Short answer: To customize the toolbar in Apple Mail on a Mac, choose View > Customize Toolbar, drag the buttons you want from the palette into the toolbar, drag the ones you don't want out, and click Done. You can also rearrange or remove buttons at any time by holding Command and dragging them. To get the original layout back, drag the default set from the bottom of the palette into the toolbar. Option-Command-T hides or shows the toolbar.
Steps are for macOS 27 and work the same on macOS Tahoe 26, Sequoia 15 and Sonoma 14. Customize Toolbar is a standard Mac feature, so Apple documents it in the Mac User Guide rather than the Mail guide.
Where is the toolbar in Apple Mail?
It's the row of buttons along the top of the Mail window, above the message list and the message you're reading. New message windows have a separate toolbar with their own buttons (Send, Attach and so on), which you customize the same way. Mail on iPhone has no customizable toolbar; on iPhone you change swipe actions instead (see Apple Mail swipe actions).
How to customize the Apple Mail toolbar
- In Mail, choose View > Customize Toolbar. You can also Control-click an empty spot in the toolbar and choose Customize Toolbar.
- To add a button, drag it from the palette up into the toolbar until a plus sign appears.
- To remove a button, drag it out of the toolbar and let go.
- To reorder buttons, drag them left or right inside the toolbar. Space and Flexible Space items help you group buttons.
- Click Done.
You don't need to open the palette to tidy up. Hold Command and drag a button out of the toolbar until you see or hear the "poof" to remove it, or Command-drag it sideways to move it.
Buttons you can add to the Mail toolbar
These are the main buttons in the Customize Toolbar palette of the Mail viewer window in macOS 27, with the names Mail uses:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Get Mail | Checks all accounts for new messages |
| New Message | Opens a new message window |
| Archive, Delete, Junk | Archives, deletes or marks the selected messages as junk |
| Reply, Reply All, Forward | The usual reply actions |
| Redirect | Sends the message on as if it came straight from the original sender |
| Flag | Adds or changes a colored flag |
| Move, Move Again | Moves messages to a mailbox, or to the same mailbox as last time |
| Move to Predicted Folder | Moves the message to the mailbox Mail suggests |
| Read / Unread | Marks the selected messages as read or unread |
| Mute | Silences notifications for a conversation |
| Filter | Turns the message list filter on or off (for example, unread only) |
| View Options | Sorting and view choices, including Mail's categories |
| Categorize Sender | Moves a sender to Primary, Transactions, Updates or Promotions |
| Add Sender | Adds the sender to Contacts |
| Sidebar | Shows or hides the mailbox sidebar |
| Prints the selected message | |
| Search | The search field |
The exact set depends on your Mac and settings. For example, Writing Tools only appears where Apple Intelligence is available. When the window is too narrow to fit everything, Mail tucks the extra buttons into a More Items menu at the right end of the toolbar.
Show labels under the buttons
If the icons alone are hard to tell apart, add text labels:
- Choose View > Customize Toolbar.
- Click the Show pop-up menu at the bottom of the palette.
- Choose Icon and Text, or Icon Only to go back to plain icons.
Mail has no setting to make toolbar buttons bigger. If you want larger items elsewhere in Mail, the Sidebar icon size option in System Settings > Appearance changes the sidebar's icons and text, and Mail > Settings > Fonts & Colors changes the message list font.
Hide or show the toolbar
- Choose View > Hide Toolbar to hide it, and View > Show Toolbar to bring it back.
- Or press Option-Command-T to switch between the two.
Hiding the toolbar also hides the search field, so you'll need Edit > Find > Mailbox Search (Option-Command-F) to search. Related View menu items sit nearby: Show Sidebar (Control-Command-S) and Show Favorites Bar, which adds a row of shortcut buttons for your favorite mailboxes under the toolbar. Our guide to customizing the Apple Mail sidebar covers both.
Reset the toolbar to the default
- Choose View > Customize Toolbar.
- Find the row at the bottom of the palette labeled "... or drag the default set into the toolbar."
- Drag that whole row up into the toolbar, then click Done.
Customize the toolbar in new message windows
Open a new message (File > New Message), then choose View > Customize Toolbar while that window is in front. The palette now shows compose buttons, including Send, Attach, Format, Emoji & Symbols, Photo Browser, Header Fields, Include Attachments and Send Later. Drag them in or out the same way.
A layout that works for most people
Everyone's mail is different, but this order keeps the actions you use dozens of times a day under your pointer: Sidebar, Get Mail, New Message, then Archive, Delete and Junk together, then Reply, Reply All and Forward, then Flag and Move, a Flexible Space, and Search on the far right. Drop anything you never click. If you mostly use keyboard shortcuts, a short toolbar with labels turned on is easier to scan than a long one.
Looking for the menu bar or the preview pane?
Two searches that land here are really about something else. The menu bar is the strip at the very top of the screen (Mail, File, Edit, View and so on), and Mail doesn't offer an icon there. It shows new mail as a badge on its Dock icon instead: Unread count in Mail > Settings > General picks which mailboxes count, and the badge needs Badge application icon turned on for Mail in System Settings > Notifications. And the layout of the message list and preview is set in the View menu (Use Column Layout and Show Side Preview), not in the toolbar.
If you want more than Mail offers
Disclosure: we make Canary Mail. If you've tuned Mail's toolbar to save a few clicks, the bigger time sink is usually the inbox itself. 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. 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, send later and a calendar on up to 5 devices. Tracker blocking is on by default, and your email isn't used to train AI. 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 customize the toolbar in Apple Mail?
Choose View > Customize Toolbar, drag buttons into or out of the toolbar, and click Done. You can also Command-drag buttons to move or remove them without opening the palette.
How do I get my toolbar back in Apple Mail?
Choose View > Show Toolbar or press Option-Command-T. If buttons are missing, choose View > Customize Toolbar and drag the default set into the toolbar.
How do I make the toolbar bigger in Apple Mail?
You can't. Mail has no toolbar size setting. Turning on labels (Show > Icon and Text) makes buttons easier to read.
Why are some toolbar buttons missing?
The window may be too narrow. Click the More Items menu at the right end of the toolbar, widen the window, or remove buttons you don't use.
Can I customize the toolbar in Mail on iPhone?
No. Mail on iPhone has no customizable toolbar. You can change what swiping left or right on a message does.
More Mac Mail how-tos
- Customizing the Apple Mail sidebar
- Custom keyboard shortcuts in Mac Mail
- Dark mode in Apple Mail
- Color coding emails in Mac Mail
- How to snooze emails in Apple Mail
- Smart Mailboxes in Mac Mail
Other Mac Mail fixes
- Mac Mail not opening or freezing
- Mac Mail keeps crashing
- Mac Mail not sending emails
- Messages stuck in the Outbox
- Mac Mail not receiving emails
- Mac Mail inbox not updating
- Mac Mail can't connect to the server
- "Unable to verify account name or password"
- Mac Mail not showing attachments
- Mac Mail not showing images
- Mac Mail search not working