Close Menu
miapple.me – Tech.Blogmiapple.me – Tech.Blog

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    What's Hot

    Content Is Still King! 12 Years Of Blogging: miapple.me – Tech.Blog’s 12th Anniversary

    January 21, 2024

    Content Is King Again! 10 Years Of Blogging: miapple.me – Tech.Blog’s 10th Anniversary

    January 21, 2022

    Fixing: Time Machine couldn‘t complete backup

    April 30, 2021
    • Downloads
    • Email Subscription
    • Imprint
    • Privacy Policy
      • Push Notifications Subscription
      • Terms of Use
    • Search
    miapple.me – Tech.Blogmiapple.me – Tech.Blog
    • Apps
    • AirPlay
    • Apple
      • Apple TV
      • Apple Watch
      • iCloud
      • iTunes
      • macOS
    • iOS
    • HomeKit
    • Plex
    • Raspberry Pi
    • Windows
    • Downloads
    • Email Subscription
    • Imprint
    • Privacy policy
      • Push Notifications Subscription
      • Terms of Use
    • Search
    Subscribe
    miapple.me – Tech.Blogmiapple.me – Tech.Blog
    Home»macOS»macOS – How To Fix Mail Folders Not Automatically Be Sorted In Alphabetical Order
    macOS

    macOS – How To Fix Mail Folders Not Automatically Be Sorted In Alphabetical Order

    Gee Are PabstBy Gee Are PabstDecember 29, 2018Updated:December 29, 201834 Comments2 Mins Read
    macOS Mail folders alphabetically sorting_01_folder not alphabetically sorted
    macOS Mail folders alphabetically sorting_01_folder not alphabetically sorted

    macOS Mojave Mail icon 300x300macOS Mail folders are often not sorted in alphabetical order by default, especially when new mailbox folders are added to an existing mailbox. Although the mailbox folders are in A to Z order at the mail web access, e.g. iCloud.com, they are not on your macOS Mail app. If you are unable to order alphabetically all mailbox folders on your Mac, you just need to delete the corresponding mailbox library. Not a single SSH shell command is necessary.

    macOS Mail folders alphabetically sorting_01_folder not alphabetically sorted
    macOS Mail folders alphabetically sorting_01_folder not alphabetically sorted

    Here is how to alphabetize Mac mail folders automatically again:

    macOS Mail folders alphabetically sorting_02_trash Mail library
    macOS Mail folders alphabetically sorting_02_trash Mail library
    1. Close the macOS Mail app, if it is currently open.
    2. Launch Finder app. While pressing the option key on your keyboard, click onto the ‘Go‘ menu and then select ‘Library‘.
    3. Scroll down till you find the ‘Mail‘ folder and open the folder.
    4. Within the Mail folder, you will find one or more subfolders named like V1 / V2 / V3 …., in my case it is named ‘V6’.
    5. Trash all ‘Vx’-folders. Note: Do not finally delete them until you are sure you will not need them anymore.
    6. Launch macOS Mail app. All email accounts will be synced again. This can take a while. After the sync is complete, all of your mailbox folders are shown again in alphabetical order.
    macOS Mail folders alphabetically sorting_03_folder alphabetically sorted
    macOS Mail folders alphabetically sorting_03_folder alphabetically sorted

    Note:

    • Mainly iCloud mail accounts are affected by mailbox folders not sorting in alphabetically order. However, this fix works for Gmail, Outlook and any other email accounts, too.
    • If you’re using IMAP or Exchange and have all your messages stored on a remote server, you shouldn’t be able to delete those messages through this process. If you have locally stored mailboxes, make sure they’re archived via Time Machine or other backup software!
    • The fix was tested succesfully on macOS 10.14 Mojave.

    Fix macOS mailbox folders (iCloud, Gmail, Outlook.com,…) not be sorted alphabetically by deleting the Mail library and automatically resyncing all mailbox accounts.

    Stay tuned ! 😉

    Gmail iCloud email Outlook Mail
    Previous ArticleHomeKit: Starting Homebridge On Bootup Via Systemd
    Next Article 7 Years Of Blogging: miapple.me – Tech.Blog’s 7th Anniversary
    Gee Are Pabst
    • Website
    • Facebook
    • X (Twitter)
    • Pinterest
    • LinkedIn

    Hi there,my name is Gee Are, blogger and analyst. Blogging is my Passion! I’m the founder and owner of the two blogs called pabst.socialmedia and miapple.me - Tech.Blog.My work experience as a blogger and analysist (Internet Intelligence, SEO and social media) is the basis of the services of pabst.socialmedia.Find more about me.

