Mac mail won't send stays in Outbox

[Steve314]

I'm also very late on this thread, but I just upgraded to Lion 10.7.3 from Snow Leopard, so I didn't experience the problem before.

I have Lion installed on a MacBook with two accounts (mine and my wife's). After the Lion upgrade, I reset both of our mail accounts to Yahoo IMAP. Initially, mail worked fine for both my account and my wife's.

Then, last night, email couldn't be sent from my wife's account. My account, which is configured exactly the same, continued to work just fine.

I've been trying to resolve this the entire day and came across the same finding as "bruceko". If I turned off SSL for my wife's account, email could be sent without a problem. However, it just didn't seem like that was the proper solution, since both on my MacBook and my iMac (still on Snow Leopard), SSL is on.

So, I turned SSL back on, and started searching the internet for a solution, and found this forum. And guess what? While reading this forum, I heard the whooshing sound of mail being sent from the OutBox. So, for now, the problem has magically gone away.

 

[tecknik1]

My Air 4.2 with Lion 10.7.3 had this problem a couple of days ago, like all the other post it just started .

I tried resetting the PRAM, SMC nothing and then it started sending again.

 

[Sgkranz]

Mail won't send

Well the same problem has reoccured, so I'm back to square one.

 

[slave2socks]

Lion is TERRIBLE

Lion is terrible. After I (stupidly) upgraded to Lion everything went wrong with my Mac Mail, things that had never gone wrong ever with it, and I've been a Mac user since 1999. After too many attempts to fix the problem (deleting and adding accounts over and over again) over about two weeks I just decided to send for the Snow Leopard disk and erased my hard drive and took the consequences that came with that just to get away from Lion. Now my Mac Mail works perfect just like it always did. It was not a pleasant thing to do but to anyone who can I would suggest doing the same, the disc is only $29.99 (or use what you have if you have it on disc already). Even my browser was having problems on Lion. Apple should have tested this OS better on COMPUTERS before it released it for them. We all know Lion is really for iPhone and iPad users, not for the MacBook, etc. users, and in their rush to get it out to the PC users who are using iPhones and iPads they forgot about their faithful base that uses their computers. Very disappointing. Go back to Snow Leopard, it will solve your e-mail problems as it did mine. And many other problems.

I am not questioning your experience, but why does everyone feel that it is always a Lion problem (but you said it worked fine before, so it is an update issue if any and not a Lion issue). Maybe something got slightly corrupted during your upgrade. If you already knew it was a Lion upgrade issue, then why not state this along with some other information that may help people troubleshoot this with you. I have several accounts and have no issues with any of the accounts (they vary from MSN Live, GMAIL, work exchange, and personal IMAP run from a Lions server). None have any issues sending or receiving.

We have no idea what your configuration is or how it is being used. If you would like some help, then you need to state some setup information and any errors you are getting. Have you forced the connection during these down times. What have you done to troubleshoot it (other than Googling, which is a good idea)? Without knowing what you have tried, we can't help you. Bear in mind that lots of the people that visit this forum are not the average user, so we tend to not get the same issues as the average user, as our systems are configured and maintained different than the average user.

 

[Ron Frieborn]

Mac won't send mail

Hi,

I have a MacPro with 10.6.8

10-1-12 I did an update and now my mail will not send. I can receive.
Please Help!!!!
Ron

Have 10 messages in my outbox that will not send. They stay in the outbox the send folder keeps spinning and nothing is helping.

Restarted numerous times.
Deleted the mail accounts, recreated accounts again. Can receive but cannot send.

Why is Mac Mail so weird ?

Latest version of Lion 10.7.3
MBP 13 late 2011. 8gb ram. No other issues except for Mac Mail.

 

[abutcher]

While I agree the port 25 blocking is probably the issue, I came up with another solution. AT&T (my DSL provider) allows you to "verify" up to 10 additional email addresses. Once I did that for all my other email addresses (gmail, mind spring, my own website) I was able to send emails for these through my Apple Mail client utilizing the AT&T outgoing server (outbound.att.net) using port 465.

Instructions can be found here
http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB412255#fbid=ZPcFyNxyLc-

I hope that helps.

 

[JMarie06]

This probably wont help

I'm a new mac user...i just had this problem...all I did was shut down my computer (after i checked to make sure all my passwords were correct and settings were right) and when it came on again mail popped up and asked for my password and then all the e-mails in my outbox started to send. I don't know why this is, but thank goodness its working again!

So...you can always try the restart option.

 

[TonyLima]

Not a Lion problem

I am running Snow Leopard. My wife's iMac is running Mountain Lion. We both have this problem frequently. The only other e-mail client that has this problem is Outlook. How in the world did Apple manage to learn this trick from Microsoft?

BTW, I have about a dozen e-mail accounts with four separate ISPs. None -- none -- of the smtp servers work. I love my Mac, but if Forte' Software ever makes a version of Agent for OS X, I'll buy it in a flash.

