new mail window too wide

Question

new mail window too wide

Odd thing today. In Mail, if I click on the icon for a new mail window to come up (or use command-N) the window that opens is too wide, twice what it used to be. I cannot make it less wide though if I go to the right border, the cursor changes to an arrow pointing right and I can drag the window even more wide.

If, in the In Box, if I open a message by double-clicking it, it retains the former width, that is not this wide.

I have no idea why this has happened. I have not changed any Mail settings or added accounts or anything like that.

Ideas?

OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), 16 GB

Posted on Mar 18, 2017 7:26 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Reyes Point

Level 1

24 points

Jan 30, 2018 12:58 PM in response to Richard Pitcairn

So, I know it's been a million years since you first posted this, but I think I know what the problem is. Had the same thing myself for a client of mine and used all the solutions here with no success.

I found this quite by accident.

It's your signature.

There's some weird bug in Apple Mail that makes it so your signature is extending well beyond the end of the Mail window.

Open up Mail's preferences. Delete all your existing signatures. Quit and reopen Mail. That should do it. You can add your signatures back in.

I think that somehow some update corrupted the signature file. Wasn't possible to edit the existing file, but deleting and recreating worked fine.

I'll be curious to know if this works.

-Jeff

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Answer 2

BDAqua

Level 10

245,639 points

Mar 19, 2017 11:07 AM in response to Richard Pitcairn

Do you have any signatures?

i can't resize the new message window in mac mail.

Or maybe with the New Reply Window foremost, run this in Script Editor...

ThisApple script will resize Mail window to an exact size and the window isthen moved to the center of your screen.

Specify the program name, height and width below and run the script.set theApp to "Mail"

set appHeight to 400

set appWidth to 600

tell application "Finder"

set screenResolution to bounds of window of desktop

end tell

set screenWidth to item 3 of screenResolution

set screenHeight to item 4 of screenResolution

tell application theApp

activate

reopen

set yAxis to (screenHeight - appHeight) / 2 as integer

set xAxis to (screenWidth - appWidth) / 2 as integer

set the bounds of the first window to {xAxis, yAxis, appWidth + xAxis, appHeight + yAxis}

end tell

Reply

Answer 3

Mar 21, 2017 11:47 AM in response to Eric Root

Here is the report:

EtreCheck version: 3.1.5 (343)

Report generated 2017-03-21 11:43:10

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 2:24

Performance: Excellent

Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Problem: Other problem

Description:

New Mail window too wide and cannot be adjusted.

Hardware Information: ⓘ

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

iMac - model: iMac14,3

1 2.9 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-4570S) CPU: 4-core

16 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Video Information: ⓘ

NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M - VRAM: 1024 MB

iMac 1920 x 1080

System Software: ⓘ

OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 (14F2109) - Time since boot: about 2 days

Disk Information: ⓘ

APPLE SSD SD0128F disk0 : (121.33 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Boot OS X (disk0s3) <not mounted> : 134 MB

Macintosh HD (disk2) / [Startup]: 1.11 TB (569.64 GB free)

Core Storage: disk0s2 120.99 GB Online

Core Storage: disk1s2 999.35 GB Online

APPLE HDD HTS541010A9E662 disk1 : (1 TB) (Rotational)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Recovery HD (disk1s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

Macintosh HD (disk2) / [Startup]: 1.11 TB (569.64 GB free)

Core Storage: disk0s2 120.99 GB Online

Core Storage: disk1s2 999.35 GB Online

USB Information: ⓘ

Seagate BUP Mac SL 4 TB

EFI (disk4s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Susan Boot (disk4s2) /Volumes/Susan Boot : 999.35 GB (50.22 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk4s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

R Video Archive (disk4s4) /Volumes/R Video Archive : 1.00 TB (627.94 GB free)

Susan Video | R Time Machine (disk4s5) /Volumes/Susan Video | R Time Machine : 2.00 TB (1.47 TB free)

hub_device

Seagate BUP Slim BL 2 TB

EFI (disk3s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

iMac Boot (disk3s2) /Volumes/iMac Boot : 1.92 TB (7.76 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk3s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 784 MB

