Disable send and reply animations in Mail.app ??

Hi nick aster!

Those terminal commands didn't work for me either.
I've just found out today that the good soul Andreas Verhoeven updated his NoMailAnimations plugin for macOS Sierra compatibility. You can download the package here:

https://github.com/AndreasVerhoeven/NoMailAppAnimationsOnMavericks/releases

Yes, they do appear to work. If they were not working before I suggest you update to the latest version (I'm on 10.11.2) as that may have resolved the issue.

I find the animations annoying, too, particularly because I have many AppleScripts setup to perform actions in Mail and prefer a crisp, immediate action instead of the toy-like animations.

Just to be sure that everything is being done properly (please don't be offended here - I'm just trying to help you solve your problem), did you:

1. Copy/paste the command into Terminal to be sure that there are no typing errors
2. Hit the Return key
3. See the command prompt appear (indicating that the command was accepted)

If you did all that and the command still isn't sticking then there's something corrupted in a plist file somewhere. I'd suggest rebuilding the Mailbox index using Onyx (under the Automation tab to rebuild mailboxes) or some other similar app.

After executing that command (and reversing it to test) the animations are definitely gone. Things are a lot snappier with them off.

I have found Onyx completely safe to use. After recommending it to many people I have never heard of one problem with it. Most people are astonished as to the depth of its functionality. In fact, one of my favorite Apple-related podcasts, MacGeekGab recommends it on every second or third show to solve some problem or another.

As far as whether rebuilding the mailboxes is different using the Mail.app menu item or Onyx I honestly don't know. One thing that you might want to try is a terminal command that cleans the Mailbox "envelope index." Note that this command is designed for Mail.app on earlier versions of the Mac OS (notice the "V2" in the command - I believe the new Mail.app uses a "V3" mailbox - and so may not work, but it is almost impossible for it to cause any damage. (That said, I always remind people to back up FULLY before attempting anything with terminal commands that they're unsure of or unfamiliar with and that applies here.)

It annoys me that this has to be done in the Terminal. Something like this should be an option in the Mail.app preferences and not force people to use an arcane entry point to the otherwise-elegant Mac OS interface.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

Interesting. Given that, I'd suspect that there is some other extension or modifier involved that's keeping this from "sticking." Do you have anything like the Pref Pane "Secrets" installed? There are others along the lines of that one which allow users to change/adjust settings using a GUI that would otherwise require a trip to the Terminal. If you have one of those installed and have the animations enabled that might keep overriding the Terminal command, or just immediately switch it back.

Another thought - start in "Safe Mode" (hold down the shift key upon restarting) to eliminate all external additions, extensions, plugins, etc., and see if the same behavior occurs. Use the Terminal command while in Safe Mode and then restart normally. If that works then it's almost guaranteed that there's something else you have installed that's causing the system to revert back to the default animation.

Certainly your decision as to whether or not to fiddle with the app bundles. Personally I wouldn't - you're patching over a problem by addressing the symptom - but of course that's up to you. Keep in mind that anytime an update is issued for Mail.app this modification will probably be eliminated as the updater will likely install a new bundle.

If you haven't tried the "Safe Mode" route yet I recommend that before attempting any system/bundle modifications like this. I tend to stay away from that stuff because of the law of unintended circumstances… it's possible to break something else by trying to fix it this way.

As I said, though, it's your decision. I've rarely found success that way but YMMV.

I'm in the same boat. Those horrible animations are driving me nuts - not to mention the frustration with apple for always wanting to bloat new updates with more junk no one asks for or wants.

Anyway, can't get those terminal commands to work yet so I'm just going to have to live with this. I really wish Apple would read these boards as it's downright irresponsible of them to keep doing things like this!