Customizing the Dock unread count in Mail.appEdit

Created , updated

Just found this sweet little tip here.

Mail.app has preferences which allow you to select what mailbox(es) will be used as a source for the unread messages count shown in the Dock icon badge.

  • None
  • Inbox Only
  • All Mailboxes
  • or, critically, Any "Smart Mailbox" of your choosing

This means that you can set up a smart mailbox to mirror the contents of any mailbox (or mailboxes) that you care about, and have that show up in the Dock icon.

I use this at work so I can have new messages arriving in my work account immediately brought to my attention, while messages sent to my personal accounts won’t distract me. Prior to learning this tip, I used to actually take my personal accounts offline whenever I got to work, and take them back online before going home.