Are you facing issues with the Mail app opening randomly on your Mac? You are not alone. It could pop up while you are in the midst of work to display a new email. Or it could bug you for no obvious reason at all. Annoying. So, can you do anything to stop that from happening?
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Connectivity issues with certain email accounts (such as Gmail) can trigger the Mac's Mail app to open randomly. So far, Apple has not released a permanent fix to this issue. But thankfully, there are a few fixes that you can apply to patch things up. Without any further ado, let's get started.
Connectivity issues with certain email accounts (such as Gmail) can trigger the Mac's Mail app to open randomly. So far, Apple has not released a permanent fix to this issue. But thankfully, there. On your Mac, open System Preferences (from the Apple menu at the top-left of the screen), or use Terminal. Click Users & Groups; Click the Login Items tab; Here you will see the apps that will open automatically at login. If Mail is there, you can stop it from opening automatically, select and and click the minus icon to remove it.
Minimize Instead of Close
Before I go to bed, I will force close all of my apps with the 'close all apps' button. However, sometimes I'm OCD and I double-checked to see that I closed all the apps, and when I went in to check there were about 7 random apps open that weren't open previously and that I hadn't even used recently (one was Yahoo!
If the Mail app opens without warning while running in the background, try minimizing the app instead of closing it—click the orange-colored icon to the top-left of the window to do that. You can also use the Command+H keyboard shortcut to minimize the Mail app quickly.
That isn't a permanent fix by any means and could take some getting used to. But it's a surprisingly quick way to put a pause to the Mail app's odd behavior.
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Read MoreUse Gmail App Password
Are you using Gmail on the Mac? At times, the Mail app may fail to connect to your Google Account, especially if it's secured with two-factor authentication. That could result in the app opening automatically whenever it re-establishes the connection.
Thankfully, you can fix this issue with an App Password.
Step 1: Use a web browser to sign in to your Google Account. Click the Security side-tab, and click App Passwords (located within the 'Signing in to Google' section).
Step 2: Generate an App Password for the Mac's Mail app. Copy it to your clipboard.
Step 3: Open the Mail app. Next, click Mail on the menu bar, and then click Preferences. Switch to the Accounts tab, and then remove your Gmail account.
Step 4: Re-add the Gmail account.
Step 5: When prompted for your password, add the App Password instead of your Google Account password.
That should likely stop the Mail app from facing connectivity issues with Gmail going forward.
Note: If you want to revoke the App Password for the Mail app, re-visit your Google Account and click Security > App Passwords.Use a Separate Space
Give the Mail app a separate desktop space. Open Mission Control, create a new space (click the Add icon to the top right), and then drag the Mail app into it. That should prevent the Mail app from opening randomly and interrupting you.
Click the Mail app on the dock whenever you want to check your email. Alternatively, you can visit the desktop space manually via Mission Control.
Check for New Messages Manually
Are you still having issues with the Mail app opening randomly on your Mac? Try checking for new messages manually. To do that, go to the Mail app's Preferences screen (Mail > Preferences), and then set 'Check for New Messages' to Manually.
Click the Get Mail icon—located to the top-left corner of the Mail app window—whenever you want to fetch new messages manually.
Note: This isn't a viable fix for most and isn't recommended if you receive urgent emails frequently.Also on Guiding Tech
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Click here to see our macos articles pageDisable Messages in Split-View
Is the Mail app opening new emails automatically in Split-View while using another app in full-screen mode?
To stop that from happening, open the Mail app's Preferences screen (Mail > Preferences), and then disable the 'Prefer opening messages in split view when in full screen.'
Delete non-Essential Email Accounts
Try removing non-essential email accounts from the Mail app. That should further reduce odd connectivity issues from causing the Mail app to pop up on your screen randomly. To do that, go to Mail > Preferences.
Disable Open at Login
Is the Mail app only opening automatically while booting up your Mac? That isn't an issue, but rather happens when the app is configured to open at startup.
To stop the Mail app from doing that again, simply right-click the Mail icon on the dock, point to Options, and then uncheck Open at Login.
Alternatively, go to Apple menu > System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items, and then remove Mail from the list of startup items.
