Fix: ‘Message has not been downloaded from the server’ Error

In this fast-paced world and with the invention of new communication methods, email is still one of the largest mediums. Many email clients, like iPhone Mail or Microsoft Outlook, start showing the following error for some of the emails messages:

The issue is mainly reported on the Apple ecosystem (iPhone, iPad, or Mac, etc.) and in some cases, on Windows with Microsoft Outlook. For some users, the issue occurred after an OS update, whereas, others reported seeing the issue when emails were moved between the folders. The issue is not limited to a particular email provider (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.).

The Mail app might show the message download issue mainly due to the following reasons:

Relaunch the Mail App After Force Closing it

A temporary glitch between the iPhone’s Mail app and the email server may cause the message downloaded issue. Here, relaunching the Mail app after force closing it may solve the problem.

1. Launch the iPhone’s Mail app and open an email that previously showed “This Message has not been downloaded from the server”.
2. Now hold the iPhone’s Home button for around 7 to 10 seconds till the Mail app is closed and the iPhone’s Home screen is shown.

   

    
3. Then launch the Mail app again and check if it is working fine.
    
4. If not, then force close the Mail app again and turn off Wi-Fi in Settings.
5. Now restart your phone and enable the Mobile Data.
6. Then launch the Mail app and check if the issue is resolved.

Update the iOS of Your iPhone to the Latest Build

If the iOS of your iPhone is not updated to the latest build, it may have compatibility issues with the email server, resulting in the issue at hand. In such a case, updating the iOS of your phone to the latest build may solve the problem. Before updating, make sure to create a backup of your iPhone (if the update does not go well or has bugs).

1. Put the iPhone on charging and connect it to a Wi-Fi network (if the update download size is a concern).
2. Now launch the iPhone Settings and select General.

   

3. Then open Software Update and check if an iOS update is available.

   

4. If so, download and install the iOS update.
5. Once the update is installed, restart your iPhone and upon restart, check if the emails are clear of the message not downloaded from the server issue.

Set the Mail Preview to 5 Lines

Many Mail apps only download the email headers and when the email is opened, the remaining message is downloaded. If due to a glitch, the mail app cannot properly download the header or the message, it may trigger the message download issue. Here, setting the Mail preview to 5 lines may force the Mail app to download the header and message at once, thus may solve the problem.

1. Launch the iPhone Settings and open Mail.

   

2. Now, in the Message List section, tap on Preview and select 5 Lines.

   

3. Then restart your iPhone and upon restart, check if the mail message download problem is solved.
4. If that did not work and you are arranging emails in custom-created folders, then check if removing a special character like a tide ~ (if present) from the folder name clears out the error at hand.

Enable Fetch in the Phone’s Settings

Emails are delivered to a user’s device through Push or Fetch methods. In the Push method, the server informs the client of the new emails whereas, in the Fetch method, the client application repeatedly requests the server for any new emails.

By default, iPhone uses the Push method but the email server, due to a glitch, may have issues in pushing the emails to the device, resulting in the issue at hand. In this scenario, setting the iPhone to use the fetch email method may solve the problem.

1. Launch the iPhone Settings and open Passwords & Accounts.

   

2. Now select Fetch New Data and toggle the switch of Push to the off position.

   

3. Then enable Fetch (if not auto-enabled) and set Fetch to Automatically. In some cases, you may have to tap on the problematic account and select Fetch.

   

4. Now set all other accounts to Fetch that shows Push and restart the iPhone.
5. Upon restart, check if the iPhone is clear of the message downloaded issue at hand.

Enable Download Complete in Send/Receive Group Settings

If your Mail client is configured to only download a part of the email message (e.g., without attachments), then it may fail to completely fetch the message. In this case, enabling the complete downloading of the email message in the Send/Receive Group settings may solve the problem.

1. Launch the Outlook application and head to its File menu.
2. Now steer to the Options tab and in the resulting window, open the Advanced tab.

