Wednesday, October 21, 2009

GMail Inbox not accessible from Mail.app


For the past week, I have not been able to access my gmail from within Mail.app. Instead, Mail.app would display the warning icon saying that it cannot connect without giving a human readable reason. What I have been doing so far is access my mail through a browser, but now I want my mail back.

Here is how I fixed the problem:
  1. From Mail.app/Preferences, re-enter your username (make sure to append the @gmail.com after your username) and password, just to make sure that your credentials are OK. I know, you did not change it, but it can't hurt to double check :)
  2. Now, exit Mail.app.
  3. Open a browser session, and log into gmail.
    1. If you are prompted for a captcha, type in the letters you see in the distorted picture and submit.
    2. If you are not prompted for a captcha, then click here to be captcha'ed. Type in the letters you see in the distorted picture and submit.
  4. Once you've been captcha'ed, open Mail.app and click "Get Mail".

You should now be able to access your gmail from Mail. YMMV, but those instructions worked for me.

Good luck.