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Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
artie505 #54660 05/21/20 02:41 AM
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Wait, I just realized whats going on!

Those two items at the top of your list, the ones with dots in front of them, are generally invisible, so, as you said you did, somewhere along the line you made your invisibles visible, but /Users/yourshortname/Library is NOT one of those ordinarily invisible items.

Rather, it's HIDDEN, and you've got to follow the instructions I posted to UNHIDE it.


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Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
plantsower #54661 05/21/20 02:41 AM
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Hi Rita,

Looking at the listing you've provided it's pretty clear that you are getting into one of the THREE different Library directories, but not the one that Artie keeps trying to send you to.....the one you want is found by copying and pasting this address:

~/Library/Preferences

into the Finder's "Go to Folder" pull down under the Go menu.

If you try to just type the address, you will more times than not get it wrong and end up somewhere else.

The little symbol in the front of that address is actually a Tilde not a dash.....the Tilde is shorthand for getting to the Library that lives in your User Home Directory (and it is normally invisible so that folks can't find it to mess up the contents by mistake).

You'll know that you got to the correct Library if the listing includes stuff that looks more like this:

com.apple.Accessibility.plist
com.apple.accounts.dom.plist
com.apple.accounts.plist
com.apple.accountsd.plist
com.apple.ActivityMonitor.plist
com.apple.AddressBook.abd.plist
com.apple.AddressBook.plist
com.apple.AddressBook.plist.lockfile
com.apple.AddressBook.sync.plist.lockfile
com.apple.AddressBookSourceSync.plist
com.apple.AddressBookSourceSync.plist.lockfile
com.apple.AdLib.plist
com.apple.adminframework.plist
com.apple.adminframework.plist.lockfile
com.apple.airplay.plist


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Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
MacManiac #54662 05/21/20 02:47 AM
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We crossed in the mail, but I'd better correct you before Rita gets even more confused.

Originally Posted By: MacManiac
You'll know that you got to the correct Library if the listing includes stuff that looks more like this:

com.apple.Accessibility.plist

That's the contents of /Users/ysn/Library/Preferences.

/Users/ysn/Library should look like...

Accessibility
Accounts
Address Book Plug-Ins
Application Scripts
Application Support
Assistant
Audio
Autosave Information
BBEdit
Bundles
Caches


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
artie505 #54663 05/21/20 02:57 AM
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Now I am confused, and a little ticked, and am giving up.


Originally Posted By: artie505
We crossed in the mail, but I'd better correct you before Rita gets even more confused.

Originally Posted By: MacManiac
You'll know that you got to the correct Library if the listing includes stuff that looks more like this:

com.apple.Accessibility.plist

That's the contents of /Users/ysn/Library/Preferences.

/Users/ysn/Library should look like...

Accessibility
Accounts
Address Book Plug-Ins
Application Scripts
Application Support
Assistant
Audio
Autosave Information
BBEdit
Bundles
Caches


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Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
MacManiac #54664 05/21/20 03:00 AM
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Believe it or not, I followed your directions below (before this post) and got nowhere. I even copied and pasted it, I didn't type in a dash. I think I'm done with this, but thanks so much for trying to help.

Originally Posted By: MacManiac
Hi Rita,

Looking at the listing you've provided it's pretty clear that you are getting into one of the THREE different Library directories, but not the one that Artie keeps trying to send you to.....the one you want is found by copying and pasting this address:

~/Library/Preferences

into the Finder's "Go to Folder" pull down under the Go menu.

If you try to just type the address, you will more times than not get it wrong and end up somewhere else.

The little symbol in the front of that address is actually a Tilde not a dash.....the Tilde is shorthand for getting to the Library that lives in your User Home Directory (and it is normally invisible so that folks can't find it to mess up the contents by mistake).

You'll know that you got to the correct Library if the listing includes stuff that looks more like this:

com.apple.Accessibility.plist
com.apple.accounts.dom.plist
com.apple.accounts.plist
com.apple.accountsd.plist
com.apple.ActivityMonitor.plist
com.apple.AddressBook.abd.plist
com.apple.AddressBook.plist
com.apple.AddressBook.plist.lockfile
com.apple.AddressBook.sync.plist.lockfile
com.apple.AddressBookSourceSync.plist
com.apple.AddressBookSourceSync.plist.lockfile
com.apple.AdLib.plist
com.apple.adminframework.plist
com.apple.adminframework.plist.lockfile
com.apple.airplay.plist


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Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
plantsower #54665 05/21/20 03:01 AM
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Forget that!

