Change folder colors in Mail

Question

Level 1

4 points

Change folder colors in Mail

Is there a way to change the blue color of the mail folders? I'm a recruiter and I need a folder per mission. It would be helpful to distinguish rapidly the hot jobs from the long shots. Thanks!

McBook Air, Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Dec 16, 2010 8:47 AM

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Answer 1

Eric Root

Level 10

685,257 points

May 26, 2016 7:53 AM in response to Ruth2399

Apple doesn’t routinely monitor the discussions. These are mostly user to user discussions.

Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem solved sooner.

Feedback

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Answer 2

rmr7

Level 1

4 points

Mar 30, 2016 2:17 AM in response to jasuarez

I wonder if Apple could please implement this feature. It would really simplify the workflow of many of its users. 😕

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Answer 3

Jan 3, 2011 11:07 AM in response to Sofka

I was wondering something similar - is there any way to create labels or flags or anything to distinguish messages from one another in the inbox? If not, is there a way to create sub-folders of the inbox, so for example I could put all my mails regarding upcoming conference calls in one, all my mails regarding work travel in another, all my mails regarding HR issues in a third, etc.

I am used to using the stars and labels in Gmail, and the sub-foldering system in webmail clients like SquirrelMail.

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Answer 4

Jan 24, 2011 4:36 PM in response to Sofka

I too have been searching for a way to do this for a long time.

Mail's lack of depth in terms of the real-world usability of its interface is for me a major letdown. Apple seems to have lost the plot regarding human-centred usability issues, preferring it seems to constantly introduce new bells and whistles to Mac OSX, rather than properly resolve the design of the features that already exist.

Once you start to use Mail in anything like a real way (i.e. beyond what is shown in your average Apple advert), you really notice the lack of attention to certain workflow details. The inability to be able to add colour to the myriad folders most professional users end up with is a serious yet 'so-simple-you-wonder-what/if-they-were-thinking' flaw.

It seems even more of an foolish omission when you notice that you can add colour to folders in the MobileMe version of Mail!

A.

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Answer 5

IMRAN

Level 3

502 points

Feb 5, 2011 4:02 PM in response to Andrew No Thanks

Hi Andrew. I found your post in this thread seeking the same functionality. But, I respectfully disagree that it is a specific Apple failure.

Though I love using Mac/Mail in my entreprofessional life, most of the world's businesses run Windoze, meaning most "professionals" with tens of thousands of emails, use Outlook/Exchange. I have not seen a way to change colors of folders in that either.

So, yes, Apple should enable this simple and far-reachingly effective customization but I would not consider it some major failure of Apple.

As a matter of fact, 20 years of emails (possibly 25000, with tons of attachments) in Mail take me a moment to search through and my work PC Outlook with under 3800 emails allows me to send off an email on my Mac Mail while the Outlook PC is still searching. 😉 That is a far more essential real world feature that Apple paid attention to and MS still doesn't.

Having said that, Yes, Apple, please enable this feature. 🙂

Regards

Imran

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Answer 6

Feb 7, 2011 7:03 PM in response to Shelia Addison

Shelia,
Here's what I have found. There is a way to color certain messages. You can do it manually - on the Menu choose Format, Show Colors and pick the color you want. I put the Colors icon on my toolbar - right click on the toolbar (or under the View menu), and choose customize toolbar, move the Color icon to the toolbar. The other way to color certain messages is with a Rule. Mail, Preferences, Rules - Add Rule. You set the criteria and then choose the action. One action is Color the message. That should do it.

About folders in the mailbox. You can use Smart Mailboxes - Mailbox, either New Smart Mailbox, or New Smart Mailbox Folder. You'll have to experiment with these two to see if they meet your needs. I have not used the feature myself.

Good luck!

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Answer 7

Jan 21, 2012 8:21 AM in response to IMRAN

Hi Imran - there is actually a way of applying colours to folders in MS Entourage (and probably Outlook) - you go to Edit - Categories and choose a colour for however many categories you wish. You can then apply these to any mail folder you like via Edit-Categories. It is something that is missing from OSX Mail, and it does help if you are dealing with lots of emails.

On a similar kind of area for OSX Mail there is a great free addon called truepreview which allows you to specify whether or not the blue (unread) dot disappears when you use the preview pane. http://christianserving.org/project/truepreview

Regards

Stephen

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Answer 8

Oct 7, 2012 3:18 PM in response to jasuarez

That does not work.

I wondered if I had missed something.

I went to Preferences/Rules and created a new rule. While it allows me to change the background color for emails, there is no choice for changing the color of folders.

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Answer 9

Jun 26, 2016 9:51 PM in response to Eric Root

A week ago I bought an app called AirMail3 and I love it. It's made my email management much easier and comes complete with colored folders and other great features. I was just trying to figure out if I could mimic AirMail3 in Apple Mail for my husband, who needs to stick with Apple Mail because it ties in with his CRM. Came across this thread hoping to figure it out for him. The best thing about AirMail3 might have been the tip I found while watching a tutorial about it, that mentioned the "Inbox Zero" philosophy, which I'd never heard of. It's a email/productivity method that's fantastic for modern work life. I mentioned it at work and found out that a couple of my most efficient co-workers at the office have been using it for years.

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Answer 10

Feb 6, 2012 8:51 PM in response to Sofka

What a disappointment! I saw this thread on a google search and thinking it was going to tell me how to change folders to different colors, I got excited.

It would really help to have that ability.

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