Os x mail rebuild everything for mac#
Os x mail rebuild everything mac os x#
Os x mail rebuild everything windows#

When finished, try the search or perform the task that you had issues with before and things should be working as usual again. Be prepared for a lengthy re-indexation if you have tons (thousands+) of messages in Mail app. Like rebuilding the mailbox, the reindexing process can also take a while, depending on how large the mailbox is and how much mail is stored on the computer. Close the MailData window, then relaunch Mail app to force reindexing.Delete every file that begins with “Envelope Index” (optional but recommended: back up these files to the desktop just in case something goes awry).Hit Command+Shift+G and go to the following path:.Quit out of Mail app and go to the Finder.This is particularly helpful if the search functions of the Mail app have become unreliable. You may encounter an alert from Mail app telling you that the mailbox must be repaired, but you can also do this manually. Repair & Reindex All Messages in Mail app That can make this task unsuitable for users who are connected to the internet using a data capped connection, like a smartphone with hotspot. This rebuild process can take a few minutes, or even an hour or more depending on how large your inbox and sent messages folders are.Īn important note: this may cause significant bandwidth use for mailboxes configured with IMAP or Exchange, because the locally stored messages are removed and then redownloaded from the remote mail server.

Os x mail rebuild everything windows#

(If you don’t see the Rebuild option or it is greyed out, close any compose windows and select the inbox in the primary Mail app window)

Launch Mail app and pull down the Mailbox menu, then choose “Rebuild”.

Rebuilding a mailbox in Mail for OS X is very simple:

Os x mail rebuild everything for mac#

Such junkmail housekeeping can become automated with a simple settings adjustment as described in this collection of great tips for Mac Mail. Usually these issues are of distinct types search errors where some messages don’t come up in results when you know they should, unusually slow behavior when performing mail searches, or just general mail content problems, where an opened message appears blank, incomplete, corrupt, or is otherwise displayed improperly.įortunately these issues are very easy to correct thanks to a two step process of forcibly rebuilding the mailbox, and then forcibly reindexing all messages contained within the OS X Mail app.īefore proceeding, you may wish to consider clearing out the Spam/Junk mail folders contained in Mail app to help speed up both reindexing and rebuilding.

Os x mail rebuild everything mac os x#

The Mail app bundled with Mac OS X is an excellent email client, but if you have a giant mailbox that has been in use for a long time you may encounter some peculiar problems with sluggishness, message content issues, and searching irregularities. Rebuild the Mailbox & Reindex Messages to Fix Common Problems in Mail App for OS X