Just read and digest my post #54660, and follow the instructions I posted on Imgur, and we'll be in business.

The library you need to access will be unhidden and readily accessible.

Link to Imgur

Last edited by artie505; 05/21/20 03:07 AM. Reason: Add link

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
artie505 #54666 05/21/20 03:23 AM
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Artie: I told you above that what you showed me on Imgur I did a long time ago. I already can always see my library. I went through the motions via your instructions and came to the same end. I could see that I had already checked show library folder. It's just not working for me. Also, what preferences do I need to change in order to see your post #54660? None of the posts are numbered in my view of things here.

Originally Posted By: artie505
Forget that!

Just read and digest my post #54660, and follow the instructions I posted on Imgur, and we'll be in business.

The library you need to access will be unhidden and readily accessible.

Link to Imgur


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Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
plantsower #54667 05/21/20 05:57 AM
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Originally Posted By: plantsower
Artie: I told you above that what you showed me on Imgur I did a long time ago. I already can always see my library. I went through the motions via your instructions and came to the same end. I could see that I had already checked show library folder. It's just not working for me. Also, what preferences do I need to change in order to see your post #54660? None of the posts are numbered in my view of things here.

Time to stop for a second and take a deep breath.

It wasn't clear to me that you followed the Imgur instructions, because you didn't say it specifically, and I was confused by the fact that your invisible items are visible.

You just said "I already can always see my library" and "I could see that I had already checked show library folder. It's just not working for me."

If you can see your USER library, what's not working for you?

If you double-click on your little house, one of the items you should see is "Library." Are you saying that you don't see it even though you've followed the Imgur instructions?

Aside: Post numbers are in the top right corner of each post, like this.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
plantsower #54668 05/21/20 10:56 AM
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Here's another way to access your User Library:

1. Double-click the Macintosh HD icon to open it.
2. Find the Users folder.
3. Open the Users folder.
4. Open the folder with your user name.
5. Open the Library folder (this is your User Library).
6. You should find a Preferences folder within Library. Open it and look for com.apple.mail.plist


Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
artie505 #54671 05/21/20 04:56 PM
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OK, I see what I did wrong. When I opened Finder I saw the Library listed on the side bar. I thought that was the Library that I made visible. Maybe it was, but I also thought it was the User Library. This time I clicked on my "house" and then on Library, Preferences and found com.apple.mail-shared.plist. I don't see one that isn't shared though. Should I use that one?

*********


Originally Posted By: artie505
Originally Posted By: plantsower
Artie: I told you above that what you showed me on Imgur I did a long time ago. I already can always see my library. I went through the motions via your instructions and came to the same end. I could see that I had already checked show library folder. It's just not working for me. Also, what preferences do I need to change in order to see your post #54660? None of the posts are numbered in my view of things here.

Time to stop for a second and take a deep breath.

It wasn't clear to me that you followed the Imgur instructions, because you didn't say it specifically, and I was confused by the fact that your invisible items are visible.

You just said "I already can always see my library" and "I could see that I had already checked show library folder. It's just not working for me."

If you can see your USER library, what's not working for you?

If you double-click on your little house, one of the items you should see is "Library." Are you saying that you don't see it even though you've followed the Imgur instructions?

Aside: Post numbers are in the top right corner of each post, like this.


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Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
plantsower #54672 05/21/20 05:23 PM
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Originally Posted By: plantsower
... I clicked on my "house" and then on Library, Preferences and found com.apple.mail-shared.plist. I don't see one that isn't shared though. Should I use that one?

I've got both com.apple.mail-shared.plist and com.apple.mail.plist...dunno why you haven't got "mail."

It should have been there since time immemorial, and it doesn't make any sense that you haven't got it, because even if you accidentally trashed it at some point it should have been recreated the next time you launched Mail. confused

But then again, maybe your not having it is at the root of your issue, and if so, I haven't got a clue what comes next.