    Related Posts

    macOS

    Fixing: Time Machine couldn‘t complete backup

    April 30, 2021
    Android

    Calipio: Screen Recording Without Registration, E2E-encrypted

    February 15, 2021
    macOS

    Fixing Mac No Admin Account On macOS Mojave Or Later

    February 3, 2021
    View 34 Comments

    34 Comments

    1. Tiziana Larkin on August 23, 2020 01:03

      can someone please help me as I’ve lost all my mail boxes.

      Reply
    2. Tiziana Larkin on August 23, 2020 00:52

      Lost everything.

      Reply
    3. Guang on October 18, 2019 11:30

      hi, my folders in Mail were sorted in reverse alphabet order. deleted v number files as instructed to no avail. how do list them in normal alphabet order pls?

      Reply
    4. Bernd Stoeckl on October 7, 2019 14:03

      I have a weird problem on only one of my MACs with Mojave.
      I moved my host and on the MacbookPro all my tons of subfolders under the inbox are correctly lined up under the inbox folder of this account.
      However the MacPro shows a totally different behaviour ANY new mailbox – not smart – or this account when I created it new with the new host puts all submailboxen much down in separated from the Inbox.
      Drives me mad but I have no idea how to fix it.
      Deleting V6 did not help in my case – all the submailboxes are nicely sorted but separated from the inbox.

      Any idea?

      Reply
    5. codesignthink on July 11, 2019 02:26

      Lost all my mailboxes. Massive fail.

      Reply
      • Gee Are Pabst on July 11, 2019 19:47

        Did you restart your Mac?

        Reply
      • Tiziana Larkin on August 23, 2020 01:24

        Hi, can you please advise me if you managed to fix this as it’s happened to me as well. Thanks.

        Reply
    6. Albino Di Pasquale on March 3, 2019 15:16

      amazing … really simple fix its works !!! thanks bud

      Reply
      • Gee Are Pabst on March 3, 2019 15:54

        You‘re welcome! 🙂

        Reply
    7. Nick Stanley on February 26, 2019 05:23

      YES!!!!!!! AWESOME!!!! WORKED!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!

      Reply
      • Gee Are Pabst on February 26, 2019 06:02

        You’re welcome! 🙂

        Reply
    8. Todd Mavis on February 20, 2019 10:42

      Good fix. But you do loose smart mailboxes.

      Reply
    9. Todd Mavis on February 20, 2019 09:50

      Mucho Gracias Señor. I worked with Apple senior advisor for over an hour today about this with no fix. But your method worked. Wonder how they all of a sudden got out of order?

      Reply
    10. Nick NIchols on February 15, 2019 05:48

      This fix worked! Many thanks.

      Reply
    Newer Comments →
    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    Top Posts

    Fixing ‘Cannot Connect MacBook To iPhone Via Bluetooth’

    May 5, 20166,987 Views

    Fixing No Notification Sounds On iPhone When Locked

    January 8, 20214,560 Views

    How To Fix MacBook Micro-Vibrations While Charging Due To Insufficient Grounding

    June 21, 20203,604 Views

    Fixing Mac No Admin Account On macOS Mojave Or Later

    February 3, 20212,135 Views

    Installing Huawei E3372 On macOS 11 Big Sur, Mac OS 10.12 Sierra And macOS 10.13 High Sierra

    August 11, 20161,877 Views

    Apple iCloud Mail Blocks Outbound Emails: Silent Filtering And How To Fix It

    December 1, 2020822 Views
    Featured Reviews

    Fixing ‘Cannot Connect MacBook To iPhone Via Bluetooth’

    May 5, 20166,987 Views

    Fixing No Notification Sounds On iPhone When Locked

    January 8, 20214,560 Views

    How To Fix MacBook Micro-Vibrations While Charging Due To Insufficient Grounding

    June 21, 20203,604 Views
    Our Picks

    Content Is Still King! 12 Years Of Blogging: miapple.me – Tech.Blog’s 12th Anniversary

    January 21, 2024

    Content Is King Again! 10 Years Of Blogging: miapple.me – Tech.Blog’s 10th Anniversary

    January 21, 2022

    Fixing: Time Machine couldn‘t complete backup

    April 30, 2021

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    • Home
    • Search
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    Copyright © 2012-2025 miapple.me™

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.