Mail - deleting messages in opposite direction?

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Level 1

8 points

Mail - deleting messages in opposite direction?

Here's a minor irritation that I have when using the Mac mail app. When I delete a mail entry (message), the "current message" cursor moves to the _next most recent_ (chronologically) message. My preference is that the current message location stay where it is and the next oldest (not newest) mail message be moved up in the list to become the current entry (meaning that subsequent e-mail deletions will be for older and older e-mail entries, not newer and newer entries).

BTW, simply resorting the "Date Received" field doesn't change the behavior of mail, it just changes the direction from up to down (or vice versa), but the delete always advances the mail cursor to the next most recent e-mail (not the next oldest e-mail).

Is there some mail configuration entry I can reset to affect this behavior? Thanks.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Jan 9, 2009 2:47 PM

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Answer 1

Mulder

Level 6

8,990 points

Jan 9, 2009 2:53 PM in response to maxnest

BTW, simply resorting the "Date Received" field doesn't change the behavior of mail, it just changes the direction from up to down (or vice versa), but the delete always advances the mail cursor to the next most recent e-mail (not the next oldest e-mail).

Not true. The order in which email is deleted depends on your starting point and your sorting action. If you change the sorting so that the oldest email as at the top of the list and start by deleting that one, it moves down to the next oldest email. And the same is true in reverse.

Mulder

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Answer 2

Mulder

Level 6

8,990 points

Jan 9, 2009 5:00 PM in response to maxnest

Since Mail isn't the same as other email clients, you shouldn't expect it to act the same as those other clients, including Eudora. You can use any Mac email client you like, but if you think this is something that Apple should change, then you can use this Feedback link to send them your comments.

Mulder

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Answer 3

Mar 13, 2009 7:50 PM in response to maxnest

I agree with you on this one. I have been searching for a way to do this too. But alas, I have no solution.

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Answer 4

Raymond6

Level 1

4 points

Jun 7, 2009 9:15 AM in response to maxnest

Agreed. A real annoyance.

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Answer 5

maxnest Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 9, 2009 4:46 PM in response to Mulder

Thanks for your response. I think it's a matter of semantics in the special case of starting with the first message in an "oldest to newest sort." For example, deleting the oldest message in that sorted list moves the cursor to the next newest message (from my perspective), which _in this case_ can also be considered the next oldest (remaining) message (from your perspective).

Try the same thing - sort in either direction - and delete a message in a position other than top or bottom. No matter how the mail is sorted, the next newest (by date/time) message will always become the "current e-mail message" after a deletion.

There are times when I want to leave an e-mail in the inbox for a while before I decide whether to reply, delete or otherwise act on it. As a result, I'll sometimes start acting on e-mail in the middle of the messages list. The deletion of a mail message using Mac e-mail always moves the "current message" indicator to the next newest (by date/time) e-mail, which is contrary to my previously primary e-mail clients.

If my e-mail is the only one that behaves this way, perhaps it has something to do with my mail source?

I don't want to make a big deal out of this, because it's a behavior I can get use to. I just have to believe that this is a configurable behavior.

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