macOS Mail app stuck “moving messages”

Hello! Running Mail 13.0 on macOS 10.15.3

I have three email accounts configured: two Exchange and one Gmail. Been running those three without an issue for months.

I have the habit of keeping the amount of emails in my local inbox low (“inbox zero”): as soon as I’m done, I file the email to a local folder, or trash it. So I usually work with 5-10 email in my inbox.

Yesterday, something happened (don’t know what) where messages that I had moved (i.e. filed) where appearing back in the inbox folder. I also noticed the mention “Moving Messages” stuck in the Mail app window (bottom left when you click on “Mailboxes” to reveal all your mailboxes). If I try and move a message out of the inbox to its designated folder, it will move at first, but two things happens: 1) the count of “Moving Messages” increases (making me think Mail doesn’t actually move the message, but try to do it, or move a copy of it and for some reason thinks it did not) and at some point the message will reappear in the inbox folder (especially if I try to “rebuild” the inbox folder).

Since all three accounts are IMAP, this issue impacts my other inboxes (on another laptop and on my iPhone).

I know this is not specific to EagleFiler, but was wondering if anyone with Mail expertise could suggest a way to troubleshoot this.

Thanks!

It sounds like your Apple Mail database is damaged. I suggest doing a complete rebuild, rather than just rebuilding the inbox.

Thanks Michael: it took a bit of time but it did the trick. The strange thing is that the issue started a few days after I did a first complete rebuild. But now everything seems to be in order: patience is often a key piece of the troubleshooting process!

I had the same problem after a system crash.macOS 11.5.2 and later 11.6. Moving mails just stalled. Then I noticed, using CCC version 6 that my clones were copying with multiple errors. When I revealed them all in finder, I found they were all emails - mail attachments or signatures that were corrupted. So I deleted every one through CCC. Following that, CCC cloned without errors and I can now move E-Mails with no problems at all. CCC version 6 is so useful as local snapshots can also be removed via the app. Best two apps on the market, Spamsieve and CCC. Hope that helps

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