How to Specify the Default Account in macOS Mail

Use any of your email addresses in Apple's Mail app

By
Heinz Tschabitscher
Heinz Tschabitscher
Heinz Tschabitscher
Writer
  • University of Vienna
A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997.
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Updated on January 28, 2021

What to Know

  • Open the Mail application on your Mac and select Mail > Preferences from the menu bar.
  • Select the Composing tab. Next to Send new messages from, select the desired account from the drop-down menu.
  • Optionally, select Automatically select best account to let Mail choose the best address for an email based on the mailbox you're using.

This article explains how to change your macOS Mail default account when you have multiple email accounts. Information in this article applies to Macs with macOS Catalina through Sierra.

How to Specify a Default Account in macOS Mail

Your Mac Mail account may already have one of your Apple email addresses listed as the default. To change it and specify a new default email account in Mac Mail:

  1. Open the Mail application on your Mac and select Mail > Preferences from the menu bar.

    Path to Mail Preferences on a Mac

  2. Click the Composing tab at the top of the Composing preferences window that opens.

    Selecting the Composing tab.

  3. Select the desired account from the drop-down menu next to Send new messages from.

    Composing screen of Mail preferences

  4. As an alternative, select Automatically select best account at the top of the drop-down menu next to Send new messages from to instruct Mail to select the best address for an email based on the mailbox you are using. For example, if you are sending an email from your Gmail account, Mail selects a Gmail address for the From field.

    Composing preferences in Mac Mail

  5. Close the preferences window to save the change.

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