New Mail Behavior in Big Sur

Question

Level 2

260 points

New Mail Behavior in Big Sur

In Mail app, whenever you reply to or forward an email, the appropriate arrow icon would show up to the left of the message in the Message List view. In previous versions of Mail before Big Sur, I could click on the icon and it would take me directly to my reply or forward email (as long as it had not been deleted).

That action does not work anymore and I'm wondering if it is a bug or has the feature been taken away. I have an iMac 5K, 2018 Mac Mini, and 2017 MacBook Pro and they all have the same behavior.

Thanks for your help.

Posted on Feb 22, 2021 10:53 AM

Reply

Answer 1

MannyGDL

Level 1

4 points

Feb 25, 2021 5:27 PM in response to macboyinsf

Seems like it only works in Column Layout view.

To get it going follow the instructions below or the apple support link below too.

In the Mail app on your Mac, choose View > Use Column Layout

https://support.apple.com/guide/mail/use-column-layout-mlhlc18e666f/mac

Reply

Answer 2

macboyinsf Author

Level 2

260 points

Feb 26, 2021 11:51 AM in response to MannyGDL

Wow. I haven't used Column Layout since the 3-Column view was introduced in MacOS (how long ago?). Regardless, I just tried in Column Layout and it doesn't work there either.

FWIW, someone on Reddit responded to me that it's working for them in 3-Column view so this "bug" doesn't appear to affect everyone. It's strange that all my Macs (home and work) are behaving the same.

Aaarggh! Frustration; that feature is such a big help to me and I used to use it all the time prior to Big Sur. Must do more troubleshooting when I have time. I rebuild my mailboxes on a regular interval and that doesn't seem to fix it.

Thanks for responding. I appreciate the feedback.

Reply

Answer 3

macboyinsf Author

Level 2

260 points

Mar 1, 2021 6:12 PM in response to saintpaulminnesota

Thanks for your feedback. I haven't had time to troubleshoot further. Since hearing from the Reddit user that said it was working for him, I was going to ask family and friends who are on Big Sur for feedback but haven't gotten around to it.

If it's a bug, I haven't read much about it which makes me wonder, how many users actually know of this feature enough to use it like we do?

Reply

Answer 4

chaoskos

Level 1

18 points

Apr 9, 2021 5:07 PM in response to macboyinsf

It doesn't work in Column View on my MacBook Pro, but it does work if I don't view mail in column view. EXCEPT FOR THE FACT, THAT I HAVE ONLY EVER USED COLUMN VIEW. Duh! Anyone else have a solution? Thanks all!

Reply

Answer 5

Mar 1, 2021 4:45 PM in response to macboyinsf

Same problem here after updating to big sur. This function is hard written into my muscle memory. Use it everyday. In my last job all my pc coworkers envied this function.

Please bring it bac mac!~

Reply

Answer 6

Apr 9, 2021 5:36 PM in response to macboyinsf

sorry, i cannot replicate your issue. when i click the small (forward or reply) arrow to the left of my e-mails in the list, the e-mail i replied to or forwarded pops up in a new window.

Reply