Apple Mail swallows reminders – still in Sonoma
With the “Remind Me” function, Apple Mail can alert users to emails that have not yet been processed. But this doesn't always work. The reason is a pesky bug.
Icon of Apple Mail with Sonoma background.
(Image: Apple)
Since macOS 13 alias Ventura, which was released in 2022, Apple Mail has gained a useful new feature: With the so-called reminders in the app, users can have an email that has not yet been processed (or any other) automatically brought back. To achieve this, you open the context menu for an incoming message and can then choose whether you want to be reminded in an hour, in the evening, the next morning, or at another freely configurable time. The function, called “Remind Me” in English, which also exists similarly on iPhone and iPad, has a catch: it simply doesn't work correctly under certain circumstances. Even worse: Apple has not fixed the bug in macOS 14 alias Sonoma, although there have been various user reports about it.
It doesn't work without an Inbox
Because, as tests show, “Remind Me” only works if the mail you want to be reminded of is in the Inbox. If it has been moved to another folder created by the user, the function fails. This is not displayed; it even looks as if it worked. The reminders mailbox that then appears shows a number (e.g., a “1” for a reminder), but if you click on it, there is no mail in it.
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To get rid of the number (or the empty reminders folder) again, you have to manually delete the reminder using the context menu on the affected mail. And the actual reminder naturally doesn't work: the set time simply passes without a notification. The function is therefore “useless,” write affected users.
The “Follow-ups” also have a problem
The only solution is to not use a folder structure and to leave emails you want to be reminded of in your inbox. However, this contradicts the “Inbox Zero” concept that many users now follow. And the fact that Apple does not warn that the function is defective (or simply fixes it) remains a problem.
In addition to “Remind Me,” another Apple Mail feature under macOS in Sonoma is only half usable: the so-called follow-ups. The idea behind it: “If you send an email and don't receive a reply within 3 days, the sent email will be automatically moved to the top of your inbox so you can remember it and follow up.” However, this also only works if you don't move the sent email – for example, to the archive or a separate “Sent” folder. The email is marked accordingly, but then nothing happens.
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