How do I prevent Mail from highlighting priority emails?

There are always 4-5 emails at the top of my inbox that are labeled "Priority". Given that this is annoying and not fully effective, how do I stop (and keep stopped) Mail from compiling "Priority" emails at the top of my inbox view so I can decide for myself which emails are a "priority"?




[Re-Titled by Moderator]

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 15.1

Posted on Jan 14, 2025 6:33 AM

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Posted on Feb 3, 2025 11:55 PM

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

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Feb 4, 2025 7:29 AM in response to Gobble D Goop

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!)

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Mar 11, 2025 3:39 PM in response to Gobble D Goop

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.

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Jan 14, 2025 7:48 AM in response to Gobble D Goop

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.

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Jan 15, 2025 1:18 PM in response to daraghmaher

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.

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Apr 14, 2025 12:55 AM in response to lkrupp

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.

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Apr 14, 2025 11:37 AM in response to Gobble D Goop

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.

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How do I prevent Mail from highlighting priority emails?

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