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tobeysmom

Q: email body of message does not appear on right hand side - or anywhere - it has disappeared altogether.  how can i get it back?

apple support says the following:

 

To view an email message, select it from the list of messages on the left side of the Mail window. The message body appears on the right side of the window.


The other day, suddenly, I lost the view of the message body on the right hand side of the window.  It just disappeared.  There doesn't seem to be an option to bring it back anywhere in the preferences or in the drop down mail menus.


What do I do to get the message bodies back?


MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9), macbook pro 15"

Posted on Oct 26, 2015 8:21 AM

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Q: email body of message does not appear on right hand side - or anywhere - it has disappeared altogether.  how can i get it bac ... more

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  • by Mason jones,

    Mason jones Mason jones Nov 23, 2015 12:42 PM in response to tobeysmom
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 23, 2015 12:42 PM in response to tobeysmom

    Yes, we're having the same problem on my wife's computer. There doesn't seem to be anywhere in any of the configuration settings to change, update, or modify the view. The OS X Mail program continues to be an embarrassment.

  • by Se@n,

    Se@n Se@n Dec 1, 2015 1:10 PM in response to tobeysmom
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 1, 2015 1:10 PM in response to tobeysmom

    My mail was working before Thanksgiving vacation. Once I checked my mail when I got back, the body of the messages were missing... Odd... I logged onto the mail server via outlook instead of Mail, and I could still see the bodies...

     

    I have tried so many things to fix this, but to no avail...

     

    I've... Restarted Computer, Restarted Mail, Removed Accounts and added them back to the Mac, Turned on and off the 'Automatically detect and maintain account settings' while simultaneously restarting Mail, I've used the 'Rebuild' button on my mailbox. I even upgraded my operating system (which took an hour in itself). The frustration is immense. Maybe I should just download a third party app for now.

     

    I'm a tech guy (granted, I'm in the realm of programming, not server setup), this is so frustrating to get back from a long break into this mad house. I've searched all day, asked other IT people, none of us can solve this. What a waste of time. This rant feels good, probably the most productive thing I have done all day. Maybe someone who knows better than me can come help all of us out.

  • by roger48,

    roger48 roger48 Dec 12, 2015 2:33 PM in response to Se@n
    Level 1 (13 points)
    iPhone
    Dec 12, 2015 2:33 PM in response to Se@n

    I have the same problem.  Very frustrated.  I have a MacBook and an IMAC.  IMAC is fine - I have the body of the messages on the right hand side of the screen - just like always.  The MacBook - nope.  I sat with the two screens side by side and the properties and view options are all exactly the same.

     

    Has anyone seen any solution to this yet?

     

    I mistakenly indicated that Mason's note above helped me - I am eye-weary and was trying to reply.  (I guess it helps to know that I'm not the only one with the problem'

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Dec 12, 2015 2:48 PM in response to tobeysmom
    Level 9 (70,061 points)
    iTunes
    Dec 12, 2015 2:48 PM in response to tobeysmom

    Try rebuilding the mailbox.

     

    Rebuild mailbox

     

    If that doesn't work, try re-indexing the mailboxes. This can take awhile if you have a lot of mail.

     

    Reindex messages        For El Capitan, try looking in V3.

  • by roger48,

    roger48 roger48 Dec 13, 2015 8:49 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (13 points)
    iPhone
    Dec 13, 2015 8:49 AM in response to Eric Root

    So ... (wife and I are working on this together now ...), we followed the rebuilt instruction and nothing happens.

     

    We're not computer novices - but have worked on PC's for a lot of years and are changing to MAC so we are a little slow as we've not developed a level of intuitiveness yet - but it seems strange that there is not something that indicates that the rebuild is in process.  I don't think anything is happening as we can just continue to use the computer even in email.  There is very little email out there so anything we do should not take too long.

     

    If you have any thoughts it would be appreciated.

  • by roger48,Helpful

    roger48 roger48 Dec 13, 2015 11:00 AM in response to tobeysmom
    Level 1 (13 points)
    iPhone
    Dec 13, 2015 11:00 AM in response to tobeysmom

    This resolved it for us thanks to josborn3 in another chat ... as I kind of suspected ... very simple - no need to rebuild mailbox etc. ...

     

    1. Go to Mail > Preference and Turn Classic View on.
    2. Shut down the computer
    3. Restart computer
    4. Go into mail ... and look CAREFULLY - at the bottom of the mail screen - there is a tiny mark in the center of the screen that you can click on / left mouse and drag straight up.  It will bring the preview screen underneath the Mailbox and Sort by Subject columns.
    5. Go back into  Mail > Preferences and Turn Classic view off.
    6. When we went back to the mail screen the preview pane was on the right side of the other columns.  We did it a few times and one time we had to drag the pane from the bottom to the side - but it's done ... finally ... after an estimated 5 hours between my wife and myself.

    I absolutely have Apple religion, but I can't help but comment that this was anything but intuitive.  Granted I worked in a corporate environment / PC for 35 years - but to do the same thing on Outlook is two clicks ...

  • by mystic510,

    mystic510 mystic510 Jan 25, 2016 2:40 PM in response to roger48
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 25, 2016 2:40 PM in response to roger48

    Your suggestion--turn on classic view, find the dot in the middle of the bottom of the list of messages, drag it up to the top, then turn classic view off--worked like a charm.  But why in the heck do we need to play around like this?

  • by keli.renee,

    keli.renee keli.renee Feb 8, 2016 5:41 AM in response to roger48
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 8, 2016 5:41 AM in response to roger48

    THANK YOU! I had the same problem after I downloaded OSX- El Capitan and this advice worked like a charm! THANK YOU.

  • by drvmaine,

    drvmaine drvmaine Feb 19, 2016 8:18 PM in response to roger48
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 19, 2016 8:18 PM in response to roger48

    Wow, it worked for me too. I only had to change to classic layout, slide the lower middle button (dot) up, and then change back from classic layout to get the email body back. Thanks!

  • by ynkeecajun,

    ynkeecajun ynkeecajun May 25, 2016 7:49 AM in response to roger48
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 25, 2016 7:49 AM in response to roger48

    Thank you very much for your hard work in finding a solution to this issue. Your suggestion worked so easily! Thanks, again!

  • by arnthor2,

    arnthor2 arnthor2 Jun 8, 2016 6:55 PM in response to roger48
    Level 1 (8 points)
    iCloud
    Jun 8, 2016 6:55 PM in response to roger48

    Thanks!  This worked for me.

  • by Elizabeth Mann,

    Elizabeth Mann Elizabeth Mann Jul 15, 2016 12:20 PM in response to roger48
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jul 15, 2016 12:20 PM in response to roger48

    Fabulous!  Thanks.  Wished I saw this earlier.  Called Apple Support and they have no documentation on this.  Just wanted to give a head's up that a Shut Down did not work, but Restart did.  Not sure if it was that or running the Disk Utilities.app (located in Applications/Utilities) before restarting.  (To run Disk Utility:  hit First Aid button).  So glad to know I don't have to rebuild Mail and the many rules I have.  Many, many thanks!