# An overview of settings and preferences in Apple Mail

> A quick tour of the preferences tabs in Apple Mail, so you know where to find every setting you need.

Source: https://www.kualo.com/knowledgebase/email-apple/an-overview-of-settings-and-preferences-in-apple-mail
Updated: 2026-06-09

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Apple Mail keeps all its configuration in one place - the Preferences window. Here is a quick tour of each tab so you know where to find what you need.

## Opening preferences

1. Open **Mail** in the menu bar.
2. Click **Settings** (macOS Ventura and later) or **Preferences** (earlier versions).

![Apple Mail menu - Preferences](https://kb-cdn.kualo.com/19/38/19387d140647d9d43c1df43ea3fe92b89ee87921.png)

## Accounts tab

This is the tab that opens by default. It is where you manage the options for each of your mail accounts.

![Accounts tab](https://kb-cdn.kualo.com/ed/b7/edb78df7db3aaf2b4c6f50d22862fcb9a9b4a0ba.png)

### Mailbox behaviours

Within the Accounts tab, select **Mailbox Behaviors** to control how Apple Mail handles sent, junk, and deleted messages - for example, whether they are stored on the server or only on your device.

![Mailbox Behaviors tab](https://kb-cdn.kualo.com/e2/eb/e2eb579832488668414d41f7f2e404b6793d16a3.png)

### Advanced

The **Advanced** sub-tab shows additional options for the selected account, including SSL and port settings.

![Advanced tab](https://kb-cdn.kualo.com/94/85/9485fc9fa156bf60e192ae613e032f73972e1006.png)

## General tab

The **General** tab covers app-wide settings. The most commonly used option here is how frequently Apple Mail checks the server for new messages.

![General tab](https://kb-cdn.kualo.com/35/1c/351c9d0c986c0d3b1eee7d15331204ceb68bdbce.png)

![Check for new messages setting](https://kb-cdn.kualo.com/7f/5b/7f5b0c3265e0d09c4fb6777707f1c0d1db07743a.png)

## Junk mail tab

Use the **Junk Mail** tab to enable or disable Apple Mail's built-in junk mail filtering, and to choose what happens when a junk message is received.

![Junk Mail tab](https://kb-cdn.kualo.com/ca/8d/ca8de8200a461318aa42f5e36d0f8e2b67f02586.png)

## Fonts and colours tab

The **Fonts & Colors** tab lets you set the typeface and colour used for mailbox lists, message text, notes, and more.

![Fonts and Colors tab](https://kb-cdn.kualo.com/97/2a/972ab9f8e9a449d5aa0924440abb81e8b8977756.png)

## Viewing tab

The **Viewing** tab controls how messages are displayed, including the level of header detail shown and whether messages are grouped into threads.

![Viewing tab](https://kb-cdn.kualo.com/74/51/7451db0d0ef6b3fb1f23f6333ead7165a4d99e4c.png)

## Composing tab

The composing settings let you change the spell checker language, automatically send yourself a copy of outgoing messages, and configure address auto-completion behaviour.

:::info
In some versions of Apple Mail, composing options appear on the **Viewing** tab rather than a separate tab.
:::

## Signatures and rules

The **Signatures** and **Rules** tabs are covered in detail in separate articles in this series.

- **Signatures** - create one or more signatures to append automatically to outgoing messages.
- **Rules** - set up filters to sort incoming mail into folders automatically.

![Signatures and Rules tabs](https://kb-cdn.kualo.com/fe/9f/fe9f34a198060e895f0fa7afc228432e0231372b.png)

![Rules tab](https://kb-cdn.kualo.com/2f/4f/2f4faa9ac39416418426bf423a958db5aef61ed2.png)

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_Source: Kualo Knowledgebase — https://www.kualo.com/knowledgebase/email-apple/an-overview-of-settings-and-preferences-in-apple-mail · © Kualo Ltd._