{"id":1346,"date":"2021-05-10T12:06:27","date_gmt":"2021-05-10T09:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/?p=1346"},"modified":"2025-11-27T09:48:56","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T07:48:56","slug":"apple-mail-error-cannot-send-message-using-the-server","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/apple-mail-error-cannot-send-message-using-the-server\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple Mail Cannot Send Message Using Server Fix"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Apple Mail is a <\/span><b>popular email client<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for <\/span><b>iOS<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>Mac<\/b>\u00a0that helps <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">users connect to popular email providers like <\/span><b>Gmail, Yahoo Mail, iCloud Mail, Outlook<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Apple Mail users can, among other things:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Configure the application to receive all their email accounts in one list<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Manage files and emails<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Automatically append a signature to outgoing emails<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Mail can also integrate with your contact list, calendar, map and other applications, <\/span><b>helping you stay organized.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>While sending a message via the client, you might receive any of these messages:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Can<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">not send a message using the server <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[server address]<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The sender address <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[your email address]<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was rejected by the server <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[server address]<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This article guides you on the causes and how to fix them.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Causes of Apple Mail Error and How To Fix It<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>Apple Mail may not be able able to send emails if any of these three issues occur:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you change your outgoing mail<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your mail preference file fails to update changes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You have a corrupted mail preference file<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s quickly take a look at them and how to resolve the errors.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Changed Outgoing Mail Setting\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email service providers often <\/span><b>upgrade their <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/set-mail-server-business-email-hosting-plan\/\"><b>mail servers<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to protect them against malicious attacks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the update is not reflected in Apple Mail&#8217;s settings, the application will try to communicate with the wrong server.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>But you could fix this by configuring your outgoing mail settings, and here\u2019s how :<\/b><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Open Apple Mail to get started.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Select <\/span><b>Preferences<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from the menu.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click the <\/span><b>Accounts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> button in the Mail preferences window.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Select the email account you couldn\u2019t send messages from.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click the <\/span><b>Server Settings<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><b>Account Information<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> tabs to find the incoming and outgoing mail settings pane. You could get to the pane by clicking the <\/span><b>Server Settings<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> tab in some versions or through the <\/span><b>Account Information<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> tab in other versions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Select <\/span><b>Edit SMTP Server List <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in the Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) section, from the dropdown menu labeled <\/span><b>Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><b>Accounts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, of course, depending on your Apple Mail\u2019s version.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step <\/span><b>5<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> displays a list of all the SMTP servers set up for the various email accounts added to your Apple Mail.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Select the server the email account uses.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click the <\/span><b>Server Settings<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><b>Account Information<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> tab.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make sure the server or hostname is correct.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remove duplicate servers, if there are multiple servers with the same\u00a0 name.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click the <\/span><b>Advanced<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> tab, and ensure all the fields match the setting provided by your mail service provider.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If available, place a checkmark to <\/span><b>Use <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/ssl-certificates.html\"><b>Secure Sockets Layer<\/b><\/a><b> (SSL)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Select <\/span><b>Password<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as your authentication type.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ensure your username and password matches your email address and password, respectively &#8211; otherwise, make the changes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click OK.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Mail Preference File Failing to Update Changes<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Apple Mail could still <\/span><b>fail to send and receive your messages<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> even when you&#8217;ve configured the settings correctly. In this case, the Mail Preference File becomes the main suspect.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Apple Mail error could occur when the app fails to update changes, thereby<\/span><b> preventing you from saving updates<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to your Mail settings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The update failure could be due to a permission issue that prevents Apple Mail from <\/span><b>writing data to its preference file<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and resetting the file could resolve this.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Follow these quick steps to get back on track.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Launch the<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2018Finder Search Window\u2019 <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">on your Mac device and open the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018Go\u2019<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> menu to select \u2018<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Go to Folder\u2026\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1347\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/2021-05-10_12h03_27.png\" alt=\"Apple Mail Cannot Send Message Using Server Fix, Mail Preference File Failing to Update Changes\" width=\"160\" height=\"112\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Type <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">~\/Library\/Preferences<\/span><\/i> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in the text box and <\/span><b>click Go<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to open the folder.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1348\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/2021-05-10_12h03_43.png\" alt=\"Apple Mail Cannot Send Message Using Server Fix, Mail Preference File Failing to Update Changes 2\" width=\"328\" height=\"105\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/2021-05-10_12h03_43.png 328w, https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/2021-05-10_12h03_43-300x96.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 361px) 660px, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 910px, 1140px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Look for the file <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018com.apple.mail.plist<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019 in the folder and delete it. You could <\/span><b>click and drag the file<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> into the trash icon on your desktop to delete it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/2021-05-10_12h03_50.png\" alt=\"Apple Mail Cannot Send Message Using Server Fix, Mail Preference File Failing to Update Changes 3\" width=\"411\" height=\"160\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/2021-05-10_12h03_50.png 411w, https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/2021-05-10_12h03_50-300x117.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 361px) 660px, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 910px, 1140px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Restart <\/span><b>Apple Mail.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The application will run a setup wizard as if you\u2019re launching it for the first time. Re-enter <\/span><b>all your email settings <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">again following the step earlier described above.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Note: You should consider backing up your messages before resetting your preference file, just in case.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h3><b>Corrupted Mail Preference File<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A corrupted mail preference file makes the file or section unusable, which often <\/span><b>causes an Apple Mail error.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Reset the file to resolve the issue and re-enter your email settings to restore functionality.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Wrapping It Up<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Changed outgoing email settings, mail preference file not updating, and corrupted mail preference file are some of the<\/span><b> most common causes for the error messages we saw at the beginning of the article. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The error could be a major inconvenience, especially if you rely on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/hosting\/email-hosting\/\"><b>emails<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to do your job.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thankfully, the steps outlined in this article should help resolve the issue quickly and effortlessly.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Apple Mail is a popular email client for iOS and Mac\u00a0that helps users connect to popular email providers like Gmail, Yahoo Mail, iCloud Mail, Outlook, and more. Apple Mail users can, among other things: Configure the application to receive all their email accounts in one list Manage files and emails Automatically append a signature to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Apple Mail Cannot Send Message Using Server Fix | ScalaHosting KB","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-email-hosting"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1346"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5809,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1346\/revisions\/5809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}