How to Fix the “Unable to verify the identity of the server” Error in Apple Mail?

Emails are an indispensable part of day-to-day communication for businesses and individuals. It will be a huge problem if you’re not able to send or receive emails, especially an important professional email. One such issue is reported by Apple Mail users where they’re not able to send emails and received an error message, saying “unable to verify the identity of the server”.

This error usually occurs if the SSL certificate on the email server didn’t match with the mail server settings on your Mac. The device first gets the SSL certificate from mail server and then creates a secure connection with the server to ensure that the email service is secure. In case the SSL certificate is expired or does not match with the domain name of the server, then your system is not able to validate the SSL. Thus, it is not able connect to the email server and throws the “unable to verify the identity of the server” error message.

However, there might be various other reasons for such an error. Whatever be the reason, let’s see how to fix this error.

Solutions to Fix the “Unable to verify identity of server” Error in Apple Mail

Solution 1: Restart Mac

Sometimes, simply restarting the Mac system can fix several small issues. You can restart your Mac system and see if fixes the issue. If it doesn’t work, then follow the next methods.

Solution 2: Update macOS

You can try to update your macOS to the latest version. It can help fix the glitches and bugs in the version that might be causing the error.

Solution 3: Update Carrier Settings

If you’re encountering this error on iPhone or iPad, then there might be an issue with the carrier settings. The best way to solve the issue is to update the iOS carrier settings.

To update the carrier settings, go to Settings > General > About. Then, follow the on-screen instructions to install the updates.

Solution 4: Force Start Apple Mail App

Sometimes, the error is caused due to the error in the app. If, this is the case, then force restarting the app may resolve the issue. For this, press Option + Command + Esc. It will open the Force Quit menu. Select the Mail option and then, reopen the application. 

Solution 5: Remove and Add your Account Again

Removing the email account and adding it again may help fix the error. When you remove and then add the email account, it resets the identity certificates on email server, thus allowing the Apple Mail program to verify the email account.

Here are the steps to remove and add the email account.

Step 1: Removing the email account

• Open the Settings.
• Select Mail and then click Account.
• Click on the mail account you want to delete.
• Then click ‘delete’ button and confirm it.

Step 2: Adding the Email Account

• Go to Settings and click Mail.
• Select Account to add account.
• Select your email service provider.
• Add details and then follow the on-screen instructions to finish the process.

Conclusion

There are different ways, as mentioned above, to fix the ‘unable to verify the identity of the server” error in Apple Mail. If these solutions fail to fix the issue or the error is occurring again and again, then you can consider migrating to another email client, such as Microsoft Outlook. To easily migrate your Apple Mail data to Outlook, you can use an MBOX to PST converter software, such as Stellar Converter for MBOX. The software quickly and seamlessly converts Apple Mail MBOX file into Outlook importable PST file.  

Was this article helpful?

YES2

NO

About The Author

Eric Simson

Eric Simson is an Email Platform Consultant and is associated with Stellar Data Recovery from last 6 years. He writes about the latest technology tips and provides custom solutions related to MS Outlook, MS Exchange Server, Office 365, and many other Email Clients & Servers.