how often does mac mail check for new messages

Unless you have disabled this setting, or customized other options that affect the free flow of emails in and out of Apple Mail, the mere act of opening the program will download new messages. Mac Mail Tip: your email program is by default configured to automatically check for new email messages on the server when it launches. The fastest way to manually check for new email messages in Mac Mail is to press the Command+Shift+N keyboard shortcut - of course, you need to be inside Mail.app for this keystroke to work: as soon as you do, Apple Mail will start downloading all new emails it found on the server, for all your email accounts (with the exception of those you have configured not to be checked - how to temporarily disable an email account in Mac Mail).Īnother to manually receive your latest emails is to click on the Mailbox menu, and choose ' Get All New Mail' - whether you choose this route or use the keyboard shortcut instead makes no difference, both achieve the exactly same end result. Click the Close button to exit this dialog box. If you have prevented Mac Mail from automatically checking for new emails, you will have to manually check for them (otherwise your email program essentially works as if you were offline, as far as receiving new messages is concerned). It’s optional to check the option of Schedule an automatic send/receive every x minutes in the When Outlook is Offline section, and enter a send/receive interval time in the box. Regardless of your email settings in Apple Mail, you can at any time 'force' a manual check for new messages on the server in a couple of ways. Manually check for new emails in Mac Mail And you can always manually check your emails (described below) even if Apple Mail is set to 'automatic mode'. Note that this change takes effect immediately, and can be configured and changed later on to whatever you like. Hit the Esc key on your keyboard to close the Preferences dialog, and hit Return or click Save when prompted to do so, and Mac Mail will apply your new settings.If you choose this setting, the next section of this tutorial explains how to then manually check yourself for new emails on your account's mail server.

As you can tell from the screenshot above, we have our preference set to ' Manually' - a good way of enhancing your productivity by not getting periodically distracted.

Either pick the time interval you want to see elapse before Apple Mail checks next for new emails, or read on.

Then, click on the ' Check for new mail' dropdown menu to show the available intervals: ' Every minute', ' Every 5 minutes', ' Every 15 minutes', ' Every 30 minutes', or ' Every hour'.

When your email options open, select the ' General' tab at the top (if it isn't already).Once you are in Mac Mail, press Command+, or go to Mail menu > Preferences.Customize how frequently Apple Mail downloads new emailsįollow these steps to choose a number of minutes or disable automatic mail checks:

How often does mac mail check for new messages