   

3. Then, in the Send/Receive section, click on the Send/Receive button and select All Accounts, or if the problematic account is shown, select it.

   

4. Now click on the Edit button and in the left pane, select the problematic account.

   

5. Then, under Receive Mail Items, checkmark the option of Download Complete Items Including Attachments for Subscribed Folders.

   

6. Now apply your changes and restart your system.
7. Upon restart, check if the message download problem is solved.

Enable ‘Recent Mode’ of Gmail

If you have set up multiple email client applications like MS Outlook on a PC and Mail on iPhone, then each of these clients will check Gmail servers every 15 minutes, and the one who firstly checks an email before the other clients may hide the email from the other clients, resulting in the message downloaded issue under discussion.

In this scenario, enabling the Recent Mode of the Gmail may solve the problem as in this mode the Gmail server pushes the last 30 days’ mail to all the connected email clients, regardless of the email was previously downloaded by any of the clients.

1. Open the Account Settings of Gmail in the email client e.g., Outlook, and in the Email tab, double-click on the Gmail address.

   

2. Now, in the Account Name box, add “recent:” before your account name e.g., if your account name is testuser@gmail.com, it should look like recent:testuser@gmail.com.

   

3. Then click on the Next button and when the Settings are updated, click on Done.

   

4. Now restart your system and upon restart, check if the message not downloaded issue is resolved. Keep in mind some of the iPhone users, may have to enable Use Recent Mode in Settings>> Mail>> Gmail.
5. If that did not work, then check if disabling IMAP on the Gmail website clears out the issue.

Enable ‘Keep the Copy on the Server’ Setting

Nearly every email client allows a user to remove the message copy from the server after retrieving the message. If you have more than one client configured to retrieve the email messages like iPhone and iMac, but if one of them is configured to delete messages from the server after retrieval, then that may cause the message download issue on the other device. In such a case, enabling the option of keeping the message copy on the server may solve the problem. For illustration, we will discuss disabling the mentioned setting on a Mac.

1. Launch the Mail app and open its Preferences.
2. Now head to the Accounts tab and select the problematic account.
3. Then navigate to the Advanced tab and uncheck Remove Copy from Server After Retrieving the Message. Some devices may show the never delete from the server or leave a copy on the server option.

   

4. Now close the Mail Preferences window and restart your system.
5. Repeat the same on all the other email clients on all your devices and afterward, check if the message download issue is resolved.

Keep in mind that after enabling this setting, if you delete a message from the Delete folder on your phone or computer, then that email message may be removed from the other device as well and if you tried to access that message on the other device, that may cause the message download issue.

Disable Anti-Spam Product of Your Device

Many email clients firstly download the email headers and afterward, download the message when required. If your anti-spam or security product is filtering the email headers that are not compatible with your email client, then the email client may show the message download issue. In this context, disabling the anti-spam or security product of your device may solve the problem. For illustration, we will discuss the process of disabling GFI MailEssentials.

Warning:

Proceed at your own risk as disabling the anti-spam or security product of your system/ device may expose the system to threats like viruses, trojans, etc.

1. Launch the GFI MailEssentials Switchboard and head to its Troubleshooting tab.
2. Now, in the Enable/Disable Email Processing, click on the Disable button and click Yes in the Service Restart Required dialogue message.

   

3. Then launch the email client and check if its server message download issue is resolved.

Re-Add the Email Account to the Mail App

The Mail app may fail to download the message from the email servers due to a temporary communication glitch or corruption of the email account on the device. In this context, turning off/on email or re-adding the email account to the Mail app may solve the problem.

Turn Off and Turn on the Email Account

1. Launch the iPhone Settings and open Mail, Contacts, Calendars.

   

2. Now tap on the problematic account and toggle the Mail switch to the off position.

   

3. Wait till the emails of the account are no more shown in the Mail client.

   

4. Then restart your iPhone and upon restart, turn on the email account.
5. Wait till the email syncs and afterward, check if the message download issue is resolved.

