Do You Always Remember Who Said What and When?
With billions of people to email and so many words in so many languages to express a never-ending (though possibly oft-repeating) stream of thought, it can be hard to remember who said what, and when. But it is extremely helpful.
When you compose a reply in Mac OS X Mail and seem to know in merely vague terms what has been said in the conversation so far (or whether you have to take back a point you may not even have made), it's easy to find all related messages. With a swift stroke of an arm, you'll have all the messages exchanged with the person you are writing to.
Find All Correspondence with a Sender Quickly in Mac OS X Mail 2 and 3
To see all messages exchanged with a sender quickly in Mac OS X Mail 2/3:
- Click on a message from the sender in Mac OS X Mail's message list.
- Keeping the mouse button pressed, drag the message to the search field in the toolbar.
- You'll see a plus sign appear beneath the pointer.
- Release the mouse button.
- To see all messages, make sure All Mailboxes and Entire Message are selected in the search bar.
- To return to Mac OS X Mail's normal display, click the x in the toolbar search field.
Now you can sort the results according to your heart and mind's desires, of course — by date, for example.
Find All Correspondence with a Sender in Mac OS X Mail 4
To see emails sent to a from a person quickly in Mac OS X Mail:
- Open a message from the desired sender.
- Ctrl- or right-click on the name or address in the From: line.
- Select Copy Address from the context menu.
- Select Spotlight: from the menu that comes up in Mac OS X Mail 4 to search in Spotlight.
- Click in Mac OS X Mail's Search field.
- Press Command-V.
- Select All (or All Mailboxes) in the search bar.
- If necessary, edit the text in the Search field to include only the email address, for example, or just the name.
(Updated August 2012)
