Apple Mail may sometimes refuse to sync with Exchange. If you’re lucky, the two email platforms may sync every two or three few days. But sometimes, even a whole week can go by until Mac Mail syncs with Exchange. What’s even more confusing is that Mail shows Exchange is online and enabled, but the Exchange account log is empty. Let’s see what solutions you can use to troubleshoot this problem.
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What to Do if Apple Mail Won’t Sync With Exchange
Update Mail App and Switch Off iOS Devices
Make sure your Mail app is up to date. If you use other Microsoft apps on your Mac, check for updates and ensure they’re up to date as well. Restart your Mac and check if the sync issue persists.
Check if the sync glitch affects your Exchange account on iOS devices as well. Oftentimes, incoming Exchange emails appear correctly on iOS devices. Turn off all of your iOS and iPad devices and check if your Exchange account works as intended on your Mac. If this is only a bug in the iOS or macOS update package, restarting all of your devices could fix the problem. Additionally, do clean up your mail box and archive older mails locally.
Set Up Your Exchange Account Again
Many users confirmed that deleting and setting up their Exchange account did the trick. It seems that something’s changed in the authentication process and resetting the account fixes the problem.
- Launch Apple Mail, click on the Mail menu and go to Accounts.
- Select your Exchange account and hit the Remove button.
- Close the Mail App and restart your Mac.
- Then launch the app again, click on the Mail menu and select Add account.
- Select Microsoft Exchange from the list of email providers and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process.
Keep in mind that the email sync process does not just depend on your iOS or macOS devices, it also depends on the Exchange server itself. Microsoft regularly pushes behind-the-scenes Exchange updates and patches which can disrupt the sync process. Deleting and setting up your Exchange account helps you refresh your connection to the servers.
If the issue persists, navigate to ~/Library/Mail and delete the Exchange folders (that should be the V7 or V8 folder).
Other users said they deleted all of their MailData items for Exchange and moved their messages in OWA or Outlook. Use this method as well, and check if Apple Mail is catching up.
Start Up Your Mac in Safe Mode
If this problem is caused by other programs that load when you boot up your Mac, it should be gone in Safe Mode. There’s another major advantage to using Safe Mode. The tool runs a quick checkup of your disk, deleting unnecessary system caches and files.
To enter Safe Mode on an Intel-powered Mac, restart your computer and then hold the Shift key. You need to press the key while your Mac is starting up. You can release the Shift key when the login window appears on the screen.

If you own an Apple Silicon MacBook, shut down your device completely. Then turn it on and keep on holding the Power button until the startup options appear on the screen. Select your startup disk, hold Shift and click Continue in Safe Mode. Enter your login information when prompted.
Check if the Exchange sync problem persists in Safe Mode. Then leave Safe Mode and restart your Mac normally.
Create a New User Account
If this problem is user-specific, you should be able to fix it by creating a new user account.
- Click on the Apple menu, select System Preferences, and then click on Users & Groups.
- Click the lock icon to unlock the options and then hit the Add button.
- Then click on New Account, choose the type of user profile you want to use.
- Enter the new user name and password and hit Create user.
Use a Different Email App
Other users resorted to a different solution to work they way around this issue. More specifically, they switched to a different email app, such as Airmail. This is a third-party email client for iOS and macOS that uses a different method to query the mail server for new messages (time-based polling). So, instead of using Exchange’s sync mechanism, AirMail uses its own method to find new emails.
Another excellent alternative is Spark. The tool also relies on intelligent filters that prioritize your emails displaying important and urgent messages to the top.
If you go for this solution, you also need to make sure your Mac calendar syncs with Exchange. You need to go to System Preferences and add your accounts under Internet Accounts. Select Calendar and not Mail as a service. You can then further set up your accounts in Spark, Airmail or any other mail app you choose to use. Don’t forget to go to your new email app settings or preferences section and enable the calendar services.
Conclusion
Apple Mail not syncing with Exchange is nothing new under the sun. This issue has been bugging Mac users for a long time forcing them to look for various troubleshooting solutions. Many users confirmed that switching off their iOS devices did the trick. Others solved the problem by removing their Exchange account from Apple Mail and setting it up again. If trying to troubleshoot this problem almost got you to the edge of a nervous breakdown, switch to a different email app for macOS.
On a scale from 1 to 10, rate how frustrating this Exchange sync problem really is for you. By the way, if you found other ways to fix this issue, do share your ideas in the comments below. What worked for you may work for other users as well.

Madalina has been a Windows fan ever since she got her hands on her first Windows XP computer. She is interested in all things technology, especially emerging technologies — AI and DNA computing in particular.
I do redirection of all mail as Microsoft is the last company I would rely on.
