Read and respond to emails in Mail on Mac
You can read and respond to messages from specific mailboxes, read email conversations, and mark messages as read or unread. You can also use Apple Intelligence* to get email summaries or suggestions for a reply.
Tip: When you check your email, you might see suggestions for actions that you can take—like adding a reminder or creating a calendar event. Click the suggestion to accept it.
Note: Apple Intelligence on macOS 27 is not available in all languages or regions. Usage limits may apply.*
Read messages from specific mailboxes or email accounts
Go to the Mail app
on your Mac.
Do any of the following:
Show messages from one mailbox: In the Favorites bar or the Mail sidebar, click the mailbox.
Show messages from several mailboxes: In the Mail sidebar, select multiple mailboxes.
Show messages from a specific email account: Click
next to a mailbox (for example, All Inboxes) in the sidebar, then select an account (for example, your iCloud account).
Tip: You can open multiple tabs in the Mail viewer window, to easily switch between different mailboxes or emails. Choose View > Show Tab Bar, then click to open a new tab.
Read email conversations
By default, Mail groups together email messages that are part of the same “conversation” (or thread), instead of listing each reply individually. Conversations make it easier to follow a thread and help streamline your Inbox.
Tip: It’s easy to turn conversations on or off. In Mail, choose View > Organize by Conversation (a checkmark shows it’s on).
Go to the Mail app
Click the message count in the top message of a conversation to show all of its emails.
Choose View > Expand All Conversations to always show all of the emails in a conversation.
Do any of the following in a conversation in the preview area:
Step through messages in a conversation: Press Option-Up Arrow or Option-Down Arrow.
Show more of a message: If a reply contains the original message but doesn’t show all of it, click the See More link at the bottom of the reply.
Change the order of messages in the preview area: Choose Mail > Settings, click Viewing, then select or deselect “Show most recent message at the top.”
Summarize your email
Apple Intelligence can help you summarize a complex email, or it can help you get caught up on a long email thread in seconds. Just follow these steps:
Go to the Mail app
A short summary automatically appears under each unread email in your inbox.
Select an email, then scroll up.
Click Summarize at the top of the email.
A summary appears above the email. If the email is part of a thread, the contents of the thread are summarized.
You can turn off summaries and choose to see the first lines of the most recent message instead. Choose Mail > Settings > Viewing, then select or deselect Summarize Message Previews.
Reply to or forward emails
Tip: You can use rules in Mail to automatically reply to or forward email messages when Mail is open. See Use rules to manage emails you receive.
Go to the Mail app
Select a message in the message list.
Note: If you select the top message in a conversation, all of the messages in the conversation are selected.
Move the pointer over the message header, then click one of the following buttons:
Reply
to reply to just the sender.
Reply All
to reply to the sender and the other recipients.
Forward
to choose new recipients.
You can add or remove recipients as needed.
Add your text.
If you included the original message, vertical bars (called quotation bars) may appear next to it.
When you’re ready, click
.
Note: If you want to send automatic replies when Mail isn’t open—like when you’re on vacation—check with the provider of your email account.
Use Smart Reply
Apple Intelligence can suggest replies to emails you receive.
Go to the Mail app
Click an email, then click
Click the Message field, then choose a suggested reply.
Apple Intelligence drafts a reply in the email. To refine your reply, see Use Writing Tools with Apple Intelligence.
When you’re ready, click
Mark emails as read or unread
Email messages you haven’t read yet have a blue dot or star (for messages from VIPs) next to them. When you select a message to read it, the dot or star disappears. If you want, you can manually mark messages as read or unread.
Go to the Mail app
Do any of the following:
Mark one message in the message list: Select the message, swipe right with two fingers on your trackpad or Magic Mouse, then click Unread or Read.
Mark multiple messages in the message list: Select one or more messages, then choose Message > Mark as Unread or Message > Mark as Read.
Mark all unread messages in a mailbox as read: Control-click the mailbox in the Mail sidebar, then choose Mark All Messages As Read.