Move Mail Preview Pane to Bottom in Non-Classic Layout

This fixed it for me earlier today after I tried to duplicate your problem and then couldn't get a preview pane.

Quit Mail.

Go to Finder and select your user/home folder. With that Finder window as the front window, either select Finder/View/Show View options or go command - J. When the View options opens, check ’Show Library Folder’. That should make your user library folder visible in your user/home folder. Go to Library/Containers/com.apple.mail. Move the folder com.apple.mail to your desktop. You must move the entire folder, not just the contents.

Restart, re-launch Mail and test. If the problem is solved, recreate any required Mail settings and import any emails you want to save from the folder on the desktop. You can then put the folder in the Trash. If the problem remains, return the folder to where you got it replacing the one that is there.

Can someone help me with my problem? I cannot recover the message window either in classic mode or the newer mode. In classic mode the dot at the bottom of the page is greyed out and won't respond to anything. I basically can't read the messages unless I open each one in in a separate window.

In non-classic mode, the preview pane only will appear on the right. The only way to get it on the bottom is in classic. The preview pane can be hidden by dragging the divider and closing its view.

It sounds like your mail is now working properly, and may not have been before.

Mark Nadell wrote:

I've had the Preview on the bottom for weeks in non-classic mode, so I know it can be done.

Please advise.

Thanks,

Mark

Do mean when you double click on the summary in the second column, the email opens from the bottom up.

Then this would be done by having only two columns (or one if no mailboxes showing.) The third column (as stated above can be closed by grabbing the divder and moving it all the way to the right.

That's it or classsical as far as I know.

Please, How does one to get the selected message to be displayed underneath the message list, NOT on the right side? "Classic" selection has no affect on this.

don't know what you mean. it makes no difference whether I select "classic" or not. message view stays on the right.

I am having the same issue both users describe here. I got a new MacBook pro in December. When I used migration assistant and copy my "stuff" over to this new mac I noticed the following issues, first the message preview window is now to the right of the message list, it used to be below the selected message. So when I am viewing mail, below the toolbar there are three vertical panes, my folder list, the email message list, then the message view pane. Before the view pane was below the message list.

This is when I do not have classic mode selected. When I select classic mode, the only thing that changes is the message list "spreads out wider" but the message preview stays on the right side. Also when I select classic mode the selected message highlight stops. I then have to turn off classic and restart mail to get the highlighting back.

Same here: in classic mode, the messages are on the right (I can't move them at the bottom!), and the messages are super spread out!

– EDIT –

I restarted Mail in classic mode, and now everything is fine.

I have the same problems with Mail. I do not like the preview window on the side. The classic layout is not the old interface. Show CC, contact photos and previews lines check boexs are greyed out. Apple did this kind of thing to iTunes. It is a good that Apple Inc. tries to make it easy to use computers. Apple Inc. drive to simplify the computer interface sometimes goes too far. What I don't like about their current process is you can't go back to the old interface without losing something. So then you have to decide which one you don't like the least. Everyone needs to complain to Apple Inc. about the changes to Mail loudly.

Mark, I know exactly what your talking about because this happened to me also. I had mine in Non Classic mode and the preview pane was at the bottom and now it is on the right. I've been trying for hours to correct this but have found no solutions so far.

Bellbiz, this also just happened to me a couple hours ago. If you already found a solution please let me know.

Did you ever get this fixed? I am having the same issue. I'm on Sierra OS (10.12.5)

Except when in the classic mode, the Preview pane is on the right and has been since at least Snow Leopard.

Thank you. Just got a new MacBook and had the same issue. Your solution worked very well for me! 🙂