Remove Formatting Bar in Mail 16.0 (3897.100.8.1.1)

[Gary L. Gray]

When I compose a new message or reply to a message in Mail, this incredibly wide formatting bar shows up at the top and I cannot find a way to remove it.

Am I missing something obvious? Is there a way to remove this way-too-wide abomination?

Thank you!

 

[benwiggy]

You should report the need for a toggle. It also shows when Plain Text is selected.

 

[Gary L. Gray]

Thank you. I did report the issue using Feedback Assistant.

 

[MacHiavelli]

Hello.

1. View > Customize Toolbar…
2. Add the Format icon to the toolbar
3. Click ‘Done’
4. Now click the new Format icon to toggle the setting off and on

 

[Gary L. Gray]

I never would have discovered that. @MacHiavelli, you are my hero! Thank you!

 

[benwiggy]

The Format icon was on the toolbar by default on my Mac. But there ought to be a corresponding menu item that names the control more obviously.

And the formatting bar shouldn't appear for Plain Text!

 

[Gary L. Gray]

The Format icon was on the toolbar by default on my Mac. But there ought to be a corresponding menu item that names the control more obviously.

And the formatting bar shouldn't appear for Plain Text!

I completely agree. Unfortunately, I had customized my toolbar and it was not there.

 

[benholt]

Adding to the FB pile: on my Studio the format bar also ignores the Message Format = Plain Text setting under Settings > Composing. Set the app-wide default to plain text, open a new compose window, and the bar still renders with the format buttons acting as no-ops. Same story after a full quit and relaunch. Feels like the plain-text suppression path just got dropped when Apple redid the compose header layout in 27.

Small quality-of-life thing that helped me until Apple fixes it: the toolbar Format button state is per-window, not sticky per account, so toggling it off in one draft doesn't carry to the next new message. If you add the icon, drag it as far right as you can in Customize Toolbar so it's not sitting in your eyeline while you're writing subject lines.

 

[SketchyClown]

My formatting bar icon was there by default on mine also, I guess that it just got turned on the last beta install. One click, it’s gone and stays gone even after quitting and reopening Mail.