Mail not working after update iOS 18.1.1

After talking to my email server guys, they are saying that even though I have the password correct in my phone its not arriving at the server correct. They are changing my password and it should fix the problem. So if you can access your email from difference methods, change your password and then change the password on your phone and see if it works

Same issue with my i-phone 15 and 18.1.1 update - This worked for me:

If you're using Apple Mail app on your unidentified iPhone model, I suggest that you try

this work around: go to Settings>Mail>Account and delete your Yahoo account, then read the deleted mail account to your email accounts.

Spent two hours on the phone with Apple support (both tier one and tier two) discussing this. And their suggestion after that very lengthy call was to do a complete restore and set up as new phone (but this needs to be done through a computer and not via the phone itself). They made no reference to this being a known issue even though I had asked and mentioned that many others have been experiencing this same thing. Will 18.2 resolve this issue, @Apple?Please help and happy holidays!

Has anyone tried the just-released 8.2 update (asking for a friend)?

Only consistent thing that has worked for my customers is to completely delete the account, reboot the phone, then recreate the account again.

It appears to happen with accounts that have several gigs of email. Try removing a significant amount of your mail or at least create a new folder and move most of your mail out of the inbox.

This has not solved all cases! I'm waiting to hear back if anyone has tried with the bleeding edge latest 8.2.

There are over a dozen possible reasons that one might have a problem with email.

And it matters who your email provider is; each email provider may require a different solution.

Here are the two most common reasons email isn’t working:

• Your account isn’t logged into correctly, either because you changed your password, or your email provider requires 2 factor authentication, or they have abandoned passwords for passkeys or authenticator verification
• You are using VPN

As it worked until the update (and which update? There have been 4 since 18.1.1; the current is 18.3) VPN is the most likely culprit. If you have a 3rd party VPN installed, even if you are not using it delete the VPN profile in Settings/General/VPN & Device Management/VPN. Don't just turn it off; delete the profile. If that fixes it, you can try reinstalling VPN.

Fix: go to mail, choose the account with the problem, choose account settings, choose advanced:

under incomming settings IMAP Path Prefix add a real foreslash /

save

restart mail

1perday wrote:

I tried these suggestions to solve the problem with the 18.1.1 update. Unfortunately it did not work.

The first thing you should do is update to iOS 18.3.1.

I posted this earlier with the link but Apple removed it.

I think the only solution is to contact your third party email provider with this information below and demand they fix the issue at their end. I’m not sure why some users are having a problem with iCloud.com accounts since that’s an Apple product.

A lot of users have pointed out that the problem seems to stem from how Apple Mail handles connections with IMAP servers after the iOS 18 update. 

The heart of the issue? It looks like iOS 18 has become a bit pickier with security certificates — especially if you’re using a self-signed certificate.

Essentially, the system may no longer trust these certificates, even though they worked just fine in iOS 17.

The strange part is that it’s not only the self-signed certificates causing trouble. Even users with legitimate SSL certificates (the kind you expect to work without issues) are facing the same syncing errors. 

The Mail app seems to have difficulty “talking” to the IMAP servers, and in some cases, it’s flat-out refusing to fetch new messages.

Possible Culprits

While Apple hasn’t officially commented on the situation, there are a few things that could be contributing to this glitch:

Stricter Security Requirements: iOS 18 may have tightened its policies on how it handles email server connections, particularly with certificates. 

This could explain why previously accepted certificates are now getting rejected.

TLS Version Issues: Some users have speculated that the issue might relate to TLS (Transport Layer Security) protocols. If your email server is using an older TLS version, it might be incompatible with iOS 18’s updated standards.

I had the same. Solved it by going to “Finish iPad configuration” in config app. I had to agree to terms of use. After that mail started downloading again.

I deleted my Gmail account from my phone and reinstalled and it appears to work now…..

This routine doe not work. Have to delete Gmail acct and reload it. Seems to be the only way to fix it.

Are you using a 3rd party Mail app or account like Outlook, for example?

Did you try to restore your iPhone to factory settings on your computer?

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings using a computer - Apple Support

iPhone, iPad oder iPod mit einem Computer auf die Werkseinstellungen zurücksetzen - Apple Support (DE)

No issues with the iCloud Mail account or 3rd party mail account from my provider on my iPhone 12mini, iOS 18.1.1

If you create a backup of your iPhone before setting it back to factory settings, you can restore your data afterwards from that backup.

Backup methods for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

This began with the iOS 18 Update.

After upgrade to iOS 18, all seven (7) of my IMAP accounts stopped receiving/sending messages.

The error on all accounts is:

"Cannot get Mail" The mail server xxxx is not responding. Verify that you have entered the correct account info in Mail settings"

"Unable to create a secure connection to the server ("bad certificate format" -9,808).

This was on a 2020 iPhone SE. I have tried all suggestions, restarts, " adding slashes /" deleting/reinstalling.

I have spoken to my ISP, where I host my own domain and they clearly expressed they were aware of the issues and that it was an "APPLE Problem".

18.1.1 has not corrected anything and all IMAP accounts are not functional.

I have attempted wiping and installing on a different iPhone (iPhone 12 mini running 18.1.1) and EXACTLY the same problem.

The last email I was able to receive using Apple Mail on an iPhone was in September?

I installed the GMAIL APP, added standard settings exactly as they are in Apple Mail and all emails appear on GMAIL App.

I am struggling to believe that Apple has not acknowledged this issue or allowed it to go on this long?

It's obviously a bigger issue.

The silence is deafening...

MächtigeKatze wrote:

After updating iOS to 18.1.1, the mail app is not working. It is totally malfunction and can’t receive nor send email. Start the mail app, it just pops up a white screen. I have tried to offload the app and reinstall it. It’s the same. When I hard reset the phone, it can pop up the mail account list but freezes. How do I fix it?

sgifford2 wrote:

Do you not realize that you’re On a thread that is full of people whose email no longer works because of the iOS 18? I am not on a VPN, my inbound and outbound both have Authentication as MD5 Challenge.

Yes, I am aware that a couple of dozen people out of an estimated 500 million who have updated have a problem. And it’s probably a dozen different causes. Each needs troubleshooting. I’m not saying you don’t have a problem, but if it affected even 1% of users (meaning 50 million) the forum would be saturated with posts about it, so it clearly isn’t an iOS 18 problem. Here is a starting point for troubleshooting→If you can’t send or receive emails on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support. And, BTW, I have iOS 18 and all of my 7 email accounts work normally, on both iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro, and my wife’s iPhone and iPad.

Some further things to consider:

• Do you have the latest version of iOS (currently 18.1.1)?
• Does the problem exist on both cellular data and Wi-Fi, or just on one of them?
• If it is just Wi-Fi, have you tried a different Wi-Fi network?
• If it is just on cellular data, do you have a good internet connection via cellular data?
• Does it happen with one account, or all if you have more than one?
• Have you Reset Network Settings?
• Have you made a genius bar appointment to have an Apple technician look at the problem?