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Read MoreBottom Line
Most fixes that stop the Mail app from opening randomly aren't very practical, but they should help you until Apple resolves this issue for good. Hence, make it a point to install the latest updates for your Mac whenever they become available—to do that, go to Apple menu > System Preferences > Software Update.
So, know of any other fixes that can stop the Mail app from popping up on the screen all the time? Drop in a comment and let us know.
Next up:Getting bombarded with spam on your Mac? Check out what you can do to protect yourself from that.
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Read Next3 Tips to Protect Your Mac Against Spam in MailAlso See#email #troubleshooting
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In 1981, the crew of STS-43 Atlantis sent the first e-mail from space.
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(Updated on 11/6/2017)So, here’s a quick question: how long does it take for your Mac to start up? A minute? Two minutes? Five? Or just too long? One possible reason your Mac may be slow out of the blocks is that it’s trying to launch a slew of programs all at the same time.
Now, some of these programs might be actually be ones that you do want to launch automatically, such as the Safari web browser, or Apple Mail. But other, not-so-necessary programs may be piling up in your Mac’s “login items” list, too—ones that set themselves to launch automatically without asking first.
Another factor that may be slowing down your system is the Mac’s “Resume” feature, which re-opens any and all apps you had running when you shut down your Mac. That could lead to a crush of apps all trying to launch themselves at startup.
Last but not least, you may have specific programs on your Mac with “Launch at Startup” settings that you’ll need to find and disable.
Now, if you’re the patient type, waiting a little longer for your Mac to boot up so that your programs appear just as you left them might be a fair trade-off.
But if you’d rather shave a few seconds—or even minutes—off the time it takes for your Mac to settle down after hitting the power button, read on.
1. Cross items off your Mac’s “Login Items” list
Your Mac launches a series of programs each and every time it starts up. Some of these programs are critical for the smooth operation of your system; others, not so much.
To see a list of all the programs your Mac opens automatically, click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of the screen, select System Preferences, click the “User & Groups” icon (it’s under the “System” heading), pick a user (you, most likely), and finally click the “Login Items” tab.
You should now see a list of everything your Mac is launching (or trying to launch, anyway) whenever it starts up.
Some of the items will be easy to identify—in my case, I’ve got Dropbox and Google Drive (the handy file-sharing apps) listed, as well as something called an “Eye-Fi Helper” (an app that lets my Mac receive wireless images from my digital camera) and “AirPort Base Station Agent” (which keeps tabs on my AirPort Wi-Fi base station).
To delete these or other startup items from the list (but not from your Mac, mind you), just select them and click the “-” button at the bottom of the list.
![Mac Mac](/uploads/1/3/3/8/133889685/432178267.png)
2. Keep “Resume” from re-launching previously open apps
Don’t get me wrong—”Resume” is one of the handiest Mac features, especially for those of us who like to pick up in Safari or the Calendar app right where we left off.
But if you don’t want Resume relentlessly re-launching all the apps you had open when you last shut down your Mac, you can stop it from doing so.
The next time you select Shut Down or Restart from the Apple menu, take a closer look at the window that pops up; in addition to the “Cancel” and “Shut Down” or “Restart” buttons, you’ll also see a checkbox labeled “Reopen windows when logging back in.”
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Click the box to clear out the checkmark, and the only apps that’ll re-launch the next time your power on your Mac are those listed in the Login Items menu.
3. Check for program-specific “Launch at Startup” settings
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So, you emptied the “Login Items” list and turned off the Resume feature, but there’s still a program that’s launching itself at startup. What gives? Well, it could be that the stubborn program has its own “Launch at Startup” setting.
Open the program, make sure it’s the active app on your desktop (just click its window if it isn’t), then find its Preferences menu; generally speaking, you’ll find it under its main menu in the Mac menu bar (like “Spotify” in the case of Spotify).
Once you’ve opened the program’s Preferences menu, look around for a “Launch at Startup” setting. If there are lots of different Preferences categories, start with “General,” then try “Advanced.” (In Spotify’s case, I found a “Open Spotify automatically after you log into the computer” setting under its “Advanced” settings.)
Found the “Launch at Startup” (or the equivalent) setting? Go ahead and disable it, then rinse and repeat for any other programs that are still launching themselves when you turn on your Mac.