How to Customize the Mac Mail Sidebar and Favorites

Short answer: Mail's sidebar can't be redesigned, but you can change quite a lot: show or hide it with View > Show Sidebar (Control-Command-S), drag it wider, drag mailboxes into a new order, pin the ones you use most to Favorites, add Smart Mailboxes, and change the icon and text size in System Settings > Appearance > Sidebar icon size. Favorites also have their own strip across the top of the window, the Favorites bar (View > Show Favorites Bar).

The steps below are for Mail in macOS 27. The menus are the same in macOS Tahoe 26, Sequoia 15 and Sonoma 14, so they work there too. Apple sometimes calls the sidebar the mailbox list, and older guides say Preferences where Mail now says Settings.

What's in the Mail sidebar

The sidebar runs down the left of the Mail window and is split into sections:

Favorites at the top: the mailboxes you've pinned for quick access. Most people keep their inboxes, Sent and Drafts here.
Smart Mailboxes: saved searches that collect messages matching rules you set, such as Today or VIPs.
One section per account (iCloud, Gmail, Outlook and so on) with that account's Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Trash and any folders you've made.
On My Mac, if you've created local mailboxes. These live only on that Mac and don't sync to your other devices.

Show, hide or resize the sidebar

To hide the sidebar, choose View > Hide Sidebar or press Control-Command-S. Press it again, or choose View > Show Sidebar, to bring it back. This is handy on a small laptop screen when you just want the message list and the message.
To make it wider or narrower, drag the divider between the sidebar and the message list. Widen it if long folder names get cut off.

If your sidebar has gone missing and the shortcut doesn't bring it back, check the View menu: the item reads Show Sidebar when it's hidden.

Reorder, add and rename mailboxes

Reorder: drag a mailbox up or down to a new spot within its account.
Create: choose Mailbox > New Mailbox, pick a Location (an account, or On My Mac for a local one), type a name and click OK. Pick an existing mailbox as the location to make a subfolder.
Rename: Control-click the mailbox and choose Rename Mailbox, or select it and choose Mailbox > Rename.
Delete: select the mailbox and choose Mailbox > Delete Mailbox. Careful: this deletes the mailbox, every message in it and any mailboxes inside it, and Apple says it can't be undone.

Mailboxes you create under an account are stored on that account's mail server, so they also show up on your iPhone and in webmail. Folders you make in On My Mac don't.

How to use Favorites in Mac Mail

Favorites are shortcuts to the mailboxes you open most. They sit at the top of the sidebar and, if you turn it on, in the Favorites bar. Both show the same list, so a change in one appears in the other.

Add a mailbox to Favorites

Drag a mailbox from lower down in the sidebar into the Favorites section.
Or click the Add button (+) at the top of Favorites, choose a mailbox from the pop-up menu and click OK. Mailboxes that are already favorites are dimmed in the list.
Or Control-click a mailbox and choose Add to Favorites, or choose Mailbox > Add Favorite Mailbox.

A good first favorite if you have more than one account is All Inboxes, which shows every account's inbox in one list. Apple's own setup tip is to add it with the + button at the top of Favorites.

Reorder and use your favorites

Drag favorites up or down to change their order. The order matters, because the first nine get keyboard shortcuts.
Press Command-1 through Command-9 to jump to your first nine favorites (Mailbox > Go to Favorite Mailbox).
Press Control-Command-1 through Control-Command-9 to move the selected messages into one of them (Mailbox > Move to Favorite Mailbox). Filing a receipt becomes one keystroke.
You can also drag messages onto a favorite in the sidebar or the Favorites bar to move them there.

Remove a mailbox from Favorites

Control-click the mailbox in the Favorites section of the sidebar and choose Remove from Favorites. In the Favorites bar, drag the mailbox off the bar until it disappears. Removing a favorite only removes the shortcut. The mailbox and its messages stay where they are.

Show the Favorites bar

The Favorites bar is a row of mailbox buttons under the toolbar. It's useful if you keep the sidebar hidden but still want one-click access to a few mailboxes. Choose View > Show Favorites Bar, or press Option-Shift-Command-H, and choose View > Hide Favorites Bar to turn it off. Drag a mailbox from the sidebar onto the bar to add it there.

