The window

This page describes every part of the Nixt Mail window and what each control does. Where a part has its own page, the section links to it.

Layouts

Nixt Mail chooses its layout from the width of the window, not from the kind of device. Resize the window and the layout changes with it.

Everything in these layouts behaves the same way; only the arrangement changes. The rest of this page describes the full layout, with notes where the narrower layouts differ.

Title bar

The bar across the top of the window.

The title bar appears in the full layout only.

Command bar

One line holds what can be done to the mail in front of you — and only that. It sits over the mail it acts on: over the reading pane when a message is open or several are selected, and over the message list and the reading pane together when nothing is open. The buttons are at its right-hand end.

Where the reading pane is too narrow for every button to show its word, the first group keeps its words and the rest show only their icons; if it is narrower still, they all do. Hover over an icon to see its name and its keys. Every button has its word on it, and runs exactly what the menu item and the keyboard shortcut of the same name run. Hover one to see its keys.

What it holds depends on what is in front of you:

Which of Reply and Reply all comes first is Settings › Composing › Default reply; the other is the button beside it.

Commands that cannot run are not drawn, rather than drawn and greyed — the bar shows what is worth pressing now. Each one is in one place: while the bar is carrying them, the message’s own header keeps only Ask AI.

Nothing behind the compose window moves when you open it. The bar stays over the message, and its buttons still work: forward another message while a draft is open and Nixt Mail asks whether to discard the draft. Keyboard shortcuts wait while you type — the letters go into your draft. In the narrower layouts, where there is no bar, the message’s header keeps every one of its buttons.

It follows the rail

What the bar holds changes with the module you are in. In Mail it is the three states above. In the calendar it sits over the calendar itself, not its sidebar, and holds Today, Previous, Next, Go to date and Refresh calendars — where you are looking, and how to look somewhere else; New event and Quick add are in the calendar’s own sidebar, just below. The calendar’s header keeps what only it can say: which period is on screen, and in which view.

Those five stay in the bar while a compose window is open over the calendar, and still work, so nothing moves about behind your draft.

Documents and Team have no bar: each opens with what you would do there — the three editors as cards in Documents, the directory in Team.

The command bar appears in the full layout and can be turned off in Settings › Appearance › Command bar. In a narrower window there is no bar, and every header keeps its own commands.

Module rail

The narrow column down the left edge.

Documents and Team appear when your copy of Nixt Mail includes them. The selected module has a coloured bar beside it. Hover over a button to see its name.

At the bottom-left corner of the window is the Autopilot button, a gradient square with a sparkle. Its tooltip says Enter Autopilot, or Leave Autopilot while Autopilot is running. See Autopilot. It is hidden while the compose window is open. On a narrow window it is a round button above the bottom bar.

Sidebar

The column between the rail and the message list. In the middle layout it opens as a drawer from the Folders button; on a narrow window, from the menu button at the top left of the list.

Compose

The Compose button at the top opens a new message. The small C on it is its keyboard shortcut; with Single-key shortcuts turned off in Settings › Keyboard it shows ⌘ N (Ctrl N on Windows and Linux) instead, and a shortcut you have changed shows as you set it. Phones and tablets show none. See Writing mail.

Folders

Folders are listed in this order: Inbox, then Sent, Drafts, Archive, Junk and Trash (whatever your server calls them), then every other folder alphabetically. Gmail labels appear as folders.

• Click a folder to show its mail in the message list.
• Unread badges show how many unread messages a folder holds. A folder is counted once you have opened it, and the count is kept until the next refresh. Counts above 999 show as 999+. A folder with no unread mail shows no badge. Turn badges off with Settings › Message list › Unread counts in the sidebar.
• Drop a message on a folder to move it there. A folder that will accept the message lights up as you drag over it. See Move to a folder.

While folders load, the sidebar says Loading folders…. With no connection, it lists the folder names Nixt Mail last saw, if you keep offline mail.

Account and Settings

At the foot of the sidebar:

• Your account — an avatar with your initials (in the account’s colour, if you chose one), a small badge for the provider, your name and your address. Click it to open the Accounts list, where you switch accounts, add one or remove one. See Several accounts.
• Settings — the gear button. Opens Settings. See Settings.

Message list

The column of messages.

Header

Search box

Under the header. It reads Search mail — from:, subject:, is:flagged. See Search and the command palette.

New-mail banner

When mail arrives while you are looking, a tinted line appears under the search box: the sender and subject for one message, or how many new messages there are. The mail is already in the list. Click the line to dismiss it. Turn it off with Settings › Notifications › When mail arrives › Say nothing.

Rows

Each row is one conversation, or one message if you turned conversations off.

The selected row has a coloured bar at its left edge. Settings › Appearance › Row spacing chooses Comfortable or Compact rows.

What you can do with a row

See Organising mail for every action.

End of the list

At the bottom of a folder, Nixt Mail shows how many messages are loaded out of how many the folder holds, such as 40 of 1200, with Load more. When the list reaches its ceiling it says Search to go further back. instead. Settings › Sync and offline › Loading older mail can load more automatically as you reach the end.

Messages the list can show instead of mail

Reading pane

The largest area, on the right. It shows the conversation you opened.

Header

• Subject — at the top, in large type. You can select and copy it.
• Label — a small label: Needs reply for an unread message, FYI otherwise.
• Recipients — who the message was sent to.
• Toolbar — the action buttons, on the same line or, in a narrow pane, on a line of their own. If the buttons do not fit, the row scrolls sideways.

Toolbar

If Settings › Composing › Default reply is Reply all, the first two buttons swap: Reply all comes first and the second reads Reply to sender only.

Above the message

Bars can appear above the message body, in this order:

The conversation

Each message shows the sender’s picture, name and address, to you, and the time. Earlier messages in a conversation are folded to one line each until you open them. See Reading mail.

Attachments appear under the message they came with. See Attachments.

Reply box

Under the message is a box to write a reply without opening a window. It rests as one line, Write your reply…, and opens with Send reply when you click it. See The reply box. Turn it off with Settings › Composing › Quick reply box.

When nothing is open

The pane shows All clear in Inbox — Nothing needs your attention here.

When several messages are selected

The pane stops showing mail and says N messages selected — Anything below applies to all of them, and can be undone. Its buttons are:

See Selecting several messages.

Things that appear over the window

Press Esc to close what is on top: first the compose window, then the command palette, then a selection of several messages, then an open Autopilot conversation, then Autopilot.

Change how the window looks