Search box in Big Sur mail?

Question

Search box in Big Sur mail?

Just got my new M1 iMac, with Big Sur, to replace the old one with Santa Catalina. It is nice to see you can change the sort order again by clicking on the column headings, unlike the extra pull-down Catalina required.

However, why did the Search box go? Every other Mail program lets you go to it and start typing, now you need an extra click on the magnifier to open the box. Why did they "hide" the box, as there is lots of real estate on the header bar?

Even iOS has a box for Search mail visible above the top.

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Jun 28, 2021 7:54 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

freshleaf5985

Level 2

304 points

Jun 28, 2021 8:58 AM in response to McCarthy Forester

Take a look at the Windows and Toolbars section of this Developer article https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/macos/overview/whats-new-in-macos/ and you’ll know why.

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Answer 2

Jun 28, 2021 2:36 PM in response to freshleaf5985

Thanks, I discovered how to edit the Mailbox Toolbar and once you get rid of the text, and some infrequent icons, the icons-only display takes a lot less space. Plus you can move the Search box to the left a bit. Never noticed this issue with Santa Cantalina.

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Answer 3

Barney-15E

Level 10

116,764 points

Jun 28, 2021 4:10 PM in response to McCarthy Forester

Never noticed this issue with [Santa] Cantalina.

It never shrunk down in Catalina, so it just sat there wasting space when you don't use it. Now, you can have your search, but not wast toolbar space. I don't have that many buttons in Mail, so really not an issue for me.

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Search box in Big Sur mail?

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