At any rate, the "shared" pref has nothing to do with your issue, so leave it be.

(The Library folder in your sidebar is apparently /Library, and I suggest that you drag it out to avoid future confusion.)

More: Upgrade??? wink

Last edited by artie505; 05/21/20 06:07 PM. Reason: More

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
artie505 #54675 05/21/20 06:47 PM
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I still have the original com.apple.mail.plist on my desktop. I thought it replicated itself, but I don't see it. Maybe I should just put it back in and start all over.


Originally Posted By: artie505
Originally Posted By: plantsower
... I clicked on my "house" and then on Library, Preferences and found com.apple.mail-shared.plist. I don't see one that isn't shared though. Should I use that one?

I've got both com.apple.mail-shared.plist and com.apple.mail.plist...dunno why you haven't got "mail."

It should have been there since time immemorial, and it doesn't make any sense that you haven't got it, because even if you accidentally trashed it at some point it should have been recreated the next time you launched Mail. confused

But then again, maybe your not having it is at the root of your issue, and if so, I haven't got a clue what comes next.

At any rate, the "shared" pref has nothing to do with your issue, so leave it be.

(The Library folder in your sidebar is apparently /Library, and I suggest that you drag it out to avoid future confusion.)

More: Upgrade??? wink


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Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
plantsower #54676 05/21/20 06:52 PM
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Oh, I lost track of where you were at.

Even though you quit Mail, moved the plist, restarted, and launched Mail, the plist won't recreate itself until you set a pref. (Without your having set any prefs there's no need for a p[reference]list. wink )


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
artie505 #54677 05/21/20 07:20 PM
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Artie, this may be a red herring as I am using MacOS as you are, but I did a search for com.apple.mail.plist using FindAnyFile and to my surprise found several on my boot drive. Then I started opening them in Xcode and found the contents were very different and the one in my user Library was almost certainly NOT the property list plantsower is looking for. I found the one I believe you all are looking for is:
Code:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist
When and why Apple has moved it and why they have chosen to use such a baroque file path is well beyond my ken, but there it is. You have done a great job guiding plantsower so far and I am backing out and leaving it up to you to determine if that was the case in Sierra or a more recent change.

PS: That isn't the only thing that has migrated to a new home in the ~/Library/Containers folder.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
joemikeb #54678 05/21/20 08:40 PM
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Thanks, JoeMike. I guess I will wait on Artie to see if I should do it the old way or not.


Originally Posted By: joemikeb
Artie, this may be a red herring as I am using MacOS as you are, but I did a search for com.apple.mail.plist using FindAnyFile and to my surprise found several on my boot drive. Then I started opening them in Xcode and found the contents were very different and the one in my user Library was almost certainly NOT the property list plantsower is looking for. I found the one I believe you all are looking for is:
Code:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist
When and why Apple has moved it and why they have chosen to use such a baroque file path is well beyond my ken, but there it is. You have done a great job guiding plantsower so far and I am backing out and leaving it up to you to determine if that was the case in Sierra or a more recent change.

PS: That isn't the only thing that has migrated to a new home in the ~/Library/Containers folder.


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Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
artie505 #54679 05/21/20 08:41 PM
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So, I still need to know if I should put the plist back into the library from my desktop and start over unless what JoeMike said threw everything off. I will await your grand wisdom.


Originally Posted By: artie505
Oh, I lost track of where you were at.

Even though you quit Mail, moved the plist, restarted, and launched Mail, the plist won't recreate itself until you set a pref. (Without your having set any prefs there's no need for a p[reference]list. wink )


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Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
plantsower #54680 05/21/20 11:08 PM
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Originally Posted By: plantsower
I will await your grand wisdom.

Preliminary wisdom: Break your MBP in half, give the guts back to Apple and the screen to your ISP, and adopt your letter carrier. crazy

More later.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
artie505 #54681 05/22/20 04:01 AM
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Looking forward to more.


Originally Posted By: artie505
Originally Posted By: plantsower
I will await your grand wisdom.

