Mail App Closing Immediately After Opening – Quick Fix

Mail app closing after opening
elisabeth samuels

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Mail Apps on your iOS device can sometimes crash repeatedly when you try to open them.

This can be especially frustrating if you rely on having accessing to your mail for business or other reasons.

If you’ve been experiencing this problem, keep reading for some simple solutions.

What is Causing My Mail App to Immediately Close After Opening?

mail app issues

The Mail app or Yahoo Mail app on your iOS device is most likely closing when you are trying to open it because of a bug on your iOS devices software.

This bug will stop the Mail app from functioning properly, thus causing it to close rather than open.

In other words, it is causing the mail app to fail whenever you try to open it.

Another reason that your mail apps are not loading could be that you don’t have enough storage available on you device.

Although it is possible to have a bug on your device, low storage is usually the more likely culprit.

When your device has low storage, it will cause the Mail app to freeze because it is using all the extra storage to try to open the app. It will then eventually fail and close out.

Here are a few reasons why your mail app is closing when you are trying to open it:

The App has a Glitch

Sometimes there may simply be a glitch in the App that is making it close all the time. A glitch may have occurred when the app was installed or perhaps it is a usage wide glitch that will need to be fixed when the provider fixes the issue.

Your Device is Not Updated

iPhone Operating Systems need to be updated regularly in order to stay current.

If you never install the updates, you will eventually have issues with apps and usability.

Furthermore, many apps require updates as well. Phone and apps need to be updated in order to fix bugs, glitches, and stay up to date with new technologies.

Apps are usually updated with new systems. If your phones system is not updated, the app may eventually stop working.

This will not allow the mail app(s) to open, causing them to close whenever you try to open them.

Here are the steps to update your iOS device:

  1. Make sure you are connected to Wi-Fi and that your phone battery is charged up
  2. Go to Settings
  3. Select General
  4. Next, look for Software Update
  5. Select which Software Update you want and click Install Now or Download and Install Now

Out of Date App

Just like your mobile device, Apps need to also be updated.

App providers are always releasing updated versions that improve functionality and user experience.

So if you have been using the mail app for a few years now without performing any updates, you can’t expect it to perform correctly.

When you update the operating system on your phone, you need to also update the apps on your phone.

This will ensure the the two are functioning properly.

Here are the steps to update your apps:

  1. Go to the App Store on your iPhone
  2. Your profile will appear at the top of the screen
  3. Tap on your Profile
  4. Look for available updates
  5. If updates are available, it will notify you next to the apps name
  6. Select Update and the app will begin the update process
  7. Once the update is complete, you will be able to relaunch the app

Ways to Fix a Mail App that is Immediately Closing After Opening

Mail app closing after opening

When your mobile device or iPad mail apps keep closing when you try to open them, there is a solution.

But before you can apply a solution, you need to first figure out what is causing the app to close in the first place.

By going through a series of fixes, you should be able to narrow down what the culprit is.

Here are some methods to try to find a solution to the problem.

Force the App to Close

Forcing the app to close will force it to stop running in the background of your device.

Here are the steps to force close the mail app:

  1. Swipe up from the bottom of your iPhone screen. This can also be done by double-clicking the home button if your device has one.
  2. Find the Mail app and Swipe up on it to remove it from the multi-tasker.
  3. Next you will go to your home screen and re-open the mail app.

Your mail app should open without closing.

If the app is still closing, try the next method.

Turn Mail Accounts Off and On Again

Turning the Mail App off and back on again will refresh the app and eliminate the glitch or bug that keeps forcing it to close before opening.

Here is how you can turn your Mail Accounts off and on:

  1. Go to Settings
  2. Then click on Mail
  3. Next, click on Accounts
  4. Select the account that is linked up to the devices Mail App (ex: Gmail or iCloud)
  5. You will see “Delete Account“, Select that option.
  6. Select Delete from my iPhone which will remove the email and its contacts from your device.
  7. Turn the device off and back on again.
  8. Go back to Settings–>Mail–> Turn mail back on.
  9. Go back to your mail app and see if it opens without any issues

Still having issues? Let’s try yet another method.

Fetch New Data Feature

The Fetch New Data feature on your iPhone or iPad works in the background by checking for any new email that has come in.

You can select how often your device checks for new mail.

If your device is set to constantly look for new data and update the mail app, it can cause the app to stop working.

Turning the Fetch New Data Feature off can sometimes fix the issue of your mail app closing before opening.

  1. Open Settings
  2. Select Mail
  3. Go to Accounts
  4. Click on Fetch New Data
  5. Select the accounts that is linked up to the devices Mail App (ex: Gmail or iCloud)
  6. If Fetch is selected, change it to Manual
  7. Re-open the mail app to see if it works

Turn Off your iOS Device

Most people never actually turn their iPhones or iPads off.

Don’t underestimate the power of simply turning your device off and on!

If you have a small bug, this may be the simple fix you are looking for:

  1. To turn your device off, hold down the Power Button
  2. A slide bar will appear, Slide to turn the device off
  3. Wait 15-30 seconds for it to completely turn off
  4. To turn it back on Hold down the Power Button
  5. Go back to the Mail App and try to open it again

Any luck? If not, keep reading.

Delete and Reinstall the Mail App

At this point, if none of the above methods corrected the issue, you very well may have a bug on your device or perhaps something was not setup correctly from the beginning.

To find out if this is the case, let’s Delete and Reinstall the Mail App on your device.

Mail apps are pre-installed on your device so you will need to delete it via the cache files.

Deleting the app from the Cache files will not remove it from your home screen but it will delete all of the app’s files.

Once it has been deleted, search for it on your device and reinstall the app.

Power up the app and hopefully this fixed your mail issues!

Force your iOS Device to Restart

A Force Restart is different than powering the device off and on.

A Force Restart resets the operating system on your device.

For iPhone 7 versions and up, follow these steps for a Force Restart:

  1. Simultaneously hold the volume down key and the sleep/wake key
  2. After a few seconds, you will see the Apple Logo on the screen

For iPhone 8 and above:

  1. Press then release the volume up button
  2. Then Press and release the volume down button
  3. Press and hold the Power Button
  4. After a few seconds, you will see the Apple Logo on the screen

Completely Remove the Mail App from your Device

Removing the Mail App from your device will completely wipe out all of its data and files.

When you reinstall it, it will be fresh without any prior bugs.

Here is how to Offload the Mail App:

  1. Settings
  2. General
  3. Choose either iPhone or iPad Storage depending on the device you are on
  4. Select the Mail App
  5. Click Offload App
  6. Go back to the home screen
  7. Tap on the Mail App to reinstall it

Apple Support

If you’ve tried all of the above and still don’t have a resolution, it is time to contact Apple Support.

An Apple Support team member can help you further troubleshoot and fix the problem.

They may walk you through how to Reset all of your Settings or perhaps even do a Factory Reset.

Before calling Apple Support, we highly recommend doing a backup of your device.

This way if a Factory Reset is necessary, your data will already be backed up.

You can reach a team member via their support website at support.apple.com/iphone/.