Mac OS X 10.4: Mail unexpectedly quits, stops responding, or won‘t import previous mailboxes

If you use third-party plug-ins with Mail in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, be aware that they can lead to issues, such as Mail unexpectedly quitting or not being able to import previous mailboxes. This can happen even if the plug-ins worked with Mail in earlier versions of Mac OS X.

Note: Apple does not support the use of third-party plug-ins with any version of Mail or Mac OS X. This article is provided as courtesy information—not as a statement of compatibility.

If you are experiencing issues with Mail due to third-party plug-ins, you can download and install the Mac OS X 10.4.1 Update or later. Your third-party plug-ins will be disabled so that Mail can function properly.

If you're not ready to update, follow these steps to remove the plug-ins:

1. Quit or Force Quit Mail.
2. Remove all plug-ins from the ~/Library/Mail/Bundles and /Library/Mail/Bundles folders.
3. Open Mail. If your previous mailboxes and folders do not appear, choose Import Mailboxes from the File menu.