If we’re being honest, the release of macOS Catalina has not been quite as graceful as Apple may have hoped. This iteration was expected to be the largest in some time considering the introduction of Catalyst applications.
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Unfortunately, Catalina has been marred with bugs ever since the developer beta began. This has extended to many applications, including Apple’s own Mail app.
One frustrating issue has been when the Mail app opens in split screen all by itself.
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Mail opening in Split Screen on macOS Catalina
This bug may not be exactly new to Catalina, but the Apple Mail app has been wreaking havoc on users for quite some time. Whenever a new version of macOS is released, there are expectations that “major” bugs would be fixed. In the case of Mail opening in Split Screen, that is simply not the case.
Notably, the problem seems to occur if you are working in a fullscreen of another application. An example of this may be browsing Reddit or watching YouTube in Safari in full-screen mode. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the Mail app decides to just open itself in a split-screen view.
This seemingly occurs due to some bugs found when you have Gmail connected to Mail. Every once in a while, the authentication between Google and Apple Mail will seemingly fail. This causes Mail to open up on its own, causing you to re-authenticate the login.
How to fix Mail opening in Split Screen
Since the bug is related to Gmail, you’ll want to go through and remove the account from Mail before doing anything else. Here is how you remove an account:
- Open the Mail app on your Mac
- Click Mail in the menu bar
- Select Accounts from the drop-down
- Highlight the Google account you want removed
- Tap the “-” button on the side
- Click Ok to confirm
Create an App Password for Gmail
This will remove the Google account from Mail, but you aren’t done just yet. The next step you want to take is to enable two-factor authentication (2FA), and create an “App Password” to use with Mail on macOS Catalina.
- Open your browser and navigate to your Google Account Security Settings
- Scroll down and select 2-Step Verification
- Login and confirm your Google account email and password
- Toggle 2-Step Verification On
From here, you are given the option to either use a Google prompt, or through a text message with verification codes. When you use a Google prompt, you must have the Google app installed on your phone, and a notification will arrive confirming that you are logged in.
When completed, go back to the main Security Settings page and select App Passwords. In the box, hit the first drop down and select Mail, and in the second box select Mac. Then tap Generate. This will create a password only to be used with your Gmail account along with the Mail app on your Mac.
Get Gmail back in the Mail app on macOS Catalina
Now that the App Password has been generated, you need to open the Apple Mail app on your Mac. Then follow these steps:
- Click Mail in the menu bar
- Select Accounts from the drop-down
- Click the “+” button at the bottom
- Select Other Accounts from the list of options
- Select Mail account
- Enter your Gmail email account and the App Password that you created earlier
- Tap Sign In
After you have signed in, the Mail app will ask whether you want to sync Mail and Notes with this account. Leave Mail checked, and you can either choose to sync Notes or not, then press Done.
Now that the account has been added, it will take some time for the Mail app to sync the data between your Gmail account and the app itself. However, once completed, you should not run into anymore instances of macOS Catalina’s Mail app opening itself.
Conclusion
There are far more bugs and quirks when it comes to macOS Catalina than Apple would like to admit. We are sure that these issues will be rectified with future incremental updates. As is the case with many software releases, you can either choose to upgrade and file bug reports, or just hang back until many bugs have been squashed.
If you continue running into issues with macOS Catalina, sound off in the comments below and we’ll be more than happy to assist. As for the Apple Mail app, let us know what you think about the upgrades provided or if you have been using another client such as Spark or AirMail.
Andrew Myrick is a freelance writer based on the East Coast of the US. He enjoys everything to do with technology, including tablets, smartphones, and everything in between. Perhaps his favorite past-time is having a never-ending supply of different keyboards and gaming handhelds that end up collecting more dust than the consoles that are being emulated.
Jayne Bouressa Smits says
I don’t think I can update anymore cuz I was told by Apple I have a vintage computer. I updated to Catalina 10.15.7 yesterday in order to be able to sync my music to my iPod nano and it worked but now get split screen email? What do you suggest?
Erin Amico says
Thanks for this info. Unfortunately when I got to the generated app password box I didn’t have all the options that are shown in the image. I could choose to enable the account but that was all I could do. When I got to the next set of instructions I went through the 2 step verification process but was informed that the account already exists.
Maybe it will work anyway.
Marie says
The problem with email popping up into a split screen is horrible as we live in this time of Zoom, Google Meet and other video meetings. When presenting and sharing the screen, it is beyond embarrassing and less than professional to have this occurring repeatedly. It is not an easy fix and makes me uneasy to reset four email accounts to try to correct this bug!
I hope an update will soon correct this!
