the appearance of mail suddenly changed
MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2009), OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)
Follow the steps in the article : If you can’t send an email in the Mail app, because the compose window disappears and reappears - Apple Support
When I click on an individual message the pop-up screen looks like it should -- To/From/Subject fields.
If it always looked like your second screenshot, how did you know you had new mail? How did you navigate from one email to the next? I don't see any navigation buttons on that screenshot?
Cheers,
GB
Yes -- except there was just the Folder List and the emails -- no middle preview pane.
So, again, how did you navigate to the next email in that scenario?
GB
You should be able to add back both the Mailbox and Message List views via Mail > Preferences.
the appearance of mail suddenly changed