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catalina mail column view

In the new Mac osX CataIina I cannot find a way to change the columns viewed in Mail. You used to be able to change the field widths and add columns from the View/Columns menu. How can I accomplish this now?


Also, what does the black background TO next to the email title mean?




Posted on Oct 7, 2019 3:26 PM

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Question marked as Best answer

Hallelujah, Mail Column View, as it was, is back with Big Sur! I joined the Beta Program and installed the Beta version of Big Sur and I can confirm that the column view is restored to its original grandeur. Any information that you desire is available and sortable by the same.

Maybe Apple did realize they made a blunder with Catalina and maybe they do listen to us. Possibly it was a major software change and took a lot to restore it.

I only wish they would have let us know they planned to restore Mail so we would have not had to spend so much time writing to this post and sending service requests. Also, in the introductory clip for Big Sur, it would be nice if they highlighted the return of the column view as originally designed.


A message to Apple:

"Please do not be so distant from your loyal customers and fans!!!". You could have responded to this thread to give us hope.


Posted on Aug 8, 2020 7:24 PM

529 replies

Aug 14, 2020 6:15 AM in response to petemcl

Thank you very much Gary for joining the Beta Program, installing the Beta version of Big Sur and confirming that the column view is restored. For many this whole experience has been bruising! (yes, we all know there are more important things in the World at present). Apple customers used to think they had a special relationship with Apple and that was based on Apple's intuitive development - giving us what we wanted before we even knew it and designing products and systems that were simplicity itself to use. The last year shattered that!


(1) Thousands of us remain deeply shaken by the absolute stupidity of Apple's decision to remove an aspect of basic functionality that for most of us seems a self-evident crucial requirement of a any mail program.

(2) We remain appalled by the lack of response to the thousands of complaints and the emergence of an obvious widespread discontent in a significant number of its customers.

(3) The fact that they waited for over a YEAR to correct their mistake is, also, truly shocking.


All Apple had to do was either a one sentence 'we hear you' post or a correction in the numerous updates since launch. Apple - we know you read this - so be clear your action and then your response to us your loyal customers has caused reputation damage. Like most, I'm less likely to advocate for your, think twice before buying another Apple product (and I've bought Apple since the 1980s) and have turned off auto-update, until I'm sure you won't destroy more of what I value in Apple.




Aug 14, 2020 7:05 AM in response to Kernow13

Kernow13, thank you for the update. I had spoken with a very senior Apple exec regarding column view about a year ago (it's in one of my earlier posts), and he said the missing feature was not an accident. What he failed to mention, which would have been very helpful, was that it would be restored. In any case, it's great news to hear it's "back" ... but it's a little like Jack Nicholson in The Shining when he announced "Here's Johnny!", I wonder what's next.


Do you also happen to have issues with your battery draining ~10-15% in Sleep Mode overnight? If so, did the upgrade solve that problem?


Thanks again for letting us all know about this "upgrade". I'm sure there will be other gremlins in there that we have yet to discover.

Aug 14, 2020 7:36 AM in response to DemosWatch

"...he said the missing feature was not an accident. "


Was this "senior Apple exec" recruited from Microsoft? Because that's the kind of idiocy you'd expect from MS.


They dropped a critical mail feature ON PURPOSE??


Apple essentially forced me to abandon my decades-long workflow in Mail in favor of Outlook in order to have a tool that performs like a real mail program instead of the abortion that is the Catalina Mail app.


Although I dislike Outlook, now that I'm using it, I've gotten used to it enough that I won't likely go back to Mail, even if they do fix column view.

Aug 18, 2020 3:14 PM in response to petemcl

Having only recently moved to Catalina, I am very disappointed to find I cannot select what information I show in column view in Mail and no longer can adjust column width and column order. Come on - why this big step backwards and no correction through the various versions of Catalina? The idea of waiting for Big Sur to fix this (and allowing for avoiding so many other issues by not being an early adopter) means a long time until a fix.

Aug 19, 2020 10:56 AM in response to MacTonySD

Could not agree with you more. I always upgrade my MacBook Pro to the new OS to make sure it is workable for me before I upgrade my home or office iMacs. To this day, I have not upgraded any iMac to Catalina because Mail is completely unworkable for me and those in my office. I reasonably (or so I thought) assumed that Apple would respond to the outcry in an update and have been very disappointed. I have been looking for candidates to replace Mail, but have not found anything that I like that also works with both SpamSieve and Mailbutler, so I am very pleased that Apple making the fix in Big Sur.

Aug 22, 2020 8:25 PM in response to Gary Davison

Thanks for this important "revelation", which should not have had to have been a "revelation" but a clear update note from APPLE. Really!!! How dare these engineers and software developers train us to loyally use their system and then arbitrarily change it and SCREW their users without any notice. Apple. You may be one of the richest companies in the world but you've also become one of the cruelest. Yes cruel. Arbitrary unannounced changes to apps used 24/7 by your loyal users should be COMMUNICATED, not buried in the system for us to frustrate through for hours trying to reset our apps to work the way we're accustomed to. Very unthoughtful. For a daily used app like Apple Mail, great as it is in so many ways, Apple needs to update more often instead of one a year per OS, and also be more responsive to users. If you can't do that, maybe it's time for Gmail.

Aug 22, 2020 9:05 PM in response to ru1009

"Arbitrary unannounced changes to apps used 24/7 by your loyal users should be COMMUNICATED" You shouldn't be surprised. This has happened before, so expect it from Apple. The worst reason to update your OS is when Apple gloriously announces all kinds of new "trinkets" in the OS (most of which are meaningless to those of us using our Macs for business or career and not for "looking pretty"!) that haven't been vetted by real world users. Exactly why I am still using an OS from a few years ago. So, don't be shocked, surprised, or allow yourself to be 'romanced' by Apple's marketing. I am SO glad I didn't update to Catalina!

Aug 22, 2020 9:32 PM in response to koeller

A couple of systems ago, the iOS version of the app store changed significantly. Previously, when there were available updates, opening the App store went immediately to the place where you chose which ones to update. Since that change, however, opening the App store takes you to an advertisement. You have to touch an unlabeled and meaningless icon to get to the place to choose updates. The message is clear: making a profit is more important than functionality.


This suggests that Apple made the change to Mail.app in Catalina because it was part of a plan that they thought would make them more money. They must think their customers are all teeny boppers who do nothing more profound than write fancily formatted emails about their vacations to exotic locations. Whose primary use of a computer is for the latest social media craze.


I've been using Apple computers for over 30 years. They need to learn that if it isn't broken, don't fix it.


(by the way, have you every tried to print an email in Mail.app without also printing the contents of any attachments? last I looked, it's not possible)

Aug 24, 2020 5:15 AM in response to petemcl

My apologies for contributing late in the Catalina update, but after I updated my mac I spent too much time wondering if I clicked on some link that removed my columns in my Mail. Please bring them back. I rely on organizing my inbox based on needs of sender. With the pandemic & receiving even more emails, I desperately need this to help my household function. Aside from the daily email from retailers, government correspondence, former employer updates & the endless amounts of emails from my daughter's school (district, teachers, specialty) my mind is in overload. It was a feature that was a structural dependency; something I chose to merge my several accounts. But now I'm pondering removing my accounts & separating them if the functionality of the Mail doesn't support my lifestyle. Please bring it back. We are all overwhelmed with having to adapt to a new normal & technology we rely on to get us through understanding & staying connected.


Stay safe & thank you,

Amy G

catalina mail column view

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