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Fix for AOL email not displaying subjects, dates

I have seen a few AOL customers this week who use the AOL software and had problems displaying their email. The email window only showed blank spots where subjects, dates, and senders appear. When opened, replying or forwarding email was also impossible.

Fortunately, I have an easy fix for you AOL holdouts with this email problem:

  1. Start your AOL program, but DO NOT sign in!

  2. Click Mail from the menus
  3. Click Mail Settings towards the bottom of the menu
  4. Now you will see the screen shown here on the right
  5. Click Manage Saved Mail from the upper right
  6. Click Compact
  7. Click Compact Now
  8. Click OK
  9. Click Save
  10. Close AOL
  11. Restart AOL and sign-in as normal

Good luck!

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18 thoughts on “Fix for AOL email not displaying subjects, dates”

  1. Sandi

    Hi, Rick…just wanted to say “thank you so much” because I followed your advice and fixed the problem described above with my email…have a happy holiday!…Sandi

  3. Alex

    This is an easy fix … but if u realy want to solve the problem from it’s roots u should realy consider deleting some of the ould mail that u have there. By this fix u can only allow the AOL program to get more emails in the mailbox but in time this fix will not work no more unless u delete some emails and free up your AOL a little bit.
    Best Regards : Alex.

  4. Wal

    Your help worked for me last November but the problem happened again saying that I have a File Error and now I tried doing the same fix but it doesn’t help.
    Should I try clicking on the restore mail instead of compacting?

    Thanks again,
    Wal

  5. Wal

    I also tried Alex’s suggestion by deleting much of the New the Old and even the Sent mail then retried compacting everthing again, but I still have the same blank issue problem.
    What should I try?
    I’m currently using FireFox to retrieve my AOL mail.

    1. Dave

      This may not be the answer you were looking for, but if you switch to gmail, you won’t have the problem anymore.

      1. Wal

        Thanks Dave for the reply help, but I need to get the AOL fixed so when I turn my c-puter on I don’t get the error message that blocks me from signing on.
        I’m currently using FireFox to retrieve my aol e-mail, but i’m curious if I hit the Restore button instead of Compact will that fix my issue.
        I guess Rick is no longer following his web-site?
        Thanks again,
        Wal

  8. Andy Mars

    Rick…you’re a genius!!! Thank you so much this worked…I was about to pull out my hair!!!

    Never could have figured this out on my own so thanks again!!!

    AM

    1. Wal

      Andy,
      Good for you but in a month or two you’ll have the same issue again as I did and the fix that helped you this time won’t work a second time like it didn’t for me and as you can see Rick hasn’t responded here since Nov. 25, 2010

      1. Rick

        The real problem is AOL proprietary software…AOL wants users to use the web interface instead of the old, antiquated AOL software…get in the 21st century and use Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome and go to AOL.com to do your email and uninstall AOL from your computer.

  10. Judy

    I am having the same problem and I have went through steps 1 – 4 but no where do I see Click on Compact so I cannot complete your suggestions. This is my 3rd day without – please help. Thank you,
    Judy

  11. Jesse

    It looks like AOL has the same 2GB limit size as Outlook Express, your mailbox file should be in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\AOL\C_America Online 9.0\organize folder if you see 2GB, the compress worked for me and got it down to 1GB but if you do it a lot you may end up with the same limit and will probably have to delete some messages and then compress again.

  14. Tony

    I just had to leave a comment on this page. I was so frustrated opening mail that I could’nt see who sent it. I searched for a sight to help me fix this problem and this one showed up. Well, I must say I was amazed that the step by step instructions on this page worked immediately and fixed my aol email.

    Thanks

  15. JB

    I just walked my 90-year old father through this process (Mail Settings, etc.)over the phone. He declared me a genius!

    Many thanks!

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