Rachel says
Hi all, I am looking for a little bit of help. I was doing ok until I hit : “When completed, go back to the main Security Settings page and select App Passwords. In the box, hit the first drop down and select Mail, and in the second box select Mac. Then tap Generate. This will create a password only to be used with your Gmail account along with the Mail app on your Mac.”
I am TERRIBLE with computers. How do I find the main Security Settings page? I wasn’t able to locate that and so I wasn’t able to complete the whole fix. Help! -Rachel
Michele says
Thank you so much for this article/bug fix! It’s been driving me mad! I have tried it out this morning and so hope never to have this issue again!
capobianco says
Mail will open on i’s own when using another app in split view.
Steve B says
Very useful (if it works – I’m sure it will 🙂 Thanks…
Anna says
Thank you so much for this fix but I don’t have the Google app on my phone for a reason. Apple needs to fix this! It is affecting my work situation and it is unacceptable. This is Gmail, doesn’t at least half the Mac population have this issue then? I regret the day I downloaded Catalina. What a joke, makes Apple look really bad.
Edgar Jatho says
nah. Apple, you fix it. I paid $3K for this thing, Google mail is a ubiquitous email service. Play nice.
Ronald Rimovsky says
Split mail pop up is aggravating. I have to shut down to clear the screen. There is no red circle (button) in the upper left corner to close the screen.
Hall says
This might work, but no promises.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/7d81ak/solution_for_those_who_have_the_mail_app_randomly/
Matt Davis says
Thanks, I hope this works! It happens right in the middle of gameplay and naturally, I die at that moment.
I’d like to see the MailApp only download a minimal number of emails rather than all of them off the server, perhaps 500 only. I’ve used Sparrow in the past but that lost its upgrade and support so came back to Mail.
James says
Thank you Andrew!
GLENDA LABOCCETTA says
Please tell me why you cannot fix this extremely annoying “mail in split screen” that everyone is pissed off about and yet you can get me some BS procedure to follow. I am not a programer nor do I want to be. You seem to have a lot of updates to fix other stuff so how about you fix your own error if it’s so easily done.
Blake says
This site literally says at the bottom it is not affiliated with Apple Inc. You’re angry at the wrong person.
Anon says
Because this site isn’t Apple. Call Apple support if you wanna complain to someone.
Julie says
this is appalling ! why does apple allow such bugs to continue? i have just uploaded to Catalina and now wished i hadn’t. the email popping up continuously is unworkable.
This is a ridiculous amount of steps to go through to fix an apple bug, especially when you have 4 email accounts
SGX says
Still happening in Catalina – simply stunning!
Stephen says
They jumped the shark in 2013. They are arrogant and complacent, and they truly do not care what their users think.
Greg says
My problem with Mail after the update is that the content of many emails (using Outlook) is blank. This is not an issue with ios devices.
Alison GIfford says
I will try this in the morning, but I’m not happy!
Everything was fine when I left it earlier, this evening, it changed page layout, which I don’t like at all and no mailboxes where I had all my important stuff filed.
I tried everything to get them back, nothing worked. Panic.
On to support and live chat. Asked to send screenshots, delete and re-install all the accounts, no result.
Rebuild mailbox – still downloading 15000 emails……….
Folders have reappeared thank God, via something I must have missed on a menu and found now, but the chat person didn’t even suggest that.
Did he know, I wonder?
Still, the same problem with no split view to be found anywhere.
I can get 1 email in split view if I select it on full screen – but I want them all on split view all the time – the way it was this morning.
In recent years, too many -Apple upgrades and so-called improvements’ have been little more than gimmicks, too much emphasis on ‘all singing all dancing’ un-necessary things, and sesnsible, user friendly menu items taken off. It’s ‘design’ ‘over function. and does Apple no credit at all. I’m very disappointed. Change for change sake rather than thought through functionality.
Elizabeth Jones says
Hi Alison,
Yes, a lot of people discover their Mail app now looks completely different!
Once your emails reappear (after the rebuild), go to the top view menu and review the selections for “Show.” We suggest you checkmark Show Side Preview as well as any other information you want, like Date&Time, Message Size, and so forth.
When you checkmark Show Side Preview, you see your list of emails as well as a preview window to read each email with scrolling options.
Smith Garnett says
Same problem-can’t get split screen the way it always was-this is so annoying. Clicking show side preview does not work. Help?
db says
Thanks for posting this Andrew. I encountered this issue in High Sierra.
I can still remember the days when Apple was differentiated above its competitors by the quality of the products it shipped. This is no longer true of Apple software, and it hasn’t been for quite some time. Shareholder values have corrupted this company to its core.
Mike says
That’s a lot of steps to fix something Apple should have fixed long ago.
I mean it’s total BS that we have to go through all of this because they can’t fix and obvious frustrating behavior of their Mail app.
I’ve just got into the habit of shutting down mail altogether when I’m using another app in full screen.