Mail Keeps Crashing On Mac? [Know How To Fix It]

If you find that the Mail keeps crashing on Mac, and you need some help to fix it, go through this article. Here, we will talk about the methods that might help you to get over this problem. It has been reported by many Mac users that every now and then Mail is getting closed and quits.

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We have gathered all the important and convenient information that can help you. We have covered the following circumstances for you.

• If the Mail opens as it usually does, but quits later on.
• The Mail quits as soon as it gets started.
• The Mail keeps on hanging after opening and eventually crashes.

What To Do If Mail Keeps Crashing On Mac?

To get rid of the problem of Mail keeps crashing on Mac, the following methods can actually be helpful.

Method 1: Update your Mac

You might consider updating your Mac if you face this problem. After updating, open the Mail to check if the issue is gone.

The Mail will automatically get updated if you update the macOS software. To update macOS, follow the steps below.

• If you use macOS Mojave or later versions, go to System Preferences > Software Update.
• If you use macOS High Sierra or earlier versions, open the App Store > Click on Updates.

Method 2: Rebuild the mailboxes

You can also try to rebuild your mailboxes. To do this, follow the steps.

• First, open the Mail.
• Now, click on the Mailbox and go for Rebuild.

Though you might not be able to do this step if your Mail keeps on crashing as soon as you open it. But if it’s not, give this a try.

Method 3: Caused by certain messages

There is a chance that certain messages are creating this issue. If you find that Mail is crashing while you are trying to open certain messages, it might happen that the Mail is quitting due to damaged e-mails.

In that case, you can delete those specific messages. These damaged e-mails are most likely a reason behind the crash while you scroll through the emails and try to open them.

To resolve this issue, follow the steps.

• Press and hold the Shift key.
• Open the Mail app while pressing the key.
• The Mail will open without any messages selected.
• Now drag the message viewer pane or the horizontal divider until you see the list of the e-mails.
• After that, select those damaged e-mails by clicking once.
• Then, press the Delete key from your keyboard. Or you can also click Message > Move to > Trash.

As an alternative way, if your Mail account provides a web-based service to check emails, you can delete those e-mails by visiting the websites. You might need to sign in while visiting the websites.

Method 4: Isolate the problem

It is a good method to fix this problem. Go through the following steps to fix the problem in this way.

• First, on your device, go to System Preferences > Internet accounts.
• Now, uncheck the Mail option to disable all your e-mail accounts.

After this, try to open the Mail and check if the problem is gone. If the Mail opens without crashing, that means one of the e-mail accounts is the reason behind this issue.

To check which one is the faulty account, try turning on each of the accounts one by one. Continue doing this until you find the faulty account. Once you find it, delete the account and re-add.

But if the Mail crashes, turn on all of your accounts again and head to the next method.

Method 5: Safe Mode

Check if you can open the Mail in the Safe Mode. Safe Mode is also known as Safe Boot. It has the ability to clear caches and repair disks. To do this, follow the steps below.

• First, turn your device off.
• Then, turn the device on, immediately press the Shift key and keep holding it.
• Keep holding the key until the login screen comes up.
• Now, Log in to your device.
• When the Mac gets started, try to open the Mail app. Check if it’s still crashing.
• Now, restart the device again. This time restart it normally, no need to press any keys. Doing this will exit the Safe Mode.
• When the Mac is completely turned on, try opening the Mail.

Method 6: Delete the preference files

Another reason behind the problem of Mail keeps crashing on Mac might be corrupted files. If the Mail preference files are corrupted for some reason, it might get crash. You might try removing these files, when you do this, your account settings and preferences are gone.

Follow the steps mentioned below to do this.

• First, Quit Mail.
• Now, go to the Finder.
• Press and hold the Option key.
• While pressing the Option key, click Go and then Library.
• Now, open the Preferences folder.
• Locate these two files, com.apple.mail.plist and com.apple.mail-shared.plist.

• Now, move both of the files to the Trash.
• At last, restart your device and try to open Mail.

Method 7: Remove Envelope Files

If you delete the Envelope Files, Mac will automatically create those again. Follow the steps for this.

• Quit the Mail app if you can run it at a certain time.
• Head to the Finder.
• Press and hold the Option key. Click Go and Library while pressing the Option key.
• Now, open the mail folder. Find the V7 folder and open it. Depending on the version of the macOS, the folder may be V5, V6, V7, V8, etc.
• After that, open the MailData folder. And locate these files named Envelope Index, Envelope Index-shm, Envelope Index-wal.

• Move these three files to your desktop.
• Now, open the Mail app and wait for the app to rebuild the new Envelope Index files. It might take some time though.
• If everything works well, you can delete those files from the desktop.

Method 8: Remove Mail saved folder

Doing this will delete the Mail Application State folder. It is a kind of cache folder that enables a certain app to collapse and reopen. This folder might be causing this issue. To remove this folder, follow the mentioned steps.

• First, quit Mail.
• Then go to the Finder. Press and hold the Option key and click Go and Library while pressing the Option key.
• Now open the containers folder and open the com.apple. mail folder.
• After that, open the Data folder, following by the Library folder.
• Then, open the Saved Application State folder.
• Now, find the com.apple.mail.savedstate folder and drag it to the Trash.

• At last, reopen the Mail app.

Method 9: Reset NVRAM

Resetting NVRAM or PRAM is another way to fix this issue. To do this,

• First, turn off your Mac.
• Now, locate the Option, Command, P, and R  on your Mac.
• After that, turn on your Mac, immediately press and hold the mentioned 4 keys.
• Keep holding them for around 20 seconds. After that, you can release them. By now the NVRAM has been updated and the problem might also get fixed.

Note: You can also reset SMC on MacBook to get over this issue.

Method 10: Remove Mail container

If the problem is still on, you can remove the Mail container to see if that works for you. Though you might lose some settings, mail filters, etc. To do this follow these steps.

• First, you need to quit the Mail.
• Now, go to the Finder, press, and hold the Option key.
• While pressing the Option key, click Go and then Library.
• Now, open the Containers folder. Locate the com.apple.mail folder.

• Move this folder to the desktop.

Now try opening the Mail. If it does, the problem might have been fixed by now. But if it still crashes, put the Containers folder back and try contacting the Apple support team.

Conclusion

So, these are the possible solutions if you find Mail keeps crashing on Mac. Hope these methods will come to your help.