can't delete messages in email

[nellie]

Since el capitan installation on my imac, I cannot delete messages in my apple email. I also cannot send messages. I keep getting:

Can’t connect to the account “smtp.comcast.net”> Enter the password for user “”.
Unable to verify account name or password.

I have tried entering my service provider password and that doesn't work.
I have created a new apple id password and that doesn't work.

Saved Drafts no longer show up.

Do I have to have an icloud account? Can I delete this whole section?

I am a computer simpleton. I want my apple email back and have spent fruitless hours trying to get it back.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Your Apple ID has nothing to do with Comcast mail.

Is Comcast your only active email account?

 

[dianeoforegon]

Select Email on the left side of page to log into your Comcast email. This will verify if you have the correct password.
http://my.xfinity.com/

Is Comcast email setup as IMAP or POP in Apple Mail? If IMAP, remove the account and then add it back. If POP, move all the messages in the Inbox to a folder under "On My Mac" before deleting account to add back. I highly suggest you use IMAP and not POP.

 

[nellie]

Your Apple ID has nothing to do with Comcast mail.

Is Comcast your only active email account?

Yes

Your Apple ID has nothing to do with Comcast mail.

Is Comcast your only active email account?

Yes.

 

[nellie]

Select Email on the left side of page to log into your Comcast email. This will verify if you have the correct password.
http://my.xfinity.com/

Is Comcast email setup as IMAP or POP in Apple Mail? If IMAP, remove the account and then add it back. If POP, move all the messages in the Inbox to a folder under "On My Mac" before deleting account to add back. I highly suggest you use IMAP and not POP.

Yes, I have the correct password in xfinity.
Email setup says POP.
It says I have 16659 messages in inbox (I have three email addresses.) I can Select All and created a folder called movedmessages, but I don't know how to move them into this folder.
I don't know how to use IMAP. How do I access that?

 

[nellie]

If I click on one of my email accounts and click Advanced, it will say hostname: mail.comcast.net and then it will ask for a Path Prefix fill-in-the-blank. Does this mean anything?

 

[BrianBaughn]

To make sure you don't lose that mail please back it up somewhere first. Right-click (or Control-click) your Inbox and select "Export Mailbox". Put the export on your desktop. Do the same thing for any other mailboxes (folders) that contain mail you want to keep.

Let me know when you have successfully done this.

 

[nellie]

To make sure you don't lose that mail please back it up somewhere first. Right-click (or Control-click) your Inbox and select "Export Mailbox". Put the export on your desktop. Do the same thing for any other mailboxes (folders) that contain mail you want to keep.

Let me know when you have successfully done this.

After I choose Export Mailbox, then I end up with something on my desktop that says mbox.

Also, I tried to remove one of my email addresses from the add or delete Internet Accounts screen, so I could try and add it back. Well, it went away, but now it won't add it back saying "This Account already exists."

 

[BrianBaughn]

The mbox file is your backup. Check its size to see if it looks right.

I was hoping you wouldn't delete any accounts. Are there any active email accounts in your Mail>Preferences>Accounts?

 

[campyguy]

OP, you might want to take a look at this, you might be affected - Comcast reset some 200k passwords over the weekend: http://www.csoonline.com/article/30...sswords-after-customer-list-goes-on-sale.html

Two of my accounts are untouched, but two of my friends had their account passwords reset - they found out by emails from Comcast via their alternate email address (a link to reset the password was included in that email); if you don't have an alternate email address registered with them, you'll need to go through their portal. That's all I've got, good luck.

 

[nellie]

The mbox file is your backup. Check its size to see if it looks right.

I don't know what you mean by check its size. When I click on it, there is endless typing that is not separated such as in individual email messages.

I was hoping you wouldn't delete any accounts. Are there any active email accounts in your Mail>Preferences>Accounts?

There are two accounts in the sidebar, but when I click on either, I get a message that says "Can't connect to the account, and enter the password for user account." When I enter a password, it says "unable to verify account name or password."

When I am in Accounts in Account Information, where it says Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP): the fill in blank says "smtp.comcast.net (Offline)" Is this a problem?

When there is a box called "Use SSL" should that always be checked or unchecked or doesn't matter?

 

[BrianBaughn]

Assuming that you've backed up your email properly (Inbox, Sent, and whatever else) as described above you can proceed with what I'm going to suggest in a subsequent post...because deleting the accounts is going to delete any emails in the Mail app that are NOT in an "On My Mac" folder.

First, check on what campyguy said about accounts at Comcast by logging in at Comcast.net. If everything works and you don't get any security messages we can assume you were not affected by the problem.

So before I suggest anything can you tell me what the TWO accounts are at menu item Mail>Preferences>Accounts?