How to Fix Issue “Mac Mail Stuck on Moving Messages”?

Apple Mail is a widely used email client on macOS which can easily integrate with iCloud, Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, and other popular email providers. The email client is reliable, but there are multiple problems that app users have reported, such as Mac Mail Stuck on moving messages which occurs when users try to move from one mailbox to another.

The issue is typically shown as one or more of the following symptoms:

• The app will show a loading indicator while attempting to move the emails.
• Moving messages – status shows, but the process never completes
• Emails stay in the original folder without starting the process.
• The Mail app becomes unresponsive or freezes.
• The duplicate messages appear in the source and destination mailboxes.

The issue can occur anywhere, anytime, when moving the message between the mailboxes, that is, from the inbox to the customs folder, between accounts or to trash or to the archive folder. It affects any user across all macOS versions.

Why Does this Happen?

We can’t pinpoint a single factor that causes the issue with Mac Mail stuck on moving messages. The causes can be:

• Corrupted index file or envelope database.
• Network connectivity or VPN interference that would disrupt the server communication.
• Synchronisation failure between the mail app and the remote mail server.
• Outdated macOS or Mail app version with any known bugs.
• Incorrect or outdated account credentials.
• Any server-side issues with the email providers?

Troubleshooting Steps to Fix Mac Mail Stuck on Moving Messages

Follow the steps in order. After each of the steps, test whether the messages are now moving successfully before proceeding to the next one.

Force Quit and Restart Mail

First, let’s start with a simple and most overlooked fix. Starting with a clean slate of the mail application.

1. Press Command + Option + Escape to open the force quit window.
2. Select Mail from the list and click Force Quit.
3. Wait a few seconds to allow all the mail processes to terminate fully.
4. Reopen the Mail from the launchpad and attempt to move the message again.

Check Internet Connection

Any email client relies on a stable internet connection. Any connectivity issue can cause the move operation to get stuck at the process.

1. Open Safari or another browser and check if other web pages are loading properly or not.
2. If the Wi-Fi is not working, try switching to an Ethernet connection for more stability.
3. Disable and re-enable Wi-Fi using the menu bar icon.
4. If connected to VPN, temporarily disconnect it and test Mail again.
5. Restart the router or modem if the connection seems unstable.

Check out our other troubleshooting article: Apple Mail attachments not downloading.

Rebuild the Mailbox Index to Resolve Mac Mail Stuck on Moving Messages

Mac Mail maintain a local index of each mailbox. When the index becomes corrupted, moving emails can fail to complete. Rebuilding the mailbox will force the mail to re-index the mailbox contents.

1. In the Mail app, click the problematic mailbox.
2. Go to Mailbox > Rebuild.
3. Wait for the rebuild to complete; it might take time depending on the mailbox size.

Take all the Accounts offline, Then Online

Toggle the email accounts office and back online forces the email to re-establish the connection with the mail server, which resolves the synchronisation states.

1. In the Mail menu bar, go to Mailbox > Take all Accounts Offline.
2. Wait a few seconds.
3. Go to Mailbox > Get All New Mail.
4. Allow Mail a few minutes to fully connect.
5. Now attempt to move the messages in the Mac Mail.

How Low Disk Space Causes Mac Mail Stuck on Moving Messages?

If the Mac’s disk is nearly full, the Mail app will not write new data to the local store. It will indirectly disrupt the operation, such as moving messages.

1. Go to Apple Menu > About this Mac > More Info.
2. Click Storage to view the available disk space.
3. If you have less than 5 GB free, clear the space.

After freeing up the space, relaunch Mail and test again.

Delete and Re-Add the Account

Outdated or corrupted account settings are one of the most frequent culprits that cause issues with Mac Mail. Removing the account and adding it fresh gives Mail a clean configuration to work on:

1. Before proceeding, make note of the account settings.
2. Open System Settings > Internet Account.
3. Select the affected email account and click the minus button to remove.
4. Restart the Mac.
5. Return to Internet Accounts and click the + button to add the account again with credentials.
6. Open Mail and allow the sync. Then test moving the messages in Mac Mail.

