macOS Big Sur Mail app continuously downloads messages repeatedly

[uandme72]

The Mail app of macOS Big Sur never stops downloading messages. Even after it has completed downloading messages, if the app is closed and reopened it again starts downloading messages. This happens even though no new message is available on the mail server.
This behaviour is common for IMAP, Gmail, Yahoo mail accounts.

 

[KaliYoni]

I see the same behavior in Mojave, if you mean that Mail endlessly shows a "Downloading xxx Messages" status after transferring all available emails. I haven't bothered looking for a solution other than quitting and restarting Mail. Doing that doesn't seem to harm anything or lose messages, at least on Mojave.

 

[gwhizkids]

The Mail app of macOS Big Sur never stops downloading messages. Even after it has completed downloading messages, if the app is closed and reopened it again starts downloading messages. This happens even though no new message is available on the mail server.
This behaviour is common for IMAP, Gmail, Yahoo mail accounts.

Ah! It’s not just me! Maddening! I’m on exchange and seeing this behavior.

Does it also hang up occasionally, with long delays in sending mail out of the Outbox?

One bandaid fix I’ve found is to force quit the app and then hold down the shift key when reopening. That apparently resets the mailbox somehow.

My IT dept recently implemented some security changes and I thought this behavior was related to that.

 

[SaguaroSeven]

A friend is experiencing this on a MacBook Pro with Big Sur, but not a Mac mini. He uses gmail/g-suite (ugh, now google workplace). Force quit + shift key didn't work, so I recommended removing the account, restart, then adding back. Was ok a little while, then problem returned. Occurs not always, but frequently enough to be irritating.

Any other solutions? Still going on for you guys?

 

[uandme72]

A friend is experiencing this on a MacBook Pro with Big Sur, but not a Mac mini. He uses gmail/g-suite (ugh, now google workplace). Force quit + shift key didn't work, so I recommended removing the account, restart, then adding back. Was ok a little while, then problem returned. Occurs not always, but frequently enough to be irritating.

Any other solutions? Still going on for you guys?

I have so far not found any solution.

 

[gwhizkids]

A friend is experiencing this on a MacBook Pro with Big Sur, but not a Mac mini. He uses gmail/g-suite (ugh, now google workplace). Force quit + shift key didn't work, so I recommended removing the account, restart, then adding back. Was ok a little while, then problem returned. Occurs not always, but frequently enough to be irritating.

Any other solutions? Still going on for you guys?

Mine seems to be much better. Running 11.3 beta 3 though.

 

[Aggedor]

Happens with my Apple Mail too (Macbook Air M1, whatever the latest macOS 11.something is). I run an iCloud email address and a Gmail email address in it, and it's absolutely the Gmail one. If I delete that account, I never get the neverending download.

Not sure it really bothers me, except for using battery power (mind you, it usually says "paused while on battery" after a while), and presumably data writes/rewrites to the SSD?

 

[SaguaroSeven]

Mine seems to be much better. Running 11.3 beta 3 though.

Thanks for this. Looking forward to Tuesday!

 

[uandme72]

Mine seems to be much better. Running 11.3 beta 3 though.

Do you mean to say, that the problem is not there on 11.3 betas?

 

[RedTomato]

This is a bug that many people have come across. For some advice, see here:

https://appletoolbox.com/mac-mail-app-always-downloading-fix/

To summarise:

Quite a few of our readers noted that if they changed the location of where email accounts store their drafts that the Mail App started working normally.

Change Draft Settings for Apple’s Mac Mail App

1. Open Mail
2. Go to Apple Menu > Preferences > Accounts
3. For each mail account
4. Choose the tab Mailbox Behaviors
5. Change Drafts Mailbox to On My Mac and choose Drafts from the drop-down menu options

Also:

Go into Drafts on the Gmail website for all your gmail accounts and clear them all out.
Also check Drafts folders on your iphone / ipad. There may be issues with devices syncing to each other.
You may need to delete the gmail app or remove all email accounts from iPhone / ipad then repeat steps before reinstalling the app / restoring the email accounts.