apple mail view column settings .. question

i had the "Close windows" option checked in sys prefs. does this impact tabs and columns setup in apps like Apple Mail ?

my problem originates after i choose another mailbox folder within a tab that's already open. what is happening is that apple mail 'remembers' the columns sizes and arrangement of each mailbox item listed on the left pane, even the smart mailboxes.

i can go thru choosing a mailbox and configure columns again the way i want, and try spinning off new tabs with the same column layout (that way, all the columns and sizes are in the same place as the other tab), but when i switch to a different mailbox in the tab, the arrangement changes to what's remembered for the mailbox.

it is painful to have to sit there and resize all my columns the same across all the tabs.

if you just kept hitting + to generate several new tabs, you will see the layout is identical, but if you switch to a different mailbox in one of those new tabs, you will see what i am talking about.

and just to make sure, i have my mail preview at the bottom, not on the right.

after i unchecked 'close windows ..' in sysprefs, after quitting and restarting mail, i see a different behavior now when mail starts:

the tabs recreate themselves one after the other until all my previous tabs opened are there again.

but my concern/question is still there .... i want to configure the columns/sorting/spacing the same for all my tabs, so that as i view all tabs those views 'remember' the layout. and i cannot make them all common or the same.

it's easier on the eye when scrolling thru tabs to look in the same place for email senders, email dates, subjects, etc.

to manually do this with each mailbox takes time and exact mouse positioning that becomes cumbersome. cannot reiterate how annoying it is if those tabs were setup and then mistakenly closed or you navigate to a different mailbox within the tab, which resets the columns/sorts/etc.

i don't know how outlook handles this, but i will experiment with it on my mac to see. perhaps it's a better mail client software in that regard.

thanks for checking that. i recall doing the same in the past, but i think what helped for me is to uncheck the option in sysprefs general as you pointed out. looks like a global macos setting so that also affects behavior of other apps.

some parts of macos have nuances like this one and the lack of remembering window size and position for non-apple apps.

thanks again for the help, i appreciate it !