6 Apple Mail Features to Explore in macOS Ventura
Reading Time: 5 minutesApple Mail gets some much-needed improvements in macOS Ventura. Here, we’ll look at some features you should check out once you update your Mac.
macOS Ventura is Apple’s latest attempt at enhancing the user experience on the Mac. And with its launch, you get to try out new, cool features geared to improve your productivity.
If, in the past, you’ve been a little less than satisfied using Apple’s Mail app, it’s time to give it another chance. That’s because Apple has packed some new features into its Mail app that may convince you to make it your go-to mail app. So, let’s explore these features.
Recall an Email Using the Undo Send Feature
It’s time to get started with the Mail app on your Mac. Have you ever hit send on an email and, just a few seconds later, realized you shouldn’t have? Perhaps, you clicked send too soon or put in the wrong email address. Maybe you left out some pretty important details or would have preferred to leave out some redundant information.
Whatever the case, with the improved Mail app in macOS Ventura, you can recall an email using the Undo Send feature. The second you click Send, you’ll notice in the bottom left corner of your Mail window a little blue text signifying ‘Undo Send.’ Click that option, and the email you sent a few seconds ago is pulled right back into the mail composition window.
This feature is only available for a short window of time. What happens during that time is called a delay. Your server holds on to your email for that limited amount of time, and once the delay time is up, it uploads it to the internet, and your email then goes into the recipient’s inbox.
By default, the delay time is set to 10 seconds. But you can increase the delay duration time in the Mail app to 30 seconds. Feel free to learn more about how to unsend emails on your Mac and change the delay duration if interested.
Schedule an Email Using the Send Later Feature
You may have completed a correspondence much earlier than you need to send it. There are, of course, some alternative ways to schedule a mail on your Mac. But, with the new Send Later feature on the Mail app, you can schedule that message, and the app sends it to the recipient at whatever time you’ve chosen.
When we tried this, we noticed the Mail app had to be left running in the background and the device connected to the internet for this feature to work. At the appointed time, the Mail app automatically sends out the email. If you’re offline at the scheduled time, the Mail app holds onto your email until you’re back online.
To activate this feature, simply click on the chevron (v) icon beside the Send button. You’ll get multiple options for scheduling the mail, including Send Later. Click on Send Later to choose the date and time that works best for you. And then click Schedule. Immediately, a new Send Later category appears, holding that email until it’s time to deliver it.
If you change your mind about the time and prefer to send it sooner or later, you can always edit it. To do this, simply click the Edit button in the top right corner of the scheduled email.
Deal With an Email Later Using the Remind Me Feature
Let’s say you’ve received an important email. But you don’t want to handle it immediately because you’re busy or prefer to deal with it later. Well, with the Remind Me feature, you can deal with that email at the time you think you’ll be ready. So, how does this even work?
When you select the email from your inbox and slide it to the right (swipe right with two fingers), you’ll see two options: Read and Remind Me. When you click the Remind Me button, you can choose to be reminded in an hour or at a custom time.
Now, this feature doesn’t work with the Reminders app. So, you won’t be getting a Reminders notification. What the Mail app does is keep that email in a Remind Me category. Then it brings the email to the top of your inbox queue at the designated time. So, if you’re still working within the Mail app at the time you set, you’ll notice the email with a little time icon and a highlighted ‘Remind Me’ text.
However, if you’re working within a different app, Apple Mail sends a push notification at the designated time. But it doesn’t hold the email in a Remind Me folder until you’ve tended it. And the downside to that is that if you still don’t deal with that email at that time, new emails push it further down the queue, out of sight and possibly out of mind. In that case, consider organizing your emails using smart mailboxes.
Follow Up on a Previous Email With the Follow Up Feature
Unlike the other three features we discussed, this follow-up feature isn’t one you can choose to use at will. It works rather arbitrarily, as Apple Mail seems to analyze the language in your emails.
So, when it detects a sent email with a request that hasn’t received any response. It may send a push alert, suggesting you send a follow-up email. You can always turn it off if you don’t think this is useful. Simply go to the menu bar, and select Mail > Settings.
In the window that pops up, select the tab named General. Then uncheck the Enable message follow up suggestions option.
Never Send an Email With a Missing Attachment or Recipient
The Mail app can also now detect when there’s a missing attachment, so before sending an email without an attachment, it sends you an alert. However, this feature still isn’t quite as smart as Gmail’s, which has been around for a while. We tried sending emails with missing attachments five times. Apple Mail only sent an alert once, while Gmail alerted us four times.
In addition, the Mail app allegedly also notifies you when it thinks you’ve left out a recipient mentioned in your correspondence. We omitted an email address but mentioned a particular name multiple times, but there was no missing recipient alert. So, we’re not quite sure what triggers the missing recipient alert since the Mail app won’t allow you to send an email without a primary recipient.
Add a Bit of Detail to the Links You Share Using the Rich Links Feature
Apple seems to be making the macOS appear more like iOS, and one more feature it has transplanted with the launch of macOS Ventura is making links appear in the Rich Link format when you include it in an email.
So, rather than appear as plain text (an option you still have if that’s what you prefer), it would appear to feature a relevant image from the website, a title, and a short URL.
Apple Mail vs. the Competition
While Apple has finally brought its Mail app up to speed with these added features, can it truly establish the Mail app as the preferred email client among its competition, such as Gmail and Outlook?
Well, that decision depends on whether it caters to your needs adequately. Adding these features is certainly a step in the right direction. However, it may take some more innovative features to truly stand out.