After installing the MacOS Big Sur upgrade, I was dismayed to find that the beloved red flags in the left column of Mail, which I'd used a lot to indicate messages I needed to do something with, had disappeared.
When I clicked on "Flag" in the menu bar, a flag would appear in the email message itself, but not next to it as was the case before Big Sur.
Thankfully, a bit of Googling revealed a simple fix. Just right-click the "Subject" box near the top of the screen and make sure "Flags" has a check mark next to it.
Once it does, voila, the flags appear as before. Here's a screenshot of some flag-happy messages in my inbox.
Thank you very much for posting. Mystery solved!
Posted by: Vincent Olsen | March 11, 2021 at 02:55 PM
I don't see where the "flags" appear when clicking the Subject box.
Posted by: Kathy | March 20, 2021 at 03:21 PM
Oh, you have to hold down the "Control" key and "Subject" to get the dropdown menu.
Posted by: Kathy | March 20, 2021 at 03:23 PM
Kathy for me I right click on the Subject box and get the dropdown menu. Regardless, be sure "Flags" in the dropdown menu has a checkmark by it. Then click on the red (or whatever other color) icon in the Mail menu bar at the top of the screen when a message is highlighted and a flag will appear in the farthest left hand column in mail, which has a little flag above it.
Posted by: Brian Hines | March 20, 2021 at 04:33 PM
I believe the process may differ depending on your particular combination of devices. I was not successful with the right-click method was able to use the control key.
Posted by: Dennis Wong | April 11, 2021 at 08:16 AM
Brian,
Thanks!
I'd just Big Sur updated on my laptop and the ability to flag disappeared exactly as you described.....and following your steps solved the problem ! ....all the more satisfying since as a total non tech architect/ painter this is the first time I've ever Googled a laptop problem and had the satisfaction of resolving the issue; rather, than relying on the usual fallback of waiting to have a younger staff member " take care of it tomorrow."
Jon Gregg
p.s. This is also the first fan letter I've ever written Grazie Signori !
Posted by: Jon Gregg | April 22, 2021 at 02:25 PM
OMG thank you SO much for that tip. I was so dismayed and disappointed in the new mail, but you FIXED IT for me!
Posted by: Angelo G | June 05, 2021 at 08:54 PM
OMG!!!
Thank you for the getting my flags back!!! I almost gave up!
Posted by: maddy | June 09, 2021 at 05:44 PM
Perfect. Thanks for that. It felt alien not being able to scan highlighted emails.
Posted by: Pete | June 27, 2021 at 12:29 PM
This has been driving me crazy! Thank you for the solution.
Posted by: Jody | July 13, 2021 at 06:46 AM
WTF? this function is so hidden it's stupid
Posted by: Kevin Thompson | August 10, 2021 at 04:27 PM
Thank you! I hate these updates when things look so different!
Posted by: jennifer | August 21, 2021 at 04:35 PM
Lifesaver! Thank you so much
Posted by: Olga | September 21, 2021 at 06:39 AM
thank you.
Posted by: BK | September 23, 2021 at 05:50 AM
Thank you so much! I just finally updated and panicked when I didn't see my flags!
Posted by: Pommeflower | December 23, 2021 at 09:55 AM
THANK YOU!!!!! It's been driving me mad!
Posted by: anna h | April 26, 2022 at 01:05 AM
Thank you so much. I searched all the Apple help sites for the last 3 hours and nothing helped. Yours worked perfectly. Thank you! Thank You!! On my MacBook I found If you use 2 fingers (on the track pad) when you tap on the subject bar will bring up the options to add the flag and other options. Using only 1 finger to tap on the subject bar does nothing.
Posted by: Don Marketto | April 28, 2022 at 11:26 PM
So grateful to have found this ! Just migrated from Mojave to Big Sur and was really struggling with Mail (which I use professionally).
So thank you very, very much and regards from London UK. : )
Posted by: Tony | June 16, 2022 at 02:34 PM
So relieved to have my flags back. Many thanks.
Posted by: LouiseL | July 08, 2022 at 12:15 PM
You are amazing! Totally worked for me. Thanks!!!!
Posted by: Deb | August 20, 2022 at 09:51 AM
Thank you so much - I have just updated to Monterey and had the same problem - but your solution also works for Monterey! Why do Apple have to complicate an easy task?!
Posted by: Di May | August 30, 2022 at 02:48 AM
Brilliant!.. Lost without my flagged column after upgrading to Monterey.
Using those flagged folders is not the same!
Thank you so much for the tip.
Posted by: Donna | September 12, 2022 at 02:51 AM
Thank you so much. I just downloaded Monterey and the same thing happened. It feels good to have my trusty flags back! I love Apple but they perplex me sometimes.
Much appreciated.
Posted by: Sherry | September 14, 2022 at 11:30 AM
Thank you so much for this! Amazing it's not available in the apple/mac info anyplace (that I could find).
Posted by: Jachan | October 20, 2022 at 08:15 AM
Another pathetic interface improvement from Apple has sucked twenty minutes from my life.
Posted by: Bob | October 24, 2022 at 07:11 AM