Cannot Add New Mail Account in Mac: How to Fix

In this guide, we will be looking at various methods through which one could fix the issue of being unable to add a new mail account in Mac. The OS from the Cupertino giant allows us to add numerous email accounts. These include the likes of iCloud, Microsoft Exchange, Google, Yahoo, and AOL. Moreover, adding them is a fairly easy process as well, just a couple of taps and your task stands complete.

Well, at least on paper, because in reality, it seems to be quite far-fetched. This is because numerous users have voiced their concern that they are unable to add a new mail account to their Mac. And the reason for the same is quite infuriating as well- the button that allowed the users to add an account has been greyed out and become unresponsive.

This has happened all of a sudden and is negatively impacting the user’s workflow, especially in the professional domain. Fortunately, there do exist a couple of nifty workarounds that should effectively address this bug. And this guide will focus on those tweaks. Follow along.

Table of Contents

Fix Cannot Add New Mail Account on Mac

It is recommended that you try out each of the below-mentioned workarounds and then see which one spells out success.

FIX 1: Disable Screen Time Restriction

The Screen Time Restriction feature allows you to put a limit or restrict the total time you can use your Mac throughout the day. Apart from that, you could also get hold of information related to the total time spent on apps and websites. However, as of late, it seems to be having a weird correlation with account creation, thereby negatively impacting the process. As a result, it is recommended to temporarily disable this feature using the instructions listed below and then check if it works out or not.

Head over to System Settings > Screen Time.
Now turn off Remove the restrictions from there.
Moreover, do the same on your iPhone, if required.
Check if you can now add an email account on Mac.

FIX 2: Remove Configuration Profile

Adding accounts on a Mac can be restricted with a configuration profile as well. Moreover, the system will also disable modification of accounts such as Apple IDs and Internet-based accounts such as Mail, Contacts, and Calendar. So if you have a config profile installed, then remove it using the below-listed steps and check out the results: [do note that when you remove a profile, all its settings and information will be deleted too. So please take a backup beforehand, if needed].

Head over to System Settings > Privacy and Security > Profiles.
Then select your profile from the list and click on Remove.
Or ask the admin who has set up the profile on your Mac to remove it.
Once done, check if you can now add an email account on your Mac.

FIX 3: Via Terminal

In some instances, it might just be the case of the option missing from the System Settings menu. In such cases, you could take the help of the Terminal to get this job done. Here’s how:

Open Terminal and type in the below command
```
profiles show
```
It will list out the profiles installed for the user.

If you get an output along the following lines:

There are 'x' user configuration profiles installed for 'username'

Then you’ll have to remove the x user, using the below command

profiles remove -identifier=aaaa.bbbb.cccc.dddd
where aaaa.bbbb.cccc.dddd is the profileIdentifier value.

For example, if the profileIdentifier is the below value:

system.dateandtime.force_date_time_configuration_1234567890

Then the corresponding command will be:

profiles remove -identifier=system.dateandtime.force_date_time_configuration_1234567890

So execute the command and then check out the result.

Not being able to add a new mail account to your Mac could prove to be a source of infuriation and would spell out quite an infuriating usage experience as well. To make sure that you don’t end up missing some extremely crucial emails, you will have to keep a tab on your iPhone at regular intervals, thereby deviating from whatever work you were carrying out on your Mac.

Fortunately, thanks to the above-listed tweaks, you now no longer have to deviate from the path and can carry out the ongoing task on your Mac and at the same time, check out all your emails directly from the PC itself. So on that note, we round off this guide on how you could fix the issue of being unable to add a new mail account on Mac. Any one of the three aforementioned workarounds should address this bug once and for all. But if there are still any concerns, then do let us know in the comments section.