Storage (disk3s4) /Volumes/Storage : 77.21 GB (27.75 GB free)

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Macally Generic Hub

Macally Macally ICEKey Keyboard

GenesysLogic USB2.0 Hub

PixArt ICEMOUSE2 USB Optical Mouse

Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Unknown Files: ⓘ

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.userhelper.navigate.update.plist

~/Library/Application Support/userhelper/userhelper.app/Contents/MacOS/Installer -evnt agnt -oprID 80801239|00340|1000021|0|0|1|0|000000000|25012017|05233562|OTA=|U2FmZUZpbmRlcg= =|VVM=|VW5pdGVkIFN0YXRlcw==|R29vZ2xl -dBrowser Safari

One unknown file found. [Check files]

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/Library/Application Support/HASP/kexts

[not loaded] com.aladdin.kext.aksfridge (1.0.16332 - 2015-01-10) [Support]

/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.globaldelight.driver.Boom2Device (1.2 - SDK 10.10 - 2017-02-16) [Support]

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.AmbrosiaSW.AudioSupport (4.1.2 - SDK 10.7 - 2017-02-16) [Support]

[loaded] com.techsmith.TACC (1.0.2 - SDK 10.8 - 2017-02-16) [Support]

[not loaded] com.wacom.kext.pentablet (Pen Tablet 5.2.1-3 - 2017-02-16) [Support]

[loaded] net.telestream.driver.TelestreamAudio (1.0.5 - SDK 10.6 - 2017-02-16) [Support]

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 5 Apple tasks

[loaded] 137 Apple tasks

[running] 68 Apple tasks

[killed] 2 Apple tasks

2 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 44 Apple tasks

[loaded] 132 Apple tasks

[running] 81 Apple tasks

[killed] 5 Apple tasks

5 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

Launch Agents: ⓘ

[running] com.fujitsu.pfu.ScanSnap.AOUMonitor.plist (2017-01-16) [Support]

[not loaded] com.maintain.LogOut.plist (2016-11-30)

[failed] com.maintain.PurgeInactiveMemory.plist (2016-11-30)

[not loaded] com.maintain.Restart.plist (2016-03-23)

[not loaded] com.maintain.ShutDown.plist (2016-03-23)

[not loaded] com.maintain.Sleep.plist (2016-11-30)

[running] com.maintain.SystemEvents.plist (2016-03-23)

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer.plist (2017-03-07) [Support]

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist (2016-12-21) [Support]

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2017-02-28) [Support]

[running] com.bombich.ccchelper.plist (2017-01-30) [Support]

[loaded] com.maintain.CocktailScheduler.plist (2017-03-19)

[not loaded] com.maintain.HideSpotlightMenuBarIcon.plist (2016-03-23)

[loaded] com.malwarebytes.MBAMHelperTool.plist (2016-01-16) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (2017-02-22) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (2017-01-07) [Support]

[loaded] com.teamviewer.Helper.plist (2016-12-21) [Support]

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist (2017-03-07) [Support]

[loaded] de.appgineers.Mountain.Helper.plist (2015-04-03) [Support]

[loaded] net.telestream.LicensingHelper.plist (2016-09-10) [Support]

[loaded] org.tcpdump.chmod_bpf.plist (2016-09-26) [Support]

[loaded] uk.co.canimaansoftware.ClamXavHelper.plist (2016-11-25) [Support]

[loaded] uk.co.canimaansoftware.ClamXavHelperUpdater.plist (2016-07-12) [Support]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] .dat00a7.000 (hidden) (2015-03-03)

[running] .dat0105.000 (hidden) (2015-04-15)

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (2013-05-15) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (2016-09-04) [Support]

[running] com.amazon.music.plist (2017-02-17) [Support]

[not loaded] com.apple.FTMonitor.plist (2015-06-25)

[running] com.apple.FolderActions.enabled.plist (2015-04-15)

[not loaded] com.apple.imagent.plist (2015-06-25)

[not loaded] com.apple.marcoagent.plist (2015-06-25)

[running] com.c-command.SpamSieve.LaunchAgent.plist (2017-02-27) [Support]

