How to Customize the Apple Mail Toolbar

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

By
Heinz Tschabitscher
Heinz Tschabitscher
Writer
A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997.
our editorial process
Heinz Tschabitscher
Updated March 25, 2020
Tools on the wall
Is this your dream tools arrangement? You can perfect the toolbar in OS X Mail, too.

Barn Images / Getty Images

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, you can customize the toolbar to mark unread emails, hide related messages, or print an email thread. There are dozens of tools and features that can be added, customized, and rearranged.

How to Customize the Apple Mail Toolbar

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

  1. Open Mail and select View > Customize Toolbar...

    Mail has a separate toolbar for composing messages. To edit this toolbar, open a new email or reply to an existing one and select View > Customize Toolbar...

  2. Add items by clicking and dragging them to the toolbar until you see a green plus sign, then let go. 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.

    Select the Show down-down menu in the bottom-left to choose an item signifier: Icon Only, Icon and Text, or Text Only.

  3. When you're finished, select Done.