Airmail Not Syncing After Mac Sleep — Troubleshooting Sync-After-Sleep on macOS

Some users have reported that Airmail on macOS does not download new emails that arrived while the Mac was asleep. After waking, messages visible on other devices (iPhone, iPad, webmail) may not appear in Airmail until the message cache is rebuilt. This article describes the recommended troubleshooting steps for this scenario.

When the issue typically occurs:

• After overnight sleep or extended sleep periods (several hours, weekends).
• - Most frequently reported with shared Microsoft Exchange folders.
• - macOS Tahoe 26.x with Airmail 26.0.19 (824) and later.

Step 1 — Verify system-level wake settings

Open System Settings > Battery > Options and confirm that "Wake for network access" is enabled (set to Always or Only on Power Adapter, depending on your usage). This is a system-wide option and not configurable per-app.

Step 2 — Check macOS background permissions for Airmail

Open System Settings and verify the following:

• General > Login Items & Extensions > Allow in the Background — Airmail should be listed and enabled.
• - Notifications > Airmail — notifications and background activity allowed.
• - Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access — Airmail enabled (this can affect Exchange data on disk).
• If Airmail does not appear in any of these panels, please follow our companion article on re-registering Airmail's background services on macOS Tahoe.

Step 3 — Adjust the Refresh Interval

In Airmail, go to Preferences > Accounts > [Your Account] and shorten the refresh interval. A shorter interval can help Airmail catch up faster after waking from sleep.

Step 4 — Quick database rebuild on launch

If messages remain missing after wake, you can quickly rebuild the local database by holding the Option key while launching Airmail. A diagnostic dialog will appear offering to Reset/Rebuild the database. The Option key must be held immediately before launch and kept pressed until the application window has fully opened.

Step 5 — Information to share with Airmail Support

If the issue persists, please contact Airmail Support and include:

• Mail provider (Gmail, iCloud, Exchange, generic IMAP, etc.) and whether the affected folder is shared.
• - Airmail version (Airmail menu > About Airmail).
• - macOS version (Apple menu > About This Mac).
• - Approximate sleep duration before the issue occurs.
• - Whether the issue affects only one account or multiple accounts.

This information allows our technical team to reproduce and investigate the behavior more accurately.

If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out to the Airmail Support team.

Updated on: 05/08/2026