How to Fix – This Message Has not Been Downloaded from the Server&039 Error on iOS

In this fast-paced world and with the invention of new methods of communication, email remains one of the most important mediums. many email clients like iphone mail or microsoft outlook start showing the following error for some of the emails:

This Message Has Not Been Downloaded from The Server

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.).

Mail app may display message download problem mainly due to following reasons:

restart mail app after force quit

A temporary glitch between the iphone mail app and the email server can cause the message download problem. here, restarting the mail app after forcibly 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 your iphone ios to the latest version

if your iphone ios is not updated to the latest version, you may have compatibility issues with your email server, resulting in the problem in question. In such case, updating your phone’s iOS to the latest version may solve the problem. Before updating, make sure to create a backup of your iPhone (if the update is unsuccessful or has errors).

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 mail preview to 5 lines

many mail applications only download the email headers and when the email is opened, the remaining message is downloaded. If due to a failure, the mail application cannot properly download the header or the message, it can trigger the message download problem. here, setting the mail preview to 5 lines may force the mail app to download the header and the message at once, so it 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 search in phone settings

Emails are sent to a user’s device via push or fetch methods. in the push method, the server informs the client of new emails, while in the get method, the client application repeatedly requests any new emails from the server.

by default, the iphone uses the send method, but the email server, due to a failure, may have problems sending the emails to the device, which results in the problem in question. In this scenario, setting the iPhone to use the email lookup method may resolve the issue.

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 full download in send/receive group settings

If your mail client is set to download only part of the email message (for example, no attachments), you may not be able to retrieve the entire message. in this case, enabling full download 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 gmail ‘recent mode’

if you have set up multiple email client applications like ms outlook on pc and mail on iphone, then each of these clients will check gmail servers every 15 minutes, and the one that first checks an email before the other clients may hide the email from the other clients, resulting in the message download issue being discussed.

In this scenario, enabling gmail’s recent mode may solve the problem, because in this mode the gmail server sends the mail from the last 30 days to all connected email clients, regardless of whether the email has been 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 the ‘keep copy on server’ setting

Almost all email clients allow a user to delete the copy of the message from the server after retrieving the message. if you have more than one client set to retrieve the email messages like iphone and imac but if one of them is set to delete the messages from the server after recovery, that may cause the message download problem on the other device . in such a case, enabling the option to keep the copy of the message on the server may solve the problem. For illustration purposes, we will discuss how to disable the above 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.

Remember that after you enable this setting, if you delete a message from the delete folder on your phone or computer, that email message may also be deleted on the other device and if you tried to access that message on the other device, that may cause the message download problem.

turn off your device’s anti-spam product

many email clients download email headers first, then download the message when needed. If your security or anti-spam product is filtering email headers that are not supported by your email client, then the email client may display the message download issue. in this context, disabling your device’s anti-spam or security product may resolve the issue. for example, we will discuss the process of disabling gfi mailessentials.

warning:

Proceed at your own risk, as disabling your system/device’s security or anti-spam product may expose your system to threats such as 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 application may fail to download the message from the email servers due to a temporary communication failure or corruption of the email account on the device. in this context, turning email off/on or re-adding the email account to the mail app may resolve the issue.

turn the email account off and on

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 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 mail app

mail application may display message downloaded issue if mail application installation or configuration is corrupted. 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.

If none of the above worked and you are using an exchange server, check if enabling active sync on the server resolves the issue. Also, make sure the accepted domain settings on the exchange server are set correctly. Please note that if you are using a wildcard (*) in the accepted domain field then it may cause the issue at hand and removing it may fix the issue.

For a common user, if the problem persists, the user may need to use a third party application (such as outlook on iphone) or restore the device to the default settings. default values.

solutions

If you don’t want to use a third-party app or restore your device, check if using any of the following workarounds resolves the issue:

1. open the problematic email, and when the download error message appears, open a new email (either by tapping the up or down arrow) . then go back to the problem email message to check if the message was downloaded successfully.
2. resend the email > and when you are prompted to download the message reset, click yes and check if the problem is resolved.
3. check if you forward pop3 mails strong> to an imap account or vice versa resolves the issue.
4. check if clear trash through the email provider’s website (such as yahoo mail) solves the problem. Also, please note that when deleting email messages from the phone, make sure to delete one message at a time, otherwise it may result in the problem being discussed.