Preliminary wisdom: Break your MBP in half, give the guts back to Apple and the screen to your ISP, and adopt your letter carrier. crazy

More later.


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Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
joemikeb #54682 05/22/20 06:46 AM
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Originally Posted By: joemikeb
Artie, this may be a red herring as I am using MacOS as you are, but I did a search for com.apple.mail.plist using FindAnyFile and to my surprise found several on my boot drive. Then I started opening them in Xcode and found the contents were very different and the one in my user Library was almost certainly NOT the property list plantsower is looking for. I found the one I believe you all are looking for is:
Code:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist
When and why Apple has moved it and why they have chosen to use such a baroque file path is well beyond my ken, but there it is. You have done a great job guiding plantsower so far and I am backing out and leaving it up to you to determine if that was the case in Sierra or a more recent change.

PS: That isn't the only thing that has migrated to a new home in the ~/Library/Containers folder.

I think this is reverse deja-vu, because if I remember correctly, I called your attention to the container arrangement in another thread a while back, and like you, I haven't got a clue why Apple did what they did. It's buried in obscurity.

I've run into a wall in that the oldest file system I'm able to examine is High Sierra, and Apple had already instituted containers by then. (I tried to examine Sierra in Pacifist, but it was a useless exercise.)

And finally, ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist has got ~5,500 lines of text in both High Sierra and Catalina, so I wouldn't mess with it under any circumstances even if it's the same plist that Rita's got.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
plantsower #54683 05/22/20 07:20 AM
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Originally Posted By: plantsower
Looking forward to more.


Originally Posted By: artie505
Originally Posted By: plantsower
I will await your grand wisdom.

Preliminary wisdom: Break your MBP in half, give the guts back to Apple and the screen to your ISP, and adopt your letter carrier. crazy

More later.

frown  And I hear that your letter carrier is both a pretty nice person and needs a home. tongue

Following up on my response to joemike, I'm kinda hamstrung.

In your home library folder, do you see ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail?

Under any circumstances, though, please open the plist on your desktop in TextEdit, and, unless it's enormous like I described to joemike, copy & paste its contents into a post. (You'll probably be asked to select an app when you double click on the plist, so navigate to /Apps in the dialog box and select TextEdit.)

You may be stuck for a fix other than upgrading, but I haven't got a clue why it may be the case. frown

(A major part of the problem with troubleshooting vintage OSs is that we can't access them.)


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
artie505 #54695 05/22/20 03:57 PM
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Originally Posted By: artie505
And finally, ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist has got ~5,500 lines of text in both High Sierra and Catalina, so I wouldn't mess with it under any circumstances even if it's the same plist that Rita's got.

I just took a good look and ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist is most definitely what used to be ~/Library/preferences/com.apple.mail.plist. When you look at it in Xcode it isn't that fearsome, it is a typical property list file but there are a lot of "Dictionaries" and some of those "Dictionaries" have up to 30 items, and I would have sworn there was no way it would have ~5500 lines, but when I opened it in BBEdit the way it was parsed there are 5,847 lines as in many cases each word is a separate line and there are a bunch of formatting tags. But it is definitely the same file that used to be in ~/Library/preferences/com.apple.mail.plist with a few additions for new Mail features.

I don't recall if plantsower uses Time Machine or not, but if she does a possible solution would be to restore ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist from a point in time prior to the start of her problem. If that did not correct the problem or other problems arise, then it would be a simple matter to restore the most recent version of the file from Time Machine.

ASIDE: 🔆 I don't know why I hadn't though of using Time Machine in similar situations before.💡 Old habits I guess. 👴🏻

Originally Posted By: artie505
(A major part of the problem with troubleshooting vintage OSs is that we can't access them.)
AMEN!

Last edited by joemikeb; 05/22/20 04:01 PM. Reason: amen

If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

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Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
joemikeb #54698 05/22/20 04:06 PM
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I'm not afraid of plists. If you've got a good memory you'll remember Hal's having given me grief over editing them by hand rather than Terminal.

But I've got absolutely no inclination to go through ~5,000 lines of text looking for...I'm not even sure what.

I don't now if I ever looked at the old plist, and I don't think Rita uses Time Machine.

