Apple Mail not responding

[ChromeCrescendo]

So, I clicked Apple Mail in the dock and it would not open

• I right-clicked on the dock Mail icon and hit Force Quit
• I attempted to open it from the Applications folder - same result
• I then restarted my iMac (late-2015 running Catalina)
• Upon logging in, a pop-up appeared stating that Macbooster 8 will harm my computer and it should moved to the trash
• I tried ignoring this but kept popping up until I moved Macbooster 8 to the trash
• Another pop-up then appeared stating something about an at-helper file that needed to be moved to the trash - so I did
• Once again attempted to open Mail and again it did not respond and I hit Force Quit
• Thinking perhaps the Mailbutler application had something to do with it, I uninstalled it via App Cleaner
• Once again attempted to open Mail and still not responding

Anyone encounter this? Any advice? Thank you.

 

[honestone33]

So, I clicked Apple Mail in the dock and it would not open

• I right-clicked on the dock Mail icon and hit Force Quit
• I attempted to open it from the Applications folder - same result
• I then restarted my iMac (late-2015 running Catalina)
• Upon logging in, a pop-up appeared stating that Macbooster 8 will harm my computer and it should moved to the trash
• I tried ignoring this but kept popping up until I moved Macbooster 8 to the trash
• Another pop-up then appeared stating something about an at-helper file that needed to be moved to the trash - so I did
• Once again attempted to open Mail and again it did not respond and I hit Force Quit
• Thinking perhaps the Mailbutler application had something to do with it, I uninstalled it via App Cleaner
• Once again attempted to open Mail and still not responding

Anyone encounter this? Any advice? Thank you.

AppCleaner is good, but it does not always find EVERY file/folder associated with an application. Whenever I use AppCleaner, I then use EasyFind and search for the application name. In just about all instances, it finds some more files/folders associated with the just removed application.

Did this issue just start happening? Was Mail working yesterday? How dod Macbooster 8 get onto your machine?

Do you have a recent backup that was made BEFORE Macbooster 8 was installed?

 

[ChromeCrescendo]

Thank you - I found this and it worked:

https://appletoolbox.com/mail-not-working-in-macos-catalina-how-to-fix/

I paid for Macbooster and it had been working perfectly and I never had any warning pop-up from my iMac until moments ago

I was able to uninstall both Macbooster 8 and Mailbutler (which I also paid for for a year)

Lesson learned about both Macbooster 8 and Mailbutler

 

[honestone33]

Glad you got it resolved. I read some reviews of Macbooster after I made that post above, and it seems like a good, reliable program. I don't use Appel Mail, preferring Thunderbird. I have read NUMEROUS reports of issues with Apple's Mail program and Catalina, including a number of them on this site. Not sure if they ever got resolved, especially since Thunderbird works fine.

Don't know what Mailbutler is, but it does not seem to be rated very high. What is it supposed to do?

Are you making frequent backups to an external device? If you are not, I strongly suggest you start doing that. And you might want to consider using a backup/cloning program like either SuperDuper! (SD) or Carbon Copy Cloner )CCC). Both of them work well, and there is even a thread on this site that discusses backups. Here is one of them:

Why I now prefer SuperDuper over Carbon Copy Cloner.

Agree 100% about SuperDuper!. But it has supported Catalina ever since the initial, new version came out, V3.3, back in November. V3.3.1 was released recently, back on February 6th, with some minor tweaks.

forums.macrumors.com

I use SuperDuper!, but CCC is actually an excellent program.

As for keeping your Mac clean, you can do a good amount of disk cleanup on your own. Also, Onyx is an excellent, free disk cleanup/maintenance program. I rely on it, but I also use the excellent commercial program Tech Tool Pro. By doing as much disk cleanup on my own (actually doing every day), and using Onyx, Tech Tool Pro, and SD once a week, I keep my Macs "lean, mean, and clean".

Finally, for malware/adware cleanup, you can use the excellent free program Malwarebytes:

Official Site | Malwarebytes: Antivirus, Anti-Malware & Privacy

Malwarebytes offers real-time antivirus, advanced anti-malware and privacy protection for all your devices. Launched in 2004 as a free virus scan, we still offer a free basic version 20 years later. Learn more.

www.malwarebytes.com

I use it about once a month, along with a "stronger" program entitled ClamXAV:

ClamXAV | Home

Effective, trusted anti-virus and malware scanner for macOS, that will not slow down your Mac.

www.clamxav.com

 

[ChromeCrescendo]

Glad you got it resolved. I read some reviews of Macbooster after I made that post above, and it seems like a good, reliable program. I don't use Appel Mail, preferring Thunderbird. I have read NUMEROUS reports of issues with Apple's Mail program and Catalina, including a number of them on this site. Not sure if they ever got resolved, especially since Thunderbird works fine.

