By default, the Mail application on the Mac takes e-mail messages with the same subject line—including those that were sent hours, days, or even weeks ago—and groups them into “conversations.”
It’s a handy if you like viewing the back-and-forth of an e-mail discussion, but annoying if you prefer your messages arranged in the order they arrived in your inbox.
Just uncheck the “Organize by Conversation” setting to see your messages in the order you received them.
In fact, it’s pretty easy to “unthread” the mail conversations in your Mac’s Mail inbox messages—or it is once you know the right setting to tweak.
To turn off threaded conversations completely:
- Click the View menu.
- Uncheck the setting that reads “Organize by conversation.”
There’s also a middle ground for those who’ve warmed to threaded Mail conversations but still want to see every single message listed separately in their inboxes.
- Click the View menu, then make sure the “Organize by conversation” setting is checked.
- Select the “Expand All Conversations” option.
Bonus tip
You can quickly expand any mail conversation by selecting it in your inbox and pressing the right arrow key.
Looking for more Mac tips? Click here!