Maybe we can get her to finally upgrade. tongue


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
artie505 #54700 05/22/20 05:42 PM
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I am probably not going to upgrade until I have to since I found out my problem was with my router anyway much to your chagrin I'm sure! I am not going to worry about the view preferences that keep changing either, because this has become a very complicated process. If I feel up to it, I will put my plist back into Finder and start over. Or I may not. I appreciate everyone's time, but this is too much for something as trivial as a view pref not staying put! smile



Originally Posted By: artie505
I'm not afraid of plists. If you've got a good memory you'll remember Hal's having given me grief over editing them by hand rather than Terminal.

But I've got absolutely no inclination to go through ~5,000 lines of text looking for...I'm not even sure what.

I don't now if I ever looked at the old plist, and I don't think Rita uses Time Machine.

Maybe we can get her to finally upgrade. tongue


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Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
plantsower #54702 05/22/20 11:26 PM
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Originally Posted By: plantsower
I am probably not going to upgrade until I have to since I found out my problem was with my router anyway much to your chagrin I'm sure! I am not going to worry about the view preferences that keep changing either, because this has become a very complicated process. If I feel up to it, I will put my plist back into Finder and start over. Or I may not. I appreciate everyone's time, but this is too much for something as trivial as a view pref not staying put! smile

Actually Rita, in retrospect, the whole exercise should have taken at most five minutes. The procedure is quite simple and has been around since the first MacOS beta release, but that was/is a big part of the problem. We have used it many many times in the past to solve exactly this kind of problem and we all assumed that it would still work the same way as before. But, while we weren't looking Apple had moved the pieces on the chessboard, and you, quite reasonably, assumed the Library in the sidebar of your Finder window was the user Library. So we all had a chance to once again learn what happens when we ASS U ME. blush

Hopefully this won't put you off upgrading. One reason we missed the change is because MacOS has become so stable we seldom, if ever, need the "trick" any more — I haven't needed it in years. That and as Artie pointed out, our lack of out of date OS versions to use as exemplars for troubleshooting are to my mind good reasons for you to bite the bullet and upgrade to Catalina. After all, next month Apple will presumably announce Catalina's successor and I will be running MacOS 10.16 not to mention iOS and iPadOS 14, public betas. 🤯

Last edited by joemikeb; 05/22/20 11:27 PM. Reason: spell check let me down

If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

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Re: Changing Mail View Options permanently
joemikeb #54703 05/23/20 12:33 AM
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Yeah, I know. I wish I was braver, but I've heard so many negatives (don't ask, I can't remember) that I hesitate. Maybe someday.


Originally Posted By: joemikeb
Originally Posted By: plantsower
I am probably not going to upgrade until I have to since I found out my problem was with my router anyway much to your chagrin I'm sure! I am not going to worry about the view preferences that keep changing either, because this has become a very complicated process. If I feel up to it, I will put my plist back into Finder and start over. Or I may not. I appreciate everyone's time, but this is too much for something as trivial as a view pref not staying put! smile

Actually Rita, in retrospect, the whole exercise should have taken at most five minutes. The procedure is quite simple and has been around since the first MacOS beta release, but that was/is a big part of the problem. We have used it many many times in the past to solve exactly this kind of problem and we all assumed that it would still work the same way as before. But, while we weren't looking Apple had moved the pieces on the chessboard, and you, quite reasonably, assumed the Library in the sidebar of your Finder window was the user Library. So we all had a chance to once again learn what happens when we ASS U ME. blush

Hopefully this won't put you off upgrading. One reason we missed the change is because MacOS has become so stable we seldom, if ever, need the "trick" any more — I haven't needed it in years. That and as Artie pointed out, our lack of out of date OS versions to use as exemplars for troubleshooting are to my mind good reasons for you to bite the bullet and upgrade to Catalina. After all, next month Apple will presumably announce Catalina's successor and I will be running MacOS 10.16 not to mention iOS and iPadOS 14, public betas. 🤯


MacBook Pro - M2, Ventura 13.6
Safari Tech Prev 17.0
Safari 16.6
Firefox 116.0.2
iPhone 7 Version 15.8




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