[loaded] com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (2017-03-08) [Support]

[loaded] com.maintain.ShowUserLibraryDirectory.plist (2016-11-30)

[running] com.setapp.DesktopClient.SetappAgent.plist (2017-03-17) [Support]

[failed] com.setapp.DesktopClient.SetappUpdater.plist (2017-03-17) [Support]

[loaded] com.userhelper.navigate.update.plist (2017-03-21) [Support]

[loaded] uk.co.canimaansoftware.clamxav.UninstallWatcher.plist (2017-01-26)

[loaded] uk.co.canimaansoftware.clamxav.clamscan.plist (2016-11-28) [Support]

[loaded] uk.co.canimaansoftware.clamxav.freshclam.plist (2016-11-28) [Support]

User Login Items: ⓘ

TextExpander Application

(/Applications/TextExpander.app)

Dropbox Application

(/Applications/Dropbox.app)

Dropzone 3 Application

(/Applications/Dropzone 3.app)

ClipboardCleaner Application

(/Applications/ClipboardCleaner.app)

Ember 1.8.5 Application

(/Applications/Ember 1.8.5.app)

HiddenMe Free Application

(/Applications/HiddenMe Free.app)

LaunchBar Application

(/Applications/LaunchBar.app)

MiniNote Pro Application

(/Applications/MiniNote Pro.app)

PandaBar Application

(/Applications/PandaBar.app)

PopClip Application

(/Applications/PopClip.app)

ScreenFloat Application

(/Applications/ScreenFloat.app)

SmartMemoryCleaner Application

(/Applications/SmartMemoryCleaner.app)

MenuCalendarClock iCal Application

(/Applications/MenuCalendarClock iCal.app)

Divvy Application

(/Applications/Divvy.app)

LiteSwitch X Application Hidden

(~/Library/PreferencePanes/LiteSwitch X.prefPane/Contents/Resources/LiteSwitch X.app)

Keyboard Maestro Engine Application

(/Applications/Keyboard Maestro.app/Contents/Resources/Keyboard Maestro Engine.app)

CCC User Agent Application (2017-01-12)

(/Applications/Carbon Copy Cloner.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/CCC User Agent.app)

DropSync 3 Application

(/Applications/DropSync 3.app)

TapDex Application

(~/Library/PreferencePanes/TapDexPane.prefPane/Contents/Resources/TapDex.app)

DiskWarriorDaemonStarter Application

(/Applications/Utilities/DiskWarrior.app/Contents/Helpers/DiskWarriorStarter.ap p)

HazelHelper Application

(~/Library/PreferencePanes/Hazel.prefPane/Contents/MacOS/HazelHelper.app)

Smart Scroll Application

(~/Library/PreferencePanes/Smart Scroll 4.3.2.prefPane/Contents/MacOS/Smart Scroll.app)

MacUpdate Desktop Application Hidden

(/Applications/MacUpdate Desktop.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

FlashPlayer-10.6: 25.0.0.127 - SDK 10.9 (2017-03-14) [Support]

npDDRia: 0.0.14.3 - SDK 10.9 (2015-02-05) [Support]

Flash Player: 25.0.0.127 - SDK 10.9 (2017-03-14) [Support]

Default Browser: 600 - SDK 10.10 (2015-08-13)

PepperFlashPlayer: Unknown (2016-08-31)

Google Earth Web Plug-in: 7.1 (2016-09-30) [Support]

Silverlight: 5.1.50901.0 - SDK 10.6 (2016-10-12) [Support]

User internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

WebEx64: 1.0 - SDK 10.10 (2017-03-11) [Support]

CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: 1.0.105 (2013-04-25) [Support]

FreeConferenceCallPlugin: FreeConferenceCallPlugin_x86_64 1.2.8 - SDK 10.11 (2017-02-15) [Support]

Folx3Plugin: 3.0.1 - SDK 10.6 (2017-01-26) [Support]

Safari Extensions: ⓘ

AdBlock Ultimate - Secure Download - https://adblockultimate.net/ (2016-04-13)

CustomReader - Canisbos Computing - http://canisbos.com/customreader (2016-12-16)

