Mac Mail Says "Network Account Is Offline": Take Accounts Back Online

Mail on Mac shows “network account is offline” — or a lightning bolt icon next to your mailboxes — and you stop getting new messages.

Why: Mail puts an account offline when it loses the connection to the mail server (a network blip, a sleep/wake hiccup, or you took it offline by accident). Offline accounts can’t send or receive until you put them back online. The lightning bolt is the giveaway.

Fix 1: Take all accounts back online

The quickest fix when more than one account looks offline.

1. In Mail, choose Mailbox > Take All Accounts Online.
2. Watch the sidebar — the lightning bolt icon next to your mailboxes should disappear.
3. New mail should start arriving within a few seconds.

Fix 2: Take a single account online

If only one account shows the lightning bolt:

1. Choose Mailbox > Online Status > Take [account] Online, picking the account that’s offline.
2. The lightning bolt next to that account’s mailboxes disappears once it reconnects.

If the menu only offers “Take Offline,” the account is already online — the problem is elsewhere (see Fix 3).

Fix 3: If it goes offline again right away

1. Confirm your Mac is actually connected — load any website in a browser.
2. Toggle it: choose Mailbox > Take All Accounts Offline, wait a few seconds, then Mailbox > Take All Accounts Online to force a fresh connection.
3. If a single account keeps dropping, open Mail > Settings > Accounts, select it, and confirm Enable this account is on and the password is still correct.

FAQ

What does the lightning bolt next to my inbox mean? It means that account is offline. It appears next to the account’s mailboxes in the sidebar and at the end of the Favorites bar.

Can I still write email while an account is offline? Yes. You can compose messages and save them as drafts, or click Send to store them in the Outbox — they send automatically once the account is back online.

Take All Accounts Online is greyed out — now what? That usually means the accounts are already online. If mail still isn’t arriving, check your internet connection and that the account is enabled in Mail > Settings > Accounts.

Sources: Apple Support — Take email accounts offline or online in Mail on Mac