Reset the Mail Envelope Index to Fix Mac Mail Stuck on Moving Messages

Envelope index is Mail’s master database that tracks all messages and the metadata. If the envelope index is damaged, it is one of the most common causes of stuck emails while moving.

1. Quit Mail completely.
2. Open Finder and press Command + Shift + G to open the Go to Folder.
3. Type the path and press Return: ~/Library/Mail/V10/MailData/
4. Search for file names Envelope Index, Envelope Index-shm, and Envelope Index-wal.
5. Move the files to the Desktop.
6. Reopen Mail. It will automatically rebuild the envelope index from the mail server.
7. Once complete, test whether the issues “Apple Mail stuck at moving emails” are resolved or not.

Check the macOS and Mail Updates

Apple releases updates to macOS and the Mail app that would address known bugs, including synchronisation and message-moving failure issues.

1. Open Apple menu > System Settings > General > Software Update.
2. If an update is available, download and install it.
3. After updating and restarting, open the Mail and test the move operation.

Create New Mailbox and Transfer Message Manually

Create a fresh mailbox if the destination mailbox appears to be the problem – Mac Mail Stuck on Moving Messages.

1. In the Mail sidebar, right-click under On My Mac and select New Mailbox.
2. Enter a name and click Ok.
3. Select all the messages you want to move, right-click and choose Move To > your new Mailbox.
4. If it works, the original destination mailbox may have been corrupted. You can delete it and rename the new one.

Use a Different Email Client to Move Messages

If the issue is with the Mail, use the alternate email client to move messages, as it can bypass the problem while we can troubleshoot the Mail separately.

1. Log in to the email account via a web browser and move messages.
2. Use third-party mail clients Thunderbird, Airmail, or Spark to move the messages via IMAP
3. After moving the messages to the server side

Pro Tip: Alternatively, you can use Apple Mail Converter to directly export the Apple emails into a different file format, making it easy to access and move the messages without depending on the Mail app at all.

Reset Mail’s Preferences File

A corrupted Mail preferences file can cause any unexpected issues, including Mac Mail stuck on moving messages

1. Quit Mail completely.
2. Open Finder and go to ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Preferences/.
3. Locate the file named com.apple.mail.plist and move it to the Desktop.
4. Reopen Mail. It will generate a new default preference.
5. You might need to reconfigure the settings, but the accounts and messages will remain intact.

Check Email Provider Server Status

Sometimes the issue might not be with your Mac at all, but with the server. IMAP servers can experience outages or degraded performance that can cause the operations to hang, which is the Mac Mail stuck at moving messages.

• For iCloud Mail: Check Apple’s System Status page at apple.com/support/systemstatus.

If there is any active server incident, the only solution is to wait for the provider to resolve the issue on their end.

Run Disk Utility First Aid

If there is any Disk error, it could corrupt the application data. Try running Disk Utility First Aid checks and repairing the file system issues.

1. Open Disk Utility from Applications > Utilities.
2. Select the startup disk – Macintosh HD in the sidebar.
3. Click First Aid, then Run.
4. Allow the process to complete.
5. If there is any error, repair and restart the Mac.
6. Reopen Mail and test the issue.

Conclusion

Mac Mail stuck at moving messages is a frustrating issue, but it is fixable with the appropriate method. The troubleshooting steps covered in the guide are rebuilding the mailbox, resetting the index, checking the disk space, etc. We have addressed all the common causes behind this issue. Starting from the simple fixes like force-quitting the Mail and checking the internet connection before we move further with the advanced steps like resetting the envelope index or deleting and re-adding the account. In such cases, one of these solutions will resolve the Mac Mail stuck on moving messages without any data loss.