Change Apple Mail link default to plain link

In Sonoma there's a setting for this, which I turned off as soon as I saw it.

I understand the thought behind this behavior, but nevertheless I don't like it. Maybe I'm old, but it's extremely disturbing to not just see the url, and I guess that all of us in this thread feel the same way.

Totally agree. I'm a website developer, and need those I communicate with to see URLs, not previews. It's extremely disruptive to be typing, then pasting in a URL, and then ... glitch ... then what the ... and then convert back to a plain link. This behavior should not be forced down our throats; we should be able to disable this "cool" functionality and go back to what was working before if we'd like.

This is just another instance in a long line of Apple needlessly disrupting established and efficient business and professional workflows without consulting users. When we had the option in Sonoma to disable this silly "feature," why would they remove that option fro the UI in Ventura? This follows a number of careless work-creating changes Apple has needlessly made over recent years, including removing full path visibility and ctrl-click or right-click to Open Enclosing Folder of Spotlight results which was another workflow disruptor. Simplification of the visual interface, which seems to be the singular driving tenet of Apple UX design, always results in more mouse clicks. Apple needs to understand this tradeoff and the impact of their UX decisions on loyal customers who have developed workflows that use their systems efficiently.

I would like to add another person to this lobby - every time I enter a URL now I have to click on the arrow to convert to a plain link. I have found that some email recipent systems won't accept the preview format so my emails unpredictably bounce if I don't convert to plain links. Apple - please give a setting to turn this feature off!

Totally agree... doing the same. There needs to be toggle to turn this 'feature' on and off.

To be honest I do not see the point of using it possibly I am just old school.

Maybe there is a terminal hack but so far I have not found anything.

SLIGHT FIX: by using Shift-Return after most typed-out URL, I'm able to get that URL to remain visible text (in rich text format) instead of auto-turning into a Preview. When pasting in a copied URL, it's a little trickier, I have to first put a couple of spaces on the fresh new line and then either type a space after that pasted URL, and/or do the Shift-Return. It's intermittent, so I'd be curious if others are finding a more solid work around.

Definitely adding my vote to request to simply type a URL in a rich formatted email and keep that URL as a URL, not turn it into a preview without my permission. As it's been on the Mac since the dawn of time. This will be one of those improvements that Apple regrets and at some OS update soon, it will be an option that can be clicked on or off in Mail preferences.

And thanks, @Barney, for the link to Apple's Feedback link. I've reposted it here, and it will hopefully not turn into a Preview.

Feedback - Mail - Apple

Yes dear Apple, this is crazy!! There should be an option in settings.

Setting mail to plain is also no option for me. And shift return doesn't do it for me either.

Maybe is there a way to switch the option via the terminal. Or make it possible!

Thanks,

Stel

I wish to add my voice to plain links as the *default*. It's very disruptive. Worse, I've discovered that converting to plain link removes the URL-encoded links that Dropbox uses, resulting in plain links that no longer work. It's very frustrating.

Just submitted this to Apple:

Hello,

I need to send plain links in my emails, not the new graphical links. However, there seems to be no way to change the default. This means I have to manually go through all the links in my emails and change them by selecting *Convert to plain link* When there are many links, this can be very tedious.

Worse, I discovered that using *Convert to plain link* removes URL encoding, so that Dropbox links (for example) that have spaces in them stop working after conversion!

Please fix this or at least offer a default that can be changed with a Terminal command.

That is a workaround, not a solution, well known and posted in this forum it feels like a hundred times.

if you want Apple to produce a smart solution their customers are missing, then tell them here;

Feedback - Mail - Apple

czaras wrote:

Does Apple care about people's voices? So many people asked for it and they still dont't give a **** about it!

Have you told Apple how you feel? This is a user-to-user technical support forum. Apple doesn't read here for feedback or suggestions You can, however, let them know your concerns here:

Product Feedback - Apple

Same with photos and .pdfs. Anything added should be a plain icon by default. Apple has it wrong with most attachments in my view.

sad that Apple give us no other choice than to dumb down their system.

suggestion: switch to other email system. For example Spark works like a charm. Also noticed that Gmail emails pop in much earlier, on OSx and on iOS.

Graphic designer here — I also need my clients to be able to see the actual URLs, not the opengraph previews. Apple, please fix this!!! There's such a thing as too much continuity between devices and apps. I don't use my iMac Pro in the same way as my phone — so they shouldn't behave the same. It's disruptive and annoying to have to convert every URL back to a plain link.

I paste in dozens of URLs per day, in code, separate from code -- and this auto-turn a line of text into a giant picture that doesn't work for some people, I need to turn that off. Sounds like Sonoma fixes this.