MAC TREAT #212: Disable Automatic Attachment Preview in Mail

ByMike Moffit

We use Apple computers (obviously) on a daily basis, and I often find myself emailing numerous documents throughout the day. More times than not, I right-click on the attached images and switch them to an “icon view” to allow me to view more of the email content.

Sure, it’s nice seeing a preview of the attached file, but typically I just want to get to the meat and potatoes of the email! Here’s a gem of a tip that allows me to turn off automatic attachment preview in Mail.

To do this follow these steps (warning: Terminal use ahead):

  • Open up Terminal by navigating to Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app
  • Run the following command:
    defaults write com.apple.mailDisableInlineAttachmentViewing -bool yes
  • Quit and restart Mail

Now your Mail app will show any attachments you receive as icons instead of previewing the document. If you decide you don’t like that and want to go back, simply run this command:

defaults write com.apple.mailDisableInlineAttachmentViewing -bool no

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    He writes:

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    Thanks for reading!