Mac Mail: changing mailboxes without losing your search

[Roquefort]

I'm using Yosemite and I've noticed an improvement in the Contacts application that doesn't seem to apply to the Mail application. But perhaps somebody can tell me a workaround.

Let's look at Contacts first.

Suppose you type a search into the search box in Contacts. It finds nothing and you realize that you have the wrong group selected on the left. You click another group name to search there instead.

In previous Mac OS X versions, Contacts changed to display the other group, but it also erased your search from the search box. (It had the same bug if you selected All Contacts.)

Under Yosemite, that bug is fixed and Contacts leaves your search alone, showing matching results in the newly selected group.​

Now let's look at Mail.

Suppose you have a mailbox selected and you type a search and get no results. You realize that you have the wrong mailbox selected. You click another mailbox name (in the full list of mailboxes) to search there instead.

Even under Yosemite, Mail erases your search. You can select Search: All at the top, or certain other mailboxes they offer, but you can't change to most other mailboxes without losing your search.​

Is this a poorly designed feature, or even what you'd call a bug? Or is there a way to search in a specific other mailbox without losing your search?

 

[Weaselboy]

Or is there a way to search in a specific other mailbox without losing your search?

I see the same thing when jumping from folder to folder in the left column of Mail, and agree that is at the very least a bad design.

But I found if you drag each folder/mailbox up into the toolbar you can enter the search then click from one folder or mailbox to the next in the toolbar and the search remains.

In my screenshot example I started the search from the Inbox then clicked on Saved Mail and the search term remained and worked as expected in the next selected folder.

I normally run with the Mailbox pane to the left hidden and every folder aliased up to the toolbar, so never even noticed this bug until I tested after reading your post.

 

[Roquefort]

Thanks for testing it!

 

[Roquefort]

Next question: If you add a mailbox to the search bar, how can you remove it from the search bar?

 

[Weaselboy]

Next question: If you add a mailbox to the search bar, how can you remove it from the search bar?

You can just drag them off and let them go and they "poof" disappear.

I have every single mail folder up there and just close the sidebar and operate from the toolbar aliases.