How To Fix The 'Content Loading Privately' Error On Your Mac

Some Mac users have been encountering an error when they attempt to check their email using the Mail application that comes with the Apple OS software. The problem in question prevents the recipients of emails who are using the Mail app from being able to view images and other media files that may be embedded in the body of the email. This is accompanied by a message that states, "Your network preferences prevent content from loading privately." Reports state that this message usually comes with an option to "Load content directly." This reveals the images, but it must be done every time you open a new email. This can be immensely frustrating, but it isn't actually an error–it's a part of the application's security settings.

Still, sometimes these kinds of settings can ruin the experience of using your Mac. If you've encountered this message, then you might be interested in learning what it is, what's causing it, and how you might be able to fix it. There are a couple of different things that might be causing this message to appear. It may have to do with a VPN that you're using or it might simply be a reflection of your security settings in the Mail application. Fortunately, both of these scenarios can be solved through relatively simple processes.

VPNs are great for privacy. They can help you prevent companies and other third parties from being able to monitor your internet activity, and they can allow you to stream content that might be regionally restricted. They've grown increasingly popular as home cybersecurity has become an ever-growing concern, but they can sometimes cause a few unexpected glitches. Programs that are designed to protect your information are often triggered by suspicious activity, and log-ins from a roving series of IP addresses from all over the globe is exactly the sort of thing that triggers these protections.

There have been some reports that suggest using a VPN might cause the Mail app to institute changes in your security settings that are designed to prevent your email from being hacked. In this instance, the "network preferences prevent content from loading privately" error, may actually be the Mail app attempting to protect your information from what it suspects is illicit activity.

Turning the VPN off will allow the Mail app to once again find your home IP address, but it won't change the setting back on its own if it has been altered. So you may still need to do that manually.

The main source of the "network preferences preventing content from loading privately" error is the Mail app's own Privacy settings. These can be altered by the use of a VPN, (as mentioned above,) but you may also have inadvertently changed this setting yourself during installation or an update if you selected the option to "Protect Mail Activity." According to Apple's support website, this "Hide(s) your IP address from senders and privately download(s) remote content in the background when a message is received (instead of when you view it). This option prevents senders from collecting information when you view a message, such as when and how many times you view it, whether you forward it, your IP address, and other data." Choosing this automatically selects the option to hide your IP address, which is good for the security of your email, but results in the images and other media files being hidden until you choose to directly load the email's content.

Turning this off is pretty easy though. You just need to open the Mail app on your Mac, choose the "Mail" tab at the top of the screen, and then navigate to "Settings." This should open a new window. Select the "Privacy" tab at the top of this window and then make sure that the box labeled "Hide IP Address" is unchecked. Quit and restart the app, and your emails should go back to opening with all content displayed like normal.