Re-Add the Email Account

1. Launch the iPhone Settings and open Mail (or Passwords and Accounts).
2. Now tap on Accounts and select the problematic email account.
3. Then tap on Delete Account and afterward, confirm to delete the account by tapping Delete from My iPhone.

   

4. Now restart your iPhone and upon restart, re-add the account (in case of Gmail, use the other type, not POP3) to the Mail app and check if it is working fine.
5. If that did not work and your account is configured to use 2 Factor Authentication, then check if disabling 2FA solves the problem.
6. If the issue persists, then check if switching between POP3 or IMAP account types for the email account clears out the issue.

Reinstall the Mail App

The Mail app may show the downloaded message issue if the Mail app’s installation or configuration is corrupt. Here, reinstalling the Mail app may solve the problem.

1. Launch the iPhone menu and press/hold the Mail app till the pop-up menu appears.
2. Now, in the pop-up menu shown, select Delete App and then confirm to delete the Mail app.

   

3. Then restart your iPhone and upon restart, launch the Apple App Store.

   

4. Now search for Mail and then install the iPhone Mail app.
5. Then launch the Mail app and configure it as per your requirements.
6. Afterward, check if the Mail app can download the messages from the servers.

Check the Mailbox Size Limit on Your Email Account

Many email providers enforce a cap on how much data your mailbox can contain. When this limit is reached or exceeded, your device may be unable to download new messages.

1. Open the website of your email provider and log in to your account.
2. Check for any notifications or settings that show your mailbox usage.
   
3. If you are near or at capacity, delete unnecessary emails or archive old messages to free up space.
4. After cleaning up your mailbox, refresh or restart your Mail app and check if new messages download correctly.

Verify Your Email Account’s Server Settings

Incorrect server settings can disrupt communication between the email app and the server, preventing messages from downloading.

1. Open the Settings app on your device and navigate to your email account’s settings.
2. In the account settings, check the incoming (IMAP/POP3) and outgoing (SMTP) server details. Also, ensure that the port numbers and SSL settings are correct.
3. If you are unsure of the correct settings, visit your email service provider’s support website or contact their customer service for guidance.
4. After verifying and correcting the settings if needed, save the changes and try downloading emails once again.

Large Email Attachments May Cause Download Issues

Emails with excessively large attachments could potentially cause download problems if the email client has set limitations for message sizes.

1. Access your email account through a web browser or a different email client that does not have trouble downloading large emails.
2. Locate the problematic email with the large attachment and assess the size of the attachment.
3. If the attachment is too large, consider asking the sender to compress the file or use a cloud service to share it instead.
4. Once the attachment size is managed, try re-downloading the email on your main email client to see if the issue has been resolved. 

If none of the above did the trick and you are using an Exchange server, then check if enabling Active Sync in the server solves the problem. Also, make sure the Accepted Domain settings in the Exchange server are properly configured. Keep in mind if you are using a wildcard (*) in the accepted domain field, then it may cause the issue at hand, and removing it may clear the issue.

For a common user, if the issue is still there, then the user may have to use a 3^rd party app (like Outlook on iPhone) or restore the device to the defaults.

Workarounds

If you do not want to use a 3rd-party app or restore the device, then check if using any of the following workarounds temporary solve the problem:

1. Open the problematic email message and when the download error message is shown, open a new email message (either by tapping the up or down arrow). Then revert to the problematic email message to check if the message is successfully downloaded.
2. Forward the email message and when asked to Download the reset of the message, click yes and check if the issue is resolved.
3. Check if forwarding the POP3 mails to an IMAP account or vice versa solves the issue.
4. Check if clearing the trash folder through the email provider website (like Yahoo Mail) solves the issue. Also, keep in mind that when deleting the email messages from the phone, make sure to delete one message at a time, otherwise, it may result in the issue under discussion.