How to Apply, Rename, and Remove Flags in Apple Mail GA S REGULAR Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO Email, Messaging, & Video Calls > Email
How to Apply, Rename, and Remove Flags From Apple Mail Messages
Use flags to personalize your Mail experience
By Tom Nelson Tom Nelson Writer Tom Nelson is an engineer, programmer, network manager, and computer network and systems designer who has written for Other World Computing,and others. Tom is also president of Coyote Moon, Inc., a Macintosh and Windows consulting firm. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on March 4, 2021 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Email Yahoo! Mail Gmail What to Know
Assign a flag: Select a message and choose Message > Flag. Choose a flag color. Or, right-click a message and choose a color.Change a flag name: In the sidebar, choose Flagged. Click a flag to reveal a text box. Enter a new name and press Enter.Remove a flag: Select a message, then choose the Flag button from the toolbar. Choose Clear Flag. Apple Mail flags mark incoming messages that need further attention. Flags also allow you to automate or organize messages and set up Mail rules. Learn how to assign and change flag names, how to flag or sort multiple messages, and how to remove flags using Mail for OS X Lion (10.7) through macOS Catalina (10.15). Assigning Flags to Email Messages
There are three methods of flagging a message: To flag a message, click once on the message in the Mail app messages list to select it, and then from the Message menu, select Flag. From the pop-up Flag menu, select the flag of your choice. The second method is to right-click on a message in the messages list and select a flag color from the pop-up menu. If you hover your cursor over a flag color, its name appears—if you've assigned the color a name. The third way to add a flag is to select an email message and then click on the Flag drop-down button in the Mail toolbar. The drop-down menu displays all available flags, showing both colors and names. When you use one of these methods to add a flag, the flag icon appears to the left of the email message. Mail Flag Colors
Mail flags come in seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and gray. You can use any flag color to mark a message type. For example, red flags may indicate emails you need to respond to within 24 hours, while green flags indicate tasks that have been completed. You can use the colors any way you want, but over time, it can be challenging to remember what each color was intended to mean. You can change the names of the flags as needed. Changing Flag Names
While you're stuck with the colors Apple provides, you can rename each of the seven flags to anything you want to personalize the Mail flags and make them much more useful. To change a Mail flag's name: Click the disclosure triangle next to Flagged in Mail's sidebar to reveal all the flag colors. Click once on a flag's name. For example, click on the Red flag, wait a few seconds, and then click on the Red flag once again to highlight the existing color name and allow you to type in a new name. Enter the name of your choice so that you can see at a glance what the flag represents. Repeat this process with each color to rename all seven Mail flags if you want to use them all. After you change a flag's name, the new name appears in the sidebar. However, the new name may not be visible yet in all menu and toolbar locations where flags are displayed. To ensure your changes migrate to all locations in Mail, quit Mail, and then relaunch the app. Flagging Multiple Messages
To flag a group of messages, select the messages and then select Flag from the Message menu. A menu displays the list of flags and their names. Make your selection to assign a flag to multiple messages. Sorting by Mail Flags
Now that you have various messages flagged, you want to be able to view those messages that were important enough to be coded with a flag color. Clicking on Flagged in the Mail sidebar displays all the flags. Select a single color flag by expanding the Flagged section. Each flag is a smart folder. Clicking on one of the colored flags displays all the messages that are marked with that flag's color. Removing Flags
Remove the flag from a message by using any of the methods for adding a flag, but select the option to Clear Flag or—in the case of right-clicking a message—select the X option for the flag type. For example, to remove the flag from a message, select the message (or messages) and click the Flag button in the Mail toolbar and select Clear Flag from the pop-up menu. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire How to Use and Rename the Flags in Mac OS X Apple Mail How to Save and Use Messages as Templates in Apple Mail Hide the Preview Pane and Delete Mail Without Opening It How to Import Outlook Contacts Into Apple Mail How to Flag a Message for Follow-Up in Yahoo Mail How to Indent Text or Decrease Quote Level in iPhone Mail How to Select All Messages in Gmail How to Save All Attachments From Multiple Emails Fast in OS X Mail 10 Best Free Email Accounts for 2022 How to View the Source of a Message in Apple Mail How to Show Message Sizes in Apple Mail How to Filter Spam With Apple Mail How to Change an Email's Background Color in Apple Mail's Inbox How to Use Text Formatting and Images in Apple Mail Signatures How to Use AOL Mail Through an Email Client How to Create New Folders to Organize Mail in Outlook Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies