Order of Accounts within Mail

[danielgmac]

I've got a number of mail accounts I use Mac Mail to access via IMAP. Before Catalina, I was able to change the order they were in under Inbox so they'd be in the same place in order of use for me:

Inbox:
Mailbox One
Mailbox Two
Mailbox Three

Well since I've updated they seem to get scrambled randomly. I thought it was order shown in "Internet Accounts" at first but that doesn't seem to be the case. I have no idea what causes the scramble nor how to fix it.

I can drag and drop the accounts back to where they belong but then if I quit mail, or log off, then bring it back up they're in whatever order Mail wants them to be in.

Help? How can I keep them in the order I prefer?


Thanks
DanH

[Raz0rEdge]

Is it possible that they are reordering themselves based on which one has the newest received message?

[danielgmac]

Is it possible that they are reordering themselves based on which one has the newest received message?

Nope. One that gets mail about once a month is up towards the top this time.
The one that gets the most mail and I use constantly is the one I want at top. When I restart mail it's middle or bottom two usually.

[ferrarr]

How are the accounts arranged in Mail > Preferences?

[danielgmac]

How are the accounts arranged in Mail > Preferences?

Completely different order.

This is a Mac Pro at work and an iMac at home. Same issue. Just for more mulling.

[chscag]

Help? How can I keep them in the order I prefer?

Have you installed 10.15.1 yet? It supposedly fixes bugs in the original Catalina install. One of those bugs had to do with Apple Mail.

If that doesn't help, try renaming the mailboxes so they alphabetize.

[MacInWin]

I just tried to duplicate the problem and could not. I moved my inboxes to a different order, not alphabetic and not inverse alphabetic either. I then closed Mail completely, rebooted the Mac and restarted Mail. The order was just as I had set it. I could not find a way to get it to behave as danielgmac reported it. I'm running Catalina 10.15.1, Mail 13.0 on a MBPr, 15", Mid 2015 portable. In the pre-Catalina days I might suggest removing any mail plist, but I'm not sure if that can be done under Catalina as easy as under previous versions.

[ferrarr]

In the pre-Catalina days I might suggest removing any mail plist, but I'm not sure if that can be done under Catalina as easy as under previous versions.

I believe the plist is in the user account, and not in the system account, so it should still work.

[danielgmac]

I just tried to duplicate the problem and could not. I moved my inboxes to a different order, not alphabetic and not inverse alphabetic either. I then closed Mail completely, rebooted the Mac and restarted Mail. The order was just as I had set it. I could not find a way to get it to behave as danielgmac reported it. I'm running Catalina 10.15.1, Mail 13.0 on a MBPr, 15", Mid 2015 portable. In the pre-Catalina days I might suggest removing any mail plist, but I'm not sure if that can be done under Catalina as easy as under previous versions.

Give it time. See if they're in the same order in a day or two.

[ferrarr]

Have you checked the actual "Time Stamp" for each email? And do you have "show most recent message at top" selected? That option is under Mail > Preferences > Viewing? Maybe de select it?

[danielgmac]

Have you checked the actual "Time Stamp" for each email? And do you have "show most recent message at top" selected? That option is under Mail > Preferences > Viewing? Maybe de select it?

My busiest mailbox usually ends up as second to last in the line. It's last in my internet account listing. I know what you're asking. No, it's not show most recent.

[MacInWin]

Give it time. See if they're in the same order in a day or two.

No changes so far. Two days, three reboots, no change.

[danielgmac]

No changes so far. Two days, three reboots, no change.

Mine just shifted back to whatever the hell they wanted to list order.

[MacInWin]

Mine has not changed since I set it and posted about it. So it's something unique to your setup.

[MacInWin]

You mentioned two Macs. Are they both on the same OS? Do you sync them? I am wondering if it's some interaction between them that is causing the symptoms.