Problem setting up emails on new Mac using OS Sequoia

[#1]

Hello. I have a problem setting up emails on my new 2024 Mac using OS Sequoia. I can send emails but the only emails I can receive are Plusnet emails from six years ago and older. Help would be much appreciated.

Kind regards, Annie

[#2]

Which mail program are you using, @Annie73 ?

[#3]

Hello John. I'm using Mail.

[#4]

The Apple Mail program? I have tried setting up my PN account on my iPad some time ago, and gave up (it was only as a back-up to my laptop), but from memory, the Apple mail program makes some 'assumptions' about the setup which don't take account of the 'non-standard' format of PN addresses. Can you receive on webmail - if so, this confirms your account details are correct.

[#5]

Yes, Apple Mail. Everything works well on my iPad and iPhone. I'm only receiving old Plusnet emails on Webmail. 

[#6]

Strange. I admit I don't bother with my Plusnet accounts on the iPhone/iPad, but I usually have access to those on my laptop.

I'm not an expert, but my suggestion, for what it is worth, is to copy your settings exactly from either of the other two devices, and see if you can successfully send although my experience of Apple is that they seem to change requirements between variants of their program.

I'll tag the mail expert ( @Townman  ) and see if he has any thoughts.

[#7]

Thank you so much, John.

Annie

[#8]

Hi @Annie73 

Given that you see the same old emails in both MAC mail and webmail then there is something very odd here.

Have you compared the details between the iPad and the MAC mail configuration.  Specifically are they the same email account?  Is it possible that you created a new address a few years ago?

If there were no emails shown, I would suspect that the IMAP root folder needed to be specified in the settings as inbox however given that some are shown one would need to find a different explanation.  One possibility is that it might take time for all of the emails to sync up.

For the avoidance of doubt, the iPAD is configured as IMAP ... not POP3 ... yes?

[#9]

Many thanks for your message. Yes, my iPad is configured as IMAP.

[#10]

To confirm; between the iPAD and the MAC mail settings

• They are both IMAP and there is no other POP3 email client anywhere
• The mailbox details (specifically usernames) are identical
• The MAC mail system is not reporting any errors

Does the MAC mail system have a server time out setting in the account configuration?

How are you logging on to Webmail - with the email address or with account details?

For the avoidance of doubt, which mail brand is this?  Plusnet / Force9 or one of the older legacy brands?

[#11]

My old Mac is using POP.

The usernames are identical.

No errors on the MAC mail system reported.

"Does the MAC mail system have a server time out setting in the account configuration?" Not sure about this.

I log on to webmail with account details.

I use Plusnet.

[#12]

Is the old Mac still operational?

It being POP can you be certain is has not removed all the mail from the server … except for way back when?

[#13]

Yes, the old MAC is still operational.

[#14]

In which case, given there’s no recent emails seen by webmail, it’s probably safe to conclude that the old machine, using POP3 has removed the mail from the server.

Using POP3, especially with multiple clients, is asking for a lot of trouble.

Turn off the old MAC. Send an email to the account and see if it appears on the new MAC and webmail. If that works, you need a recovery plan to fix the “damage” done by using a POP3 client. We can look at that when you’ve gained control over accessing your emails.

[#15]

Thank you so much for your message. I’m not at home this evening but will try your suggestion in the morning and get back to you.