Wish Mail on your Mac didn’t waste valuable screen space by showing several lines of body text in the list of emails? Find out here how to turn off email previews inside message lists in Apple Mail for Mac so you can browse folders in a streamlined fashion.
First, Unloading It Wrong
Loading a dishwasher is famously competitive and perilously divisive. There are as many wrong ways to position pots, pans, plates and prongs as there are people watching others wrestle with loading a dishwasher.
There’s also a wrong way to empty a dishwasher, however: if you unload the top rack first, water will drip onto things down below. You’ll have to dry them by hand or wait (and deal with limescale, of course).
Now, does Apple Mail on your Mac keep spilling lines of text from emails all over the list of messages? Let’s work on keeping the lists dry — and inboxes tidy:
How to Turn Off Email Previews in Lists for Apple Mail on a Mac
Time needed: 2 minutes
To disable (or reduce) email previews inside message lists with Apple Mail for macOS on a Mac:
- Select Mail | Settings from the menu in Apple Mail for Mac.
Mail keyboard shortcut: You can also press Command , (comma) to open Mail settings.
- Go to the Viewing tab.
- Select None for List preview:.
More or less: You can also pick the number of lines to use for message preview in lists, of course, from 1–5.
Just lines: Switching to column layout for message lists will also effectively disable email body previews; see below.
Just lists: In addition to preview lines in lists, you can also completely hide the email reading pane for a clean list-only email experience in Apple Mail.
On an iPhone or iPad?
How to Turn Off Previews in iPhone Mail Message Lists
Switch to Column Layout for Lists in Apple Mail for Mac
To enable column layout for lists in Apple Mail for Mac (which always shows one line per email with select details, but no body text preview):
- Select View | Use Column Layout from the menu so the item is selected.
How to Turn Off Email Previews in Lists for Apple Mail on a Mac: FAQ
Can I toggle list preview lines for emails using a keyboard shortcut?
No.
You can change how many lines of body preview text appear in message lists in Mail settings.
Do preview lines appear in both column and condensed layout?
No.
Mail displays the configured number of preview lines only in condensed view; column layout for message lists does not include email body previews.
(Tested with Mail for Mac 16.0 on macOS Sequoia 15.5; first published July 2025)