VPN blocking text and graphics in my Mac Mail account. How do I prevent this?

K Carter

Alexandru_BD

Hello @K Carter,

Disconnect Bitdefender VPN and check if emails load correctly. If everything works fine without the VPN, then it's likely the cause (I'm advising this since it's unclear how you came up to the conclusion that the VPN is causing this behavior). You can then use the Split Tunneling feature to route the email app outside the VPN tunnel.
Sometimes, certain servers may block or interfere with email content, so try switching to a different VPN server and see if that resolves the issue.

Bitdefender VPN also features an Anti-tracker and Ad-Blocker which may prevent images from loading, so that's also worth checking. If these options are enabled, switch them off and check how the email behaves.

Note: On macOS, the following features are limited for the Wireguard protocol:

Split tunneling – websites.
Ad blocker and anti-tracker is a Hydra Catapult exclusive feature.

Apart from this, go to Mac Mail → Preferences → Viewing and ensure Load remote content in messages is enabled.
If this is turned off, images and graphics may not load properly. Also try switching to Google DNS (8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4) or Cloudflare DNS (1.1.1.1) and restart your Mac.

If none of the above steps work, uninstall and reinstall Bitdefender VPN to rule out any corrupted settings.

That's all I can think of right now. I'm not a Mac user, so I can't be of much help here, but let me now if any of the usual troubleshooting steps were helpful.

Regards,

Alex

K Carter

Thanks for the great detail. Yes, things work fine when I turn off the VPN. I've actually used the support page to try most of these things you've listed—to no avail. I'm having no trouble with the VPN blocking the websites, so the split tunneling doesn't seem to help. The problem is only in the emails (when viewed on my computer) received from various companies—nothing in the email or half of the graphics are not shown—just blocked squares. And if I click in the email to connect to the website from the email, I get that the server not available. (the split tunneling doesn't seem to work when I click from the email) But these same emails come through fine on my phone which also has the VPN running. And it's only certain companies. For example I'm a rewards member at three hotel chains. Two of them send emails I read fine. The third sends emails I can't read on my computer.

I'll go through and make sure I've tried all the things you've suggested. And may also try reaching out to Apple. If any other ideas come up, I'll welcome them.