Mail app - Possible to open email in new window with just a single click?

[khrismuc]

Hi all,

I have a client who insists that for the 12 years that he's been using his iMac now, he only ever had to single click an email in the list view to open it in a new window.
We have established that he is *not* talking about the preview pane (he wasn't using that at all, it was always pulled down all the way to the bottom so that the email list filled the window/screen).

Afaik it's not possible to do this; even with the preview pane hidden / turned off, single-clicking an email will not open it in a new window.
The only explanation I have is that his double-click timer was set to really slow, and he had to "single-click" an email "twice", essentially double-clicking it, but misremembers that fact. (He also told me he had clicked an arrow to close the email window but it turns out he did click the red close button. He's also 78.)

Is there any possibility of him being right about this?

 

[pm-r]

The only explanation I have is that his double-click timer was set to really slow, and he had to "single-click" an email "twice", ... ... ...
Is there any possibility of him being right about this?

Is it possible he was using a non-Apple mouse and had used its software to customize one of the mouse buttons to perform a double-click instead of just a normal single click???

Or another possibility is that he was using some utility that had the ability to change the number of mouse clicks Etc.

Or even possibly with his age, some medications made him think and believe he had always used a single click, and most that age are on several different medications adding to the normal brain changes that can often come with age at that time of one's life.

PS: as an example, I use a Logitech mouse and have customized one of its seven usable buttons to close any window with a single button click.

It sure beats trying to find and click the small red close window button when you suffer from extreme rheumatoid arthritis in your hands and failing eyesight with slowly progressing macular degeneration.

I also use some of my keyboard function buttons of my extended Apple keyboard to perform various functions with a single click using a third party utility, but that's not using any Mouse button clicks.




- Patrick
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[khrismuc]

Thanks for the reply, the solution turned out to be much more mundane though.

After some more back and forth on the phone it dawned on me and I asked him if the email line is already blue when he "single-clicks" it. Which he confirmed. In other words, he *did* double click the email after all, without realizing it. I moved the double-click timing slider all the way over and we were golden.

I still wonder why that setting got reset in the first place though, just like the preview pane showing up again on its own. Probably due to macOS updating, but what a waste of time.

 

[pm-r]

I still wonder why that setting got reset in the first place though, just like the preview pane showing up again on its own. Probably due to macOS updating, but what a waste of time.

That seems to be the case for many users for the last few years whenever they have done a macOS update or reinstall.

Not all, but certainly a good number of Mac users that I know of. Many old original preferences seem to get dropped or overwritten for new defaults for some reason, but not always for all applications.

It's good to read you found and sorted out their problem cause and the fix. Good sleuthing and deducting.




- Patrick
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