Don't know what Mailbutler is, but it does not seem to be rated very high. What is it supposed to do?

Are you making frequent backups to an external device? If you are not, I strongly suggest you start doing that. And you might want to consider using a backup/cloning program like either SuperDuper! (SD) or Carbon Copy Cloner )CCC). Both of them work well, and there is even a thread on this site that discusses backups. Here is one of them:

Why I now prefer SuperDuper over Carbon Copy Cloner.

Agree 100% about SuperDuper!. But it has supported Catalina ever since the initial, new version came out, V3.3, back in November. V3.3.1 was released recently, back on February 6th, with some minor tweaks.

forums.macrumors.com

I use SuperDuper!, but CCC is actually an excellent program.

As for keeping your Mac clean, you can do a good amount of disk cleanup on your own. Also, Onyx is an excellent, free disk cleanup/maintenance program. I rely on it, but I also use the excellent commercial program Tech Tool Pro. By doing as much disk cleanup on my own (actually doing every day), and using Onyx, Tech Tool Pro, and SD once a week, I keep my Macs "lean, mean, and clean".

Finally, for malware/adware cleanup, you can use the excellent free program Malwarebytes:

Official Site | Malwarebytes: Antivirus, Anti-Malware & Privacy

Malwarebytes offers real-time antivirus, advanced anti-malware and privacy protection for all your devices. Launched in 2004 as a free virus scan, we still offer a free basic version 20 years later. Learn more.

www.malwarebytes.com

I use it about once a month, along with a "stronger" program entitled ClamXAV:

ClamXAV | Home

Effective, trusted anti-virus and malware scanner for macOS, that will not slow down your Mac.

www.clamxav.com

Mail butler is a Mail plug-in that allows you to get confirmation when an email is opened, allows you to sscheuke when an email will be sent and even allows you to have a delay set so after you click Send, you have a set time before it actually sends to recall it

However, now that I uninstalled it, Mail opens super fast

thanks for the tips on the other Apps

I have tried Malwarebytes in the beat and I didn't like it but I will look into the other apps you linked to

 

[honestone33]

Mail butler is a Mail plug-in that allows you to get confirmation when an email is opened, allows you to sscheuke when an email will be sent and even allows you to have a delay set so after you click Send, you have a set time before it actually sends to recall it

However, now that I uninstalled it, Mail opens super fast

thanks for the tips on the other Apps

I have tried Malwarebytes in the beat and I didn't like it but I will look into the other apps you linked to

In actuality, whether I run Malwarebyes or ClamXAV, neither of them find anything "nefarious". But again, due to my extensive efforts to keep both of my Macs "lean, mean, and clean", I'm not surprised (I actually just ran ClamXAV on Sunday on both of my Macs, and it found nothing).

So, without either of those apps, Mail is working? That's good, and it seems like prior issues with Mail and Catalina have been cleaned up. But you still did not say anything about backups. Backups are definitely CRITICAL!

 

[ChromeCrescendo]

Yes I will look into the backup apps you mentioned - much obliged

 

[honestone33]

Yes I will look into the backup apps you mentioned - much obliged

OK, sounds good! Please, please start making backups on a regular basis! You'll need to purchase an external device, and an SSD would be the way to go. Samsung SSDs are the best, but there are some other good brands. I have 3 external SamSung SSDs housed in nice, slim Orico enclosures, and that combination works well.

 

[ChromeCrescendo]

I have an external drive but haven't done a full backup
I have all important files in the cloud

 

[honestone33]

I have an external drive but haven't done a full backup
I have all important files in the cloud

It's best to have a COMPLETE, FULL backup locally. And one that is bootable (like the ones created with SuperDuper! (SD) or Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC)) is the best.

Of course, it is best to keep one's machine as "lean, mean, and clean" as possible. And especially right before doing an SD or CCC backup/clone. Myself, I always use Onyx and Tech Tool Pro right before doing my SD backups for both of my Macs.