Mail: messages don't expand in preview pane

Question

Level 1

8 points

Mail: messages don't expand in preview pane

I recently upgraded to El Capitan on a Mac Mini (from 10.6).

In Mail, message previews don't expand all the way in the preview pane. If the pane is, say, 4" wide, the message preview is only 1.5" wide. When I adjust the width of the pane, the messages snap into fully expanding in the pane, and expand and contract with the pane width as you'd expect. But when I select another mailbox, the previews are once again 'squished up'.

Thanks, DW

Mac mini, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Aug 20, 2016 1:38 PM

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Answer 1

alex_oz

Community Specialist

Aug 21, 2016 8:06 AM in response to macmini14

Hello macmini14,

Great job with upgrading your Mac's OS X to El Capitan. The new version of Mail may look and feel slightly different, but it's definitely the same Mail app that you are accustomed to! You might be able to change it to "Classic" view to get your Mail app back to how you are used to seeing it.

To change to classic view:

1. Open the Mail preferences from the Mail Menu Bar.

2. Click on the "Viewing" tab

3. Then place a check in "Classic Layout"

You can checkout Mail's new features in the link below as well.

Use Mail on your Mac

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities to post your question. Adjusting your Mail view settings will have you seeing your mail just like you used to.

Have a great day.

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Answer 2

macmini14 Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 21, 2016 9:56 AM in response to alex_oz

Thanks for the suggestion. When I choose "Classic Layout" in preferences, the app actually crashes and then hangs on launch. I have to go to System Preferences > Internet Accounts and de-select all accounts, re-launch Mail, de-select Classic view, and then add the accounts back.

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Answer 3

JayB.

Community Specialist

Aug 21, 2016 11:57 AM in response to macmini14

No problem! Glad to lend a hand here. So it sounds like we maybe having an issue with the Mail App itself. Try booting your Mac up in safe mode then retry changing the view in your Mail preferences. Starting up in safe mode may help you diagnose problems you’re having with your Mac. If the app runs smoothly while in safe mode, I would check your Mac's login or start up items and remove them. This area has applications that run in the background and can cause issues with your other apps. But if the issue remains while in safe mode, please use the 10.11.6 Combo update.

OS X El Capitan: Start up in safe mode

OS X El Capitan: If you think you have incompatible login items

Download OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 Combo Update

Please try each procedure to see if you can get your Mail app to function as expected.

Cheers

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Answer 4

macmini14 Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 28, 2016 7:21 AM in response to JayB.

Thanks! I've tried safe mode and deleting all the login items, and Mail still behaves the same. (I already had the latest OS update).

Any suggestions on what I might try next? I've also run First Aid from Disk Utility (I guess that includes the old Repair Permissions, which isn't a menu option I can find in the new Disk Utility).

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Answer 5

Eric Root

Level 10

685,299 points

Aug 28, 2016 1:55 PM in response to macmini14

Try a restart.

Do a backup, using either Time Machine or a cloning program, to ensure files/data can be recovered. Two backups are better than one.

Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Prefeences, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.

Isolating an issue by using another user account

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Answer 6

macmini14 Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 3, 2016 7:10 AM in response to Eric Root

Yep, in my other (administrative) account, Mail behaves as expected.

Under ∼/Library/Preferences I found these files, so I moved them out of the Library one by one and launched Mail, but none of them seemed to have any effect.

com.apple.mail.plist

com.apple.mail-shared.plist

com.apple.MailMigratorService.plist

com.apple.mail.plist.nOy . . . [other random characters]

com.apple.mail.plist.fRI . . . [other random characters]

Any suggestions?

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Answer 7

macmini14 Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 11, 2016 7:42 AM in response to macmini14

Woo hoo! figured it out! The plist was hiding in this folder:

˜/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plis t

Deleting it fixed the problem.

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