On my macintosh powerbook pro, due to storms coming through our area, we have had 3 power outages. the computer was shut down as “normal” because it was running off of an UPS.
When I powered my powerbook back up, it will not connect with exchange and has not received any emails since May 22, 2023.
Why is this happening? Rumor has it that Apple has written changes into an operating system that is blocking the transfer of info. I use exchange through GoDaddy to attempt to get my mail.
A Simple Opinion… if it is not broke DON’T FIX IT! I have used Macs since 1986 and it seems ALL OF A SUDDEN they cannot keep their boat afloat. I want nothing fancy, just my email working again. I WASTED 7 1/2 HOURS TRYING TO CORRECT PROBLEM ON MONDAY, May 19, 2023, all to no avail.
Anyone with a solution would be appreciated… it seems that tech support from several sources comes down to the old “he said, she said” circle…. everyone blames everyone else, taking no responsibility for their part.
Fixed by deleting the exchange account from mac os mail, and then reconnecting after reboot.
Then I could delete emails which I had already deleted on my macbook successfully.
This is an excellent article, thank you.
I deleted and my account 3 times today. I can send email but no longer get it. I can run Outlook and get email, but all of my history of emails is on Apple Mail on my Mac.
I found a work-around
after receiving the failure notification, save the new account.
Go to settings\mail\accounts\exchange account and turn off syncing for contacts, colander, reminders and notes. tap on the email account and reenter user name or password and select “Done” syncing should be successful
I have something similar, but not as clear cut.
I have two WiFi services, one a Vodafone 4g the other BT DSL.
Sometimes (I am not sure of the exact trigger) but it involves the Mac being idle for a while the Mac refuses to sync with any of my Exchange accounts via the faster Vodafone 4G router. If I swap to the BT service it syncs fine. If I then connect back to Vodafone it works perfectly for hours.
This has been driving me crazy for years. Tried ALL solutions I could find online, nothing worked. Yet… I found a workaround that seems to work!
The trick was to create 2 different accounts in macOS Settings:
• IMAP account for handling just mail
• Exchange account for everything else (contacts, calendar, reminders, notes)
+ You need to go to Outlook online > Settings > Mail > Sync email, and enable “Send event invitations in iCalendar format” to keep macOS Calendar working.
All is working flawlessly now… So relieved.
Thank you so much for this fix. I have an exchange account that I access through Apple Mail on my Mac and on my iPhone. The mail on my Mac didn’t seem to be syncing with the mail on my phone. On closer inspection my phone and the Exchange server were synced, but changes I made on my Mac didn’t make it back to the server. For example, if I deleted a message in my inbox on my Mac, the message would still appear on my phone and on the exchange server. I went through the steps above. Nothing worked until I got to the step of deleting MailData. That did the trick. Thanks!
Hi:
This “Apple Mail Not Syncing With Exchange” problem has happened to me several times. In all but the last, I was able to fix it by following the “solutions” provided in this website. Unfortunately, I was not able to fix the last time.
Also, such, I contacted Exchange and talked with one of their Exchange tech guys. After I explained the problem he said, “Not our problem — talk to Apple!” and promptly hung up on me.
I then contacted Apple (after all, I have been a developer for Apple Products since 1978) and scheduled a “call back”. When the Apple tech guy called, I explained the problem and he promptly said, “Not our problem — talk to Exchange.” and then he hung up on me.
Considering, I could not get a solution from neither party, I tried another solution. I opened an email account with Gmail using my domain (and email address) and deleted my Exchange account (after exporting all prior emails).
I then used Gmail to send/receive all my emails through my domain. I was able to convert all my past Exchange emails using OLM File Converter from the Apple Store. It was easy, and it solved the problem. I now get all my email (to/from) using my domain under Gmail via Apple’s Mail and it works. I have not experienced any problems to date.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Tedd
This has been happening for about a year now. If I delete the account and reinstall it, the problem is fixed for about 30 minutes, and then the server once again won’t connect. Bizarrely, the syncing works fine on my iphone and ipad. It’s just the macbook that won’t sync. I don’t know enough about other programs etc. to use a different one, and this is my work calendar, so the frustration level is about 9 on a scale of 1-10.
I have a similar problem on and off since years. On iOS, syncing with Exchange works just fine for me, always. Deleting the Exchange account and reinstalling solves the issues with Mail for about a month. Spark works well for me, but I am not a fan of that software. A good and easy solution is deleting the mail index (you can do this easily using Onyx). Doing this like every two weeks is fine.
I had this very problem on my iMac following the recent update to Big Sur 11.4.
I switched off iPhone, iPad, McBook, deleted and re-loaded the exchange account of iMac
in “Mail”. It works fine now.
May thanks,
I have 1/2 dozen IOS devices and one Mac. Never happened to me in 10 years.