Apple mail mailboxes not in alphabetical order

A common frustration!

Apple Mail's mailbox list not being in alphabetical order can be a bit annoying. Here are a few possible solutions to help you get your mailboxes in order:

Method 1: Sort mailboxes manually

  1. Open Apple Mail on your Mac.
  2. Click on the "Mailboxes" button in the top-left corner of the window.
  3. Click on "Edit" (or press ⌘ + E) to enter edit mode.
  4. Click and drag the mailbox you want to move to its new position in the list.
  5. Release the mouse button or trackpad to drop the mailbox into its new location.

Method 2: Use the "Sort by" feature

  1. Open Apple Mail on your Mac.
  2. Click on the "Mailboxes" button in the top-left corner of the window.
  3. Click on "View" (or press ⌘ + Shift + V) to open the View menu.
  4. Select "Sort by" and then choose "Name" from the dropdown menu.
  5. Apple Mail will now sort your mailboxes alphabetically.

Method 3: Use a third-party plugin or script

If you're comfortable with scripting or using third-party plugins, you can use a tool like Alfred or Hazel to automate the process. These tools allow you to create custom workflows and scripts to manipulate your Apple Mail data.

Method 4: Reset Apple Mail's preferences

As a last resort, you can try resetting Apple Mail's preferences to their default settings. This will remove any customizations you've made to your mailbox list, so be sure to back up your mailboxes before doing so.

  1. Quit Apple Mail.
  2. Go to the "Library" folder in your user directory (usually found in ~/Library/Mail/V2/Mailboxes.plist).
  3. Move the Mailboxes.plist file to a backup location (e.g., ~/Library/Mail/V2/Mailboxes.plist.bak).
  4. Restart Apple Mail.

After trying these methods, your Apple Mail mailboxes should be in alphabetical order. If you're still having trouble, feel free to provide more details about your issue, and I'll do my best to help you troubleshoot!