Help Documentation 〉Troubleshooting 〉

Common Troubleshooting Steps

If Direct Mail is not working correctly, here are some troubleshooting steps to try. Please try them in order, one at a time. After each step, check and see if the issue you were having is solved. If it is, you don't need to finish all the steps.

Restart Your Mac

This should always be the first thing you try.

Check for a Software Update

Choose Direct Mail > Check for Software Update from the menu bar in Direct Mail. Install any updates available.

If you downloaded Direct Mail from the Mac App Store, open the App Store and check the Updates tab.

We recommend you also check for and install any macOS system updates that are available.

Check System Date & Time Settings

The date, time, and time zone settings on your Mac need to be correct in order to communicate securely with our servers. Please double-check that the date, time, and time zone are correct:

  1. Choose  > System Settings from the menu bar at the top of your screen.
  2. Click on General and then click Date & Time. For macOS 12 and earlier, click the Date & Time icon.
  3. Make sure the settings under Date & Time and Time Zone are correct

Check Network Firewalls

If the network you are connected to has security software (like a firewall), try temporarily disabling the software and see if that resolves the issue. If so, you'll know where the issue lies.

Reset Cache and Preferences

Resetting cache and preference files can help resolve issues.

  1. Quit Direct Mail
  2. Open the Terminal application, located inside the Applications > Utilities folder
  3. Copy the following line of text, paste it into the Terminal window, then press the Return key:

    defaults delete com.ernieware.directmail; mv ~/Library/Caches/com.ernieware.* ~/Library/Containers/com.ernieware.directmail/Data/Library/Caches/com.ernieware.* ~/.Trash/;

Create a Test Project

It is possible that your Direct Mail Project has somehow become damaged. This can be the result of network problems (if the project is stored on a network drive), hard drive issues, file syncing problems, etc. If the issue you are experiencing goes away after creating a new project, then the issue is likely related to your project and not the Direct Mail application itself.

  1. Open Direct Mail
  2. Close any Direct Mail windows that appear
  3. Choose File > New Project from the menu bar.

If the issue goes away when using the new project, then it's possible that your original project is damaged.

If you suspect that your Direct Mail Project is damaged, please send it to us for inspection. Please use the Send Email button on this page.

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