Apple Mail Troubleshooting

Summary

Apple Mail (or Mac Mail) is the default mail application on OS X devices (Macbook Pro, Macbook Air, Macbook royale with cheese). It is indicated with an icon resembling a postage stamp on the icon tray (bottom of the screen). There are some unique features and troubleshooting to keep in mind with this program.

Different Types of Accounts

Apple Mail will allow creation of two types of accounts, Mail and Internet. A Mail account is the type you want to create (if given the choice). If an account appearing in Apple Mail sends/receives without error but messages do not reach their destination, it's possible this account is an internet account rather than a mail account. You should attempt to remove this account (ensuring there is backups of emails on the server first of course) and re-add the account. This will ensure it is a mail only account.

SMTP Servers

Apple Mail creates and saves SMTP settings independently of the mail accounts themselves. When editing account settings you will have an option to "Edit SMTP Servers" which will take you to the full list of configured servers. It is a good habit to clear out any SMTP servers that are not associated with any email account. This is because Apple Mail will refuse to save two SMTP servers with the same settings. Each SMTP server listed here will also note which accounts are currently associated with it, make sure an SMTP server has no active accounts attached to it prior to deletion.