Mail 5.3 will not download any of the 85 messages left on the server yesterday. It gets halfway through the "incoming messages" progress bar and then hangs. I have shut it down and re-opened it several times but it always hangs when it gets to those messages.
Is there anyway to overcome this?
Thank you.

Had the same issue in that suddenly (Mail 10.3.9) would not download my messages from my primary identity (account) through my cable modem with Comcast/Time Warner (no router).
I did the below process mentioned in this thread, then closed Mail and rebooted cold. No change. :-((
Still no email download from my primary identity. Panic set in. Sleep on it. Pray to Woz.
Next day. Perfect! Can anyone explain this?
Jonathan
[email protected]
Something to try.
Quit Mail first and using the Finder go to Home >
Library > Mail > this POP account named folder (named
by the user name and incoming mail server for the
account) > MessageUidsAlreadyDownloaded.
Delete the MessageUidsAlreadyDownloaded file and
empty the Trash.
Launch Mail and a new MessageUidsAlreadyDownloaded
file will be created automatically within the account
named folder and if successful, any previously
downloaded messages that remain on the server will be
downloaded again along with any new messages
available on the server not yet downloaded.
Solution worked for me.
Thanks
PowerMac G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9) RAM maxed @2G

Mail won't retrieve Gmail messages

Since yesterday afternoon, Mail won't retrieve any of my email messages. It sends my messages from both my accounts, including my Gmail account, but stays a long time "preparing to retrieve" only my Gmail messages, until the activity closes as if there were no messages to retrieve (no retrieve or connection error messages or sounds) although they are still in my gmail.
I haven't changed any settings at all. I use OS X 10.7.5. Connection doctor says everything "succeeded"
Thanks for any help

Step 1
Take this step only if you have more than one incoming mail account, and only some of them are affected by the problem.
From the Mail menu bar, select
Mail ▹ Preferences ▹ Accounts
From the account list on the left, choose one of the accounts that is not giving trouble. Select the Account Information tab if not already selected, and then uncheck the box marked
Enable this account
Repeat with each of the other well-behaved accounts. Don't disable the problem accounts.
Step 2
From the Mail menu bar, select
Window ▹ Connection Doctor
Click the Show Detail button. A drawer opens. Click Check Again and post the text that appears. Anonymize any personal information before posting.
Step 3
If you took Step 1, re-enable the disabled accounts.

Can I retrieve messages from a blackberry email address in Mail for OS X?

I'm wondering if I can configure Mac OS X Mail to retrieve messages from a blackberry email address.
Thanks.

lte me know if my question doesn't make sense.

Mail won't retrieve my gmail messages since this afternoon. Can anyone help me?

Since this afternoon, Mail won't retrieve any of my email messages. It sends my messages, but stays a long time "preparing to retrieve", until the activity closes as if there were no messages to retrieve (although they are in my gmail).
I haven't changed any settings at all. I use OS X 10.7.5.
Thanks a lot

Hey debdan1,
Thanks for the question. I understand you are experiencing issues with your email account retrieving new emails. The following resource may help to resolve your issue:
OS X Mail: Troubleshooting sending and receiving email messages
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3276
For additional help, see this resource:
Apple - Support - Mac Apps - Mail
http://www.apple.com/support/mac-apps/mail/
Thanks,
Matt M.

HT1277 How do I make Mail remove junk/deleted messages from the server? The only option tht works for me now is the "Remove from server" button at Account Info Messages on server.

How do I make Mail remove junk/deleted messages from the server? The only option tht works for me now is the "Remove from server" button at Account Info > Messages on server. What am I doing wrong?

Mail > Preferences… > Accounts > Advanced > Remove copy from server after retrieving a message

Mail is not downloading messages from two accounts but the messages are in the server.

Hello, I'm having this problem. Mail is not downloading messages from two accounts. I don't know why but there're two accounts working so bad. If I click with the right button on the account and click to see the account details, I can see the messages on the server but not in inbox. I made a sync with this account and my iphone and then the iphone downlad the messages with out problems. Not my imac at work or my imac at home... what can be wrong?
Thanks.

For Gmail, this is normal, there is nothing you can do about it -- just type Mail AND Gmail in the search box to see threads discussing how Gmail works.
As for the other accounts, this shouldn't happen. I wonder if what you're seeing is just that Mail is ignoring this setting for mail that was already on the server when you started using it. I've seen something like this happen when playing with that setting, e.g. changing it from "After one day" to "After one week". Mail would just ignore messages that fell in the timeframe where the two settings could interfere and I didn't notice it until some time later, when Mail "forgot" those messages had already been downloaded and, being faced with them again, dutifully downloaded them as if they were all new.
I believe that, if you leave the setting however you wish and stop playing with it, then Mail shall correctly process any mail that arrives from now on. In order to manually delete old messages that Mail seems to be ignoring, you can invoke the Account Info window (this is probably what you meant when you said "I can delete messages individually"; if that's not the case and want more info on this, just ask).

Mail won't retrieve messages from my primary Comcast account

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for