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I'm usually a Gmail user but on my most recent gig have to use an Exchange account and so decided to give Apple Mail another try (after looking at a bunch of other options) but I digress.

I prefer the classic layout but don't like to group messages by conversation.

I'm looking for a way/script to use the "Show Related Messages" button, which you can add to the toolbar, so that I can bind it to a shortcut so I can quickly catch up on emails using no mouse clicks.

Is this possible or am I hoping for something not doable?

I'm running El Capitan in case that's an issue.

Thanks for your time!

S N
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1 Answers1

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If I'm understanding you correctly, you essentially want a keyboard shortcut to access the menu item Show Related Messages in the Mail application. You mention adding something to the toolbar, but then also say you don't wish to use any mouse clicks, so I'm going to assume that it doesn't really matter whether or not there's a shortcut on the toolbar—that your priority is using the keyboard to turn on/off the Show Related Messages option.

I'm using MacOS High Sierra, so my screenshots may look a little bit different to what you see on your system, but the process for El Capitan is the same or very similar.

Open up System Preferences and selected the Keyboard pane. In the left-hand list, select App Shortcuts:

App Shortcuts in MacOS High Sierra

Then click the + button to the right in order to create a new shortcut:

Create New App Shortcut on MacOS High Sierra

Choose the Mail application from the dropdown list, and enter the menu item for which you want the shortcut to apply; in this case, Show Related Messages. Note: It must be typed in exactly, including any capital letters that feature, and without any extra spaces that aren't appropriate. For example, "Show related messages" will not work.

Finally, highlight the Keyboard Shortcut box and press the key combo that you'd like to use as your shortcut. You can even use one that's already assigned in Mail to something else; the pre-existing shortcut will automatically get reassigned where possible.

Click the Add button.

From then on, you'll be able to use your shortcut to toggle the Show Related Messages option on/off.

CJK
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  • Wow. I'm truly reeling from the discovery of this capability. Sadly, its not actually working, which I believe is because this is a persnickety menu bar option. When adding it to the menu bar from the drop down you drag from the Button is called "Show/Hide Related Messages". However, once its added and you hit Done it changes to "Show related messages" and "Hide related messages" respective to whether its active or not. Any suggestions to get around this? – S N Mar 15 '18 at 22:11
  • So, the toolbar button is irrelevant to what we're trying to achieve (that is, if I'm understanding you correctly, and your end goal is a keyboard shortcut that will Show/Hide Related Messages, **as if** you had clicked that button). There are no keyboard shortcuts for toolbar buttons. But the toolbar button just does exactly what the menu item does, and that's what my answer above relates to. So, I believe you tried to create a keyboard shortcut for *Show Related Messages*, and then got stumped when the menu item changes to *Hide Related Messages*, right ? *Cont'd...* – CJK Mar 16 '18 at 07:17
  • That's completely normal behaviour for many MacOS menu items. It's not a problem. If you look at my screenshot, you'll see some shortcuts I set up for *Finder*: one says *Hide Sidebar*, and another says *Show Sidebar*. However, **both** have the same keyboard shortcut. This is because, when you click *Show Sidebar*, the menu item changes to *Hide Sidebar*. So I created one shortcut for *Show...* and another for *Hide...*, both of which use the same key-combo. Do the same with *Show Related Messages* and *Hide Related Messages*: create **two** separate shortcuts, but use one key-combo. – CJK Mar 16 '18 at 07:21