Downie - Charlie Monroe Software - http://downie.charliemonroe.net (2017-03-06)

Disconnect - Disconnect - https://disconnect.me/ (2015-10-04)

Evernote Web Clipper - Evernote Corp. - http://evernote.com (2016-12-23)

TubeG - EliteBits.com - http://elitebits.com (2015-03-09)

AutoPagerize - swdyh - http://autopagerize.net/ (2016-08-19)

Translate - SideTree.com - Apps for Mac and Web - http://SideTree.com/extensions.html#Translate (2016-01-30)

HD quality for YouTube™ - James Fray - http://add0n.com/youtube-hd.html (2015-01-31)

1Password - AgileBits - https://agilebits.com/onepassword (2017-02-15)

Push for Kindle - FiveFilters.org - http://fivefilters.org/kindle-it/ (2017-03-14)

Turn Off the Lights - Stefan vd - http://www.turnoffthelights.com (2015-07-02)

SafeFinder - SafeFinder (2017-01-26)

HoverSee - SideTree.com - Apps for Mac - http://SideTree.com/extensions.html#HoverSee (2017-01-31)

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

Flash Player (2017-02-28) [Support]

FUSE (2017-01-29) [Support]

Hazel (2017-03-11) [Support]

LiteSwitch X (2014-11-06) [Support]

Smart Scroll (2017-02-28) [Support]

TapDexPane (2010-11-15) [Support]

Time Machine: ⓘ

Skip System Files: YES - System files not being backed up

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 1.11 TB Disk used: 542.19 GB

Destinations:

Susan Video | R Time Machine [Local]

Total size: 2.00 TB

Total number of backups: 65

Oldest backup: 10/3/16, 7:31 PM

Last backup: 3/21/17, 11:32 AM

Size of backup disk: Adequate

Backup size 2.00 TB > (Disk used 542.19 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

4% WindowServer

4% Boom 2

3% Go for Facebook

2% fontd

1% coreaudiod

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

1.25 GB kernel_task

590 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(4)

442 MB softwareupdated

360 MB Safari

360 MB LaunchBar

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

7.84 GB Available RAM

3.91 GB Free RAM

8.16 GB Used RAM

3.93 GB Cached files

117 MB Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: ⓘ

Mar 19, 2017, 11:14:11 AM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/PopClip_2017-03-19-111411_[redacted].crash

com.pilotmoon.popclip - /Applications/PopClip.app/Contents/MacOS/PopClip

Mar 18, 2017, 08:44:27 PM Self test - passed

Reply

Answer 4

Mar 19, 2017 11:23 AM in response to BDAqua

I have tried with different signatures or none, no difference.

Tried putting your suggested script into effect and what it does is change the Message Viewer window, not the open New Message window.

Thanks for trying.

— Richard

Reply

Answer 5

BDAqua

Level 10

245,639 points

Mar 19, 2017 4:10 PM in response to Richard Pitcairn

That's what I did that worked, but if it resized another Mail Window, then the problem might be Finder has lost track of certain windows, for kicks you might set it all up again & Force Quit Finder, when Finder reappears try running the Script again.

Reply

Answer 6

BDAqua

Level 10

245,639 points

Mar 19, 2017 8:26 PM in response to Richard Pitcairn

Quit mail, use TextWrangler to open...

/Users/YourUserName/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Preferences/c om.apple.mail.plist

Search for...

<key>NSWindow Frame Compose Window</key>

Below that should be the the size of the Compose window, here I set it to this to find it in the first place...

(Last 4 numbers are default fillable screen size)

Or if you have a Time Machine backup, restore that file from a good time.

Reply

Answer 7

Mar 20, 2017 11:03 AM in response to BDAqua

I tried all of these options.

1) replaced the file from a boot backup of a week ago.

2) replaced file from Time Machine backup of March 2.

3) Used TextWrangler — used the open file option and get MacOS Error code -43.

So problem persists. Stubborn one.

Reply

Answer 8

BDAqua

Level 10

245,639 points

Mar 20, 2017 5:06 PM in response to Richard Pitcairn

Did you edit the copy out of the name & zip up the original so you could trash the original?

