Turn off Mail categories and get one plain inbox back

Why it happens

Newer versions of Mail sort incoming messages into four groups: Primary, Transactions, Updates and Promotions. Only Primary shows by default, so receipts, newsletters and some real emails seem to vanish. Nothing is deleted, they're just filed in another tab.

How to fix it

1. Open Mail and click your inbox in the sidebar, so the message list is showing.

2. Click View in the menu bar and untick Show Mail Categories. The category buttons above the list disappear and all your mail shows together.

   Mail›View›Show Mail Categories

3. Scroll the list once to check. The invoices and newsletters that were hiding in other tabs should now sit in date order with everything else.

Still not fixed?

1. Prefer to keep the tabs for now? Click the highlighted category button (usually Primary) at the top of the list to switch to All Mail, then click it again to go back.

2. If one sender keeps landing in the wrong tab, Control-click one of their messages and use Categorize Sender to move them to Primary for good.

   Mail›Control-click›Categorize Sender

3. If messages are missing from the single