How to Customize the Apple Mail Toolbar

Add the items you use and remove those you don't

What to Know

  • In macOS Mail, select View, choose Customize Toolbar, and adjust the toolbar to your liking.
  • In Mail, open a new message, select View, choose Customize Toolbar, and customize the toolbar.

You can customize the Apple Mail toolbar to prioritize the tools and features you use most. Remove buttons you don't need or never use, and add those you do. For example, customize the toolbar to mark unread emails, hide related messages, or print an email thread.

How to Customize the Apple Mail Toolbar

Follow these instruction to modify the macOS Mail toolbar to your liking:

  1. Select View in the Mail menu bar and choose Customize Toolbar in the drop-down menu.

    Customize Toolbar option in Mac Mail
  2. In the Customize Toolbar window that opens, select an item or an entire set of items and move it to the Mail toolbar by clicking and dragging it to the toolbar until you see a green plus sign, then let go.

    Customize Toolbar window in Mac Mail

    Remove items by dragging them from the toolbar to the Customize Toolbar window. You can also rearrange the order of items by clicking and dragging them around in the toolbar.

    Use the Space and Flexible Space items to group items in an order that makes sense to you.

  3. At the bottom of the window, next to Show, select how you want the items to display in the toolbar.

    Options are:

    • Icon and Text
    • Icon Only
    • Text Only
    Mail Customize toolbar menu
  4. When you're finished, select Done to save your changes and close the window.

    The Done button highlighted in Mac Mail Customize Toolbar window

How to Customize the Mail New Message Toolbar

Mail has a separate—but similar—toolbar for the new message screen.

  1. Click New Message in the Mail application to open a new message screen.

    New Message icon in Mac Mail application
  2. With the new message screen open, select View in the Mail menu bar and Customize Toolbar in the drop-down menu.

    The Mail View menu with Customize Toolbar highlighted
  3. The options in the window that opens are are similar to the options for the application, and you apply them the same way. Click and drag at item to the toolbar at the top of the new mesage screen and drop it in place. If necessary, the URL field shortens to accommodate your choices.

    Toolbar window for new messages in Mac Mail
  4. Select Done to save the changes.

    Done button in new messages customize toolbar screen
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