Several Mac users have reported that the Mail app window just pops up randomly and for no reason. Are you also having this problem on your Mac? This short article explains how you can stop the Mail app from keep launching itself automatically while using the computer. This is an annoying problem because it will interrupt what you are doing.
Please try each step until your issue is fixed:
1-Are your having this problem when you first open your computer. Depending on your settings, some apps, like the Mail app, may open automatically when you log in. If you want to stop this, the first thing you should check is your settings to see if if Mail is set to launch at login. Here is how you can check this:
- 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.
2-Another change you you want to make is to disable the “Close windows when quitting an application” option. You can do that by going to System Preferences and click the General pane and the check the “Close windows when quitting an application” box.
3-Some Mac computers support a feature called “Power Nap”. If you enable this, you Mac will check for new mail messages (among other things) while it is asleep. You may want to disable this. Again not all Mac models support this feature. The following models support this:
- MacBook (Early 2015 and later)
- MacBook Air (Late 2010 and later)
- MacBook Pro (all models with Retina display)
- Mac mini (Late 2012 and later)
- iMac (Late 2012 and later)
- Mac Pro (Late 2013)
To turn this off, go to System Preferences. And click Energy Saver. And then uncheck the “Enable Power Nap” box.
4-It has been reported that email settings in Google Calendar may cause this. Are you using a Gmail account? If so, you may want to try this. (see also: Gmail not working?)
- Visit the Google Calendar site (https://calendar.google.com/calendar/)
- Login if not already
- Click the Settings Menu icon (upper right hand corner of your screen – gear icon) and from the pull down menu, click Settings
- Select your Calendar
- Scroll and find the General Notifications section
- And change all this notification settings from Email to None. (There are five options)
Further your may also want to disable event settings notifications. Here is how:
- Click the General tab (left area)
- Click Event Settings
- Click Notifications
- And select “Off”
See also: Calendar Invitation: Your Response To The Invitation Cannot Be Sent
5-Some users reports indicate that Mail will launch in split view. If you are having this problem, here is what you can do:
- Open the Mail app
- Click Mail and Preferences (from the menu bar)
- Click the General tab
- And then deselect the “Prefer opening messages in split view when in full screen” box
- And close the window
6–Restart your Mac in Safe Mode. Here is how:
- Turn off your Mac
- Turn on your Mac while pressing and holding the Shift key
- Release the Shift key when you see the login screen.
- Now your Mac is in Safe Mode. Does your problem still occur?
- If now, restart your Mac normally, without pressing the Shift key
7-Force quit the Mail app. Here is how:
- Option, Command, and Esc
- Select the Mail app
- Click Quit
- Now restart your Mac
If none of the tips help you, you may contact Apple. You can also give Apple feedback about this problem.
See also: How To Open Winmail.dat Attachments
I think I’ve figured this out. Disable using “Send large messages with Mail Drop”. A feature they’ve obviously forgotten about since no one actually uses iCloud mail.
Yeah, this is a bug that Apple hasn’t fixed in over a year and this is not a solution to the problem.
You’re right! I have called Apple 4 times, taken my macbook pro into the apple store3 times, had it sent off to be “fixed” 3 times, and NOTHING has changed. They won’t do anything about it anymore. So frustrating and so wrong.
none of these work. still opens in background or split screen no matter how many random boxes i check or uncheck or how many times i disable google calendar blah blah. it’s been almost a year of this. obviously a bug
Same here. Mail opens up in split screen. I thought a hacker was trying to view my email. I’m really not sure what it is…
It drives me nuts!! So annoying, you think they would have fixed something like this by now!!
It looks like I solved the problem by setting the “check new mail” (Preferences/General) to ‘automatically’. When you choose another option, the app launches everytime it checks the mail (e.g., every 15 minutes).
Mine is already set to automatically and still does it.
mine too. So annoying – it disrupts whatever you are working on
This kind of stupid annoying programming is why I dumped Microsoft – Apple is becoming same but more expensive to get the same crap.
#7 worked for me..too easy..Thanks.
A solution that worked for me: using Outlook!
The reason why I don’t use Outlook is it has thousand of options which nobody knows exactly.
Apple needs to find a solution to this ASAP. This is leading to privacy issues. Now with Screen Sharing we do not want our mail program to randomly launch during these sessions. PLEASE APPLE FIX THIS!!
Another thing that works is not closing the Mail app window, but minimizing instead (the yellow button).
PLEASE help with this! I am a teacher and when I display my computer to my classroom, there are times all my emails will pop up and some have confidential information about students that I do not want popping up like that when I am teaching!
PLEASE TRY THIS SIMPLE SOLUTION
My sister consistently had this problem, but I never did. I got her to try @Kakashigr’s solution, and he’s right: this seems to happen when users close their Mail window (with the red dot). The simplest solution is to (a) Hide Mail (⌘H) or (b) simply click/⌘-tab away from Mail, instead of closing the window. My sister has had no issues since she got into this habit.
***
To Serhat Kurt, the author of this article:
Please add this solution near the beginning, as some of the other solutions seem to be somewhat hail-Mary (Disabling Power Nap? Booting safe mode?? Yes, these _could_ do something in theory, but I doubt they solve the problem most people are experiencing).
Thanks for bringing attention to this unfortunate bug.
Nope, that doesn’t work for me. Doing either “Hide” on Mail, or bringing any other window in front of the Mail window, works for a minute, but then the hidden Mail window pops itself forward, with no provocation whatsoever.
Yes, I just tried the suggestion to minimize Mail rather than closing it out. I have tested it a couple of times already and IT WORKS!! Thanks for the help!