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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

Dec 25, 2019 5:22 PM in response to petemcl

1) I can't change the column width in MacMail inbox with Catalina


2) I can't delete the column that tells me that an email is in my inbox. Duh. That's a waste of real estate in my inbox.


3) I can't turn off the swiping feature, which is a phone feature that drives me nuts on my Mac.


3) I can't delete the first column, which is blank, whose purpose I can't figure out.


In other words, Catalina has provided less functionality and less ability to customize what I want.

Jan 2, 2020 4:22 PM in response to petemcl

I have the same complaint. The only way that Apple will revert to the previous features is if they get enough complaints (and I doubt that that will help ).


Over the past 3 months I have experienced several problems with Catalina and iOS 13 on my iPhone. I have tried to get satisfaction through Apple tech support and each time in came down to (in so many words) We can't or won't fix it so just deal with it!


Support is not good for these newer versions of software.

Jan 3, 2020 5:55 PM in response to leroydouglas

petemcl: You cannot adjust column width under Catalina. Please do two things:


1) Call AppleCare and ask the rep to file a complaint.


2) Fill your own complaint at https://www.apple.com/feedback/mail.html


Apple only works on algorithms these days, not common sense, and the only algorith that governs the developers is how many complaints they get, not the quality of the complaints.

Jan 3, 2020 10:20 PM in response to petemcl

really really sad ... headshaking ... I just sent a request ((though for me it feels like a bug...))

split into three comments as each allow only certain amount of text .... sigh)

but from your experiences with apple support, I thought I needed to explain some power user workflow where looking quickly through columns by size or amount of attachements or timestamp (not only the date...) or changing order of columns displayed is important ...


Jan 9, 2020 7:03 AM in response to petemcl

I tried to get used to working without column headings, but the ability to quickly sort and change column widths is too important. What could possibly drive them to dumb it down. I don't want to be accusatory, but maybe they are tired of dealing with mail and all the headaches that come with it. This may be a kick in the pants to get us to moved on.


catalina mail column view

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