Frustrated and a little angry,
Tony Lima

 

[truekMAW]

Solution to Failed outgoing Mail

A very smart Apple tech provide me with the following solution to the problem where you are unable to send mail from the MacMail program. It should work with any ISP or ESP (Email service provider). It involves deleting the DNS settings in the Network panel that were provide by the ESP and replacing them with DNS addresses that force the Mail program to search for any available server.

1. Open the Network panel in System Preferences
2. Select the Advanced tab
3. Select the DNS tab
4. Delete whatever is in the DNS Servers and Search Domains windows
5. Select the + and type the following into the DNS servers window:
8.8.8.8 and then added 8.8.4.4
6. Select Apply or OK then close the System Preferences
7. Restart Mail and you should be good to go

 

[cwolfson]

A very smart Apple tech provide me with the following solution to the problem where you are unable to send mail from the MacMail program. It should work with any ISP or ESP (Email service provider). It involves deleting the DNS settings in the Network panel that were provide by the ESP and replacing them with DNS addresses that force the Mail program to search for any available server.

1. Open the Network panel in System Preferences
2. Select the Advanced tab
3. Select the DNS tab
4. Delete whatever is in the DNS Servers and Search Domains windows
5. Select the + and type the following into the DNS servers window:
8.8.8.8 and then added 8.8.4.4
6. Select Apply or OK then close the System Preferences
7. Restart Mail and you should be good to go

Tried this and it didn't make a whit of difference. I have had this issue off and on since the dawn of OS X, so I really don't think it's a Lion thing. I am on Comcast and can send fine using the Xfinity web mail. Consequently, their tech support always tell me it's a Mac problem. I believe them. Eventually it will start working again for every bit of no-good reason as it stopped. That doesn't prevent me from hurling f-bombs left and right while I wait it out.

 

[RA33028]

Mac Mail won't send

Verified SMTP with my provider. Tried IMAP and POP account settings alike and the problem comes and go like a bad storm. Often I send something one day, only to find it the next day in the out box. I do have version 10.7.5 Had problems with Outlook for Mac and gave up using what used to be a great software. Now that I have began to get used to Mac Mail I encounter this. It SUCKS!!!

 

[alexg78015]

My email will not be sent out. It goes instead to outbox

I am having the very same experience as this other fellow. I am able to get emails in but when I try to send emails out, it goes preferentially to the outbox. My business email service works fine, but this APPLE email service is not working. Sad.

 

[dnaogm]

Same issue here

the DNS 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. posted above worked for me

for now...

thanks!

----------

Nope...

still same issue occurring.

Apple, we have to work here, please take care and do your job as well, you have been paid already!!! Sgrunttt

 

[dnaogm]

connect with your host on a browser

I connected to my email account on a browser and...worked.

As soon as I logged in I heard the sound from the sent emails.

Hope it will stay stable now.

 

[clayelliott]

Found a fix for mine...

I just found this thread cause I was having the same Outbox issue with emails not sending. The emails would just stay in the Outbox even after re-opening and hitting send numerous times. I am running OSX 10.9.1.

I fixed it by doing this:

I found that when I went into the mail account the gmail account setting for Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) said: Gmail (offline)

When I clicked the drop-down menu for this setting there was an option for "Edit SMTP Server List"

When I chose that I got the options in the screen shot attached below. I clicked the Advanced tab and saw that there was no password set in this menu. Once I entered my normal gmail password into the empty field it immediately corrected the issue and my emails sent after refreshing the mailbox...

 

[Lightnin Rick]

A very smart Apple tech provide me with the following solution to the problem where you are unable to send mail from the MacMail program. It should work with any ISP or ESP (Email service provider). It involves deleting the DNS settings in the Network panel that were provide by the ESP and replacing them with DNS addresses that force the Mail program to search for any available server.

1. Open the Network panel in System Preferences
2. Select the Advanced tab
3. Select the DNS tab
4. Delete whatever is in the DNS Servers and Search Domains windows
5. Select the + and type the following into the DNS servers window:
8.8.8.8 and then added 8.8.4.4
6. Select Apply or OK then close the System Preferences
7. Restart Mail and you should be good to go

This worked for me.

For a while, Had to repair permissions too.

 

[AnthonyHFoster77]

I have same problem . . I'm on El Capitain . . . I have several email accounts on different providers . . my business one is most critical & will not send! It receives emails OK but when I reply or compose new they sit in outbox & unable to go . . . none of the above suggestions seem to work . . I have not tried unblocking port 25 . . . this is very frustrating

 

[PeteSmith]

I have same problem . . I'm on El Capitain . . . I have several email accounts on different providers . . my business one is most critical & will not send! It receives emails OK but when I reply or compose new they sit in outbox & unable to go . . . none of the above suggestions seem to work . . I have not tried unblocking port 25 . . . this is very frustrating

Hi Anthony, I've seen loads of Apple Mail issues since the El Capitain update, passwords dissapearing and port numbers setting themselves to 0.
Go to the outgong SMTP Advancd settings, make sure the password is present there and make the outgoing port number 465, click OK, close the window and save if asked.
If it's an IMAP account you can always delete and recreate it, the mail app will sync with the mail server & all of your historic mail and sub folders will be downloaded again.