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Mail app quits unexpectedly

I've tried safe mode boot. My mail is all IMAP but I can't rebuild in mailbox because the mail app doesn't hold long enough to do anything. I have an older IMac, and I know it won't upgrade, but is there anything else I can do to solve the problem?

Posted on Dec 2, 2020 4:33 AM

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Posted on Dec 2, 2020 7:38 AM

In my experience it does appear to affect older macOS versions, exactly how old is uncertain though.


The cause is usually a malformed email message. Presumably newer versions of Mail can cope with them while older ones can't.


Press and hold a Shift key while launching the Mail app again. That will launch the Mail app with no message selected. In that manner you may be able to identify the problematic message, and delete it.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 2, 2020 7:38 AM in response to ThatchE

In my experience it does appear to affect older macOS versions, exactly how old is uncertain though.


The cause is usually a malformed email message. Presumably newer versions of Mail can cope with them while older ones can't.


Press and hold a Shift key while launching the Mail app again. That will launch the Mail app with no message selected. In that manner you may be able to identify the problematic message, and delete it.

Mail app quits unexpectedly

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