How do I prevent Mail from highlighting priority emails?

You are in the wrong place. Click the View dropdown menu at the very top of the screen, three items to the right of Safari. Look for Show Priority about half way down and uncheck. Not the PriorityField further down.

On a Mac while in the Mail app click the View drop down menu and uncheck Show Priority.

On an iPhone tap the ⋯⃝ more icon and uncheck Show Priority.

This is part Apple Intelligence.

Click on the View tab up top, then deselect Priority.

Thank you. I was having the same problem and the show priority was 'greyed' out on my options as I was looking at 'all mailboxes'. You have to go into each mailbox (if you have multiple) and uncheck Show Priority. Thank you!

Are you using Column Layout?

Click on the header for the column that you want to sort by - probably, Date Received, so that more recent messages appear at the top.

Other than that, I am not aware of a way to make Mail behave the way you describe. I added some messages set with priority, and other than sporting the annotation "!!" they do not behave differently from other messages.

Have you even read the posts above? The instructions to go back to prioritizing your own emails right above you. Please respond back that you have read and understand the instructions provided for disabling the priority option. If you don’t respond we’ll know that you don’t care and just want to complain.

These responses are for the iPhone. I have to TURN OFF Apple "Intelligence" to make the categories go away on my MAC. Who in their right mind decided I needed this? (Oh dammit, there I go again, getting raged at developers with too much time on their hands. Hey, Apple, save some money... some of your people don't have enough to do!)

I too find this massively annoying, that it is even a feature. I just got two scam emails trying to get me to click a link to resolve an "issue" with my bank account. Not only does "Apple Intelligence" not identify it as scammail, but it marks as "priority"!

This the ultimate example of over-engineering. For the love of God, I can decide for myself what is priority. I spend more time undoing notifications, alerts, and pop-ups that are supposed "features". Please stop with the progress, it's setting me back.

But thank you to the community, for showing me how to undo at least this one.

I have unchecked the Priority Field in the View drop-down menu of my Mac Mail app on my desktop. This seemed to turn off the 'priority emails' for half the day. They have come back now. Is there a more permanent setting? It seems to think all scam emails are important. usually, those go to the junk folder.

Gobble D Goop wrote:

I say don't clutter the discussion with thank yous (so I guess opinions differ on this issue).

Expressing gratitude isn't "clutter." It's the polite way to respond to someone who has volunteered their time to help you. It also increases the likelihood that people will be interested in and willing to help you in the future.

We haven’t heard back from you. Have you resolved your issue with the Priority settings?

You’re right. It’s really irritating. While I’m still capable of independent thought, I’d love to be able to go back to prioritizing my own emails.

Thank you for your help. You’re correct that I didn’t see the simple solution offered earlier.

There is no Show Priority in the View drop down menu on my mail application.