Add Smart Mailboxes to the sidebar

A Smart Mailbox is a saved search that sits in the sidebar and fills itself. Messages stay in their real mailboxes; the Smart Mailbox just shows everything that matches.

Choose Mailbox > New Smart Mailbox.
Give it a name, then set the first condition, for example From contains a client's name, or Message is flagged.
Click the Add button to add more conditions, and choose whether a message has to match any or all of them.
Click OK. The new mailbox appears in the Smart Mailboxes section. Double-click it later to edit the rules.

Mail comes with a Smart Mailbox called Today. If you don't see it, move the pointer over the Smart Mailboxes heading and click the + button. Our guide to Smart Mailboxes in Mac Mail has more ideas for rules.

Change the sidebar's icon size and colors

Mail doesn't have its own settings for the sidebar's look. It follows macOS:

Choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Appearance.
Use Sidebar icon size to pick Small, Medium or Large. This changes the icons and the text in the sidebar of Mail, the Finder, Photos and other apps.
Use Color to change the accent color of buttons and controls, and Text highlight color for selected text.

For the font used in messages themselves, see Mac Mail font settings.

Fix the Mail layout around the sidebar

Many people who want to tidy the sidebar actually want to change the whole window. These View menu options do that:

View > Use Column Layout switches to the classic layout, with the message list in columns (From, Subject, Date) and the message below or to the side. Choose it again to go back.
In column layout, View > Show Side Preview or Show Bottom Preview moves the message pane.
View > Show Mail Categories turns the Primary, Transactions, Updates and Promotions tabs on or off, where your region supports them.
View > Show Toolbar and Customize Toolbar control the buttons along the top. Our toolbar guide walks through it.

A few tips that make the sidebar work harder

Put your daily mailboxes in Favorites in the order you use them, so Command-1 is always your main inbox.
Make a VIP of anyone whose mail you never want to miss (move the pointer next to their name in a message header and click the star). Mail adds a VIPs mailbox to the sidebar with one entry per person.
If you use flags, Mail adds a Flagged mailbox with one entry per flag color, and you can rename those entries. See how to use and rename flags.
Every few months, delete or merge folders you no longer use. A shorter sidebar is faster to scan than a clever one.

If you'd like more control over your inbox

Disclosure: we make Canary Mail. Mail's sidebar is fine for a few folders, but it won't sort mail for you. Canary Mail is an email app for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows and Android that works with Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Yahoo, Exchange and other IMAP accounts. It sorts incoming mail with AI, and that triage runs on your device. The free plan covers unlimited accounts on 2 devices with AI inbox sorting; the Growth plan ($36 a year) adds AI writing and summaries, read receipts and send later. There's a 7-day trial, and paid plans are yearly or lifetime. More than 2 million people use it, and Apple has featured it on the App Store and the Mac App Store.

Frequently asked questions

How do I remove favorites from the Mail sidebar on a Mac?

In the Favorites section, Control-click the mailbox and choose Remove from Favorites. If it's in the Favorites bar, drag it off the bar. The mailbox and its messages aren't deleted.

How do I add a folder to Favorites in Apple Mail?

Drag the folder into the Favorites section of the sidebar, or Control-click it and choose Add to Favorites. You can also click the + at the top of Favorites and pick the mailbox from the list.

How do I get the sidebar back in Mac Mail?

Choose View > Show Sidebar or press Control-Command-S. If the sidebar is there but very narrow, drag its right edge to widen it.

Can I make the Mail sidebar text bigger?

Yes. Go to System Settings > Appearance and set Sidebar icon size to Large. It enlarges both the icons and the text in the sidebar.

How do I change the layout of Apple Mail?

Choose View > Use Column Layout for the classic list with columns, then pick View > Show Side Preview or Show Bottom Preview. Turn mail categories on or off with View > Show Mail Categories.

Can I favorite mailboxes in Mail on iPhone?

There's no Favorites section on iPhone, but you can choose which mailboxes appear and in what order. In Mail, go back to Mailboxes, tap Edit, then select the mailboxes you want and drag them into order.

How to Customize the Mac Mail Sidebar and Favorites (2026)