Kicking myself, you wouldn't remember the original values for <key>NSWindow Frame Compose Window</key> would you?

Reply

Answer 9

BDAqua

Level 10

245,639 points

Mar 21, 2017 9:46 AM in response to Richard Pitcairn

I'm not sure it would solve the problem, but it might if the values for that aren't the same as what the message window opens to.

To find out if it's system wide or user specific, try this...

Open System Preferences>Users & Groups, unlock the lock, click on the little plus icon, make a new admin account, log out & into the new account.

Does it work in the new account?

Reply

Answer 10

Eric Root

Level 10

684,723 points

Mar 21, 2017 11:01 AM in response to Richard Pitcairn

Do you have any Mail plugins installed?

Probably a long shot, but try running this program in your normal account, then copy and paste the output in a reply. The program was created by etresoft, a frequent contributor. Please use copy and paste as screen shots can be hard to read. On the screen with Options, please open Options and check the bottom 2 boxes before running. Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy Report” and then paste into a reply. This will show what is running on your computer. No personal information is shown.

Etrecheck – System Information

Reply

Answer 11

Eric Root

Level 10

684,723 points

Mar 21, 2017 11:51 AM in response to Richard Pitcairn

Unknown Files: ⓘ

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.userhelper.navigate.update.plist

~/Library/Application Support/userhelper/userhelper.app/Contents/MacOS/Installer -evnt agnt -oprID 80801239|00340|1000021|0|0|1|0|000000000|25012017|05233562|OTA=|U2FmZUZpbmRlcg= =|VVM=|VW5pdGVkIFN0YXRlcw==|R29vZ2xl -dBrowser Safari

One unknown file found. [Check files]

Click [Check file]

Cocktail Uninstall See FAQ

Reply

Answer 12

Mar 21, 2017 8:35 PM in response to BDAqua

I logged into another administrator account and the New Mail windows were as expected, normal size and adjustable.

So...assumed it was something active in my account (I have a number of login apps), I did a safe boot, tried again, and the Mail problem still present. So does not seem to be any of the login software.

Reply

Answer 13

BDAqua

Level 10

245,639 points

Mar 22, 2017 12:24 AM in response to Richard Pitcairn

Thanks, seems something else has that Mail plist on use, but even with Mail not running there are 37 things using various Mail related things!

If it were me I'd add the new user rights to the old user's Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Preferences/c om.apple.mail.plist then edit it in the new account for a try.

Reply

Answer 14

Mo180

Level 1

4 points

Jan 3, 2018 12:37 PM in response to Richard Pitcairn

I had this issue: Mail Preferences pane too wide past sides of screen. No green dot. No adjustment symbol at window edge or corner.

This started yesterday after I logged into iCloud and re-enabled an iCloud alias that received spam. Today I contacted Apple about issue and they were not familiar. I thought about what I had done differently lately and decided to log back into iCloud. Selected Mail. Right clicked a spam message that came in via the problematic iCloud alias. Saw that there was a bunch of code in frameworks showing things like "don't allow user to delete or adjust etc etc...". That did not look like anything friendly from Apple... I immediately applied rule to remove the spam, and DISABLED the problematic iCloud Alias. Closed browser. PREFERENCE PANE restored to normal functionality.

Reply

Answer 15

Mo180

Level 1

4 points

Jan 3, 2018 12:45 PM in response to Richard Pitcairn

I had this issue: Mail Preferences pane too wide past sides of screen. No green dot. No adjustment symbol at window edge or corner.

This started yesterday after I logged into iCloud and re-enabled an iCloud alias that received spam. Today I contacted Apple about issue and they were not familiar. I thought about what I had done differently lately and decided to log back into iCloud. Selected Mail. Right clicked a spam message that came in via the problematic iCloud alias. Saw that there was a bunch of code in frameworks showing things like "don't allow user to delete or adjust etc etc...". That did not look like anything friendly from Apple... I immediately applied rule to remove the spam, and DISABLED the problematic iCloud Alias. Closed browser. PREFERENCE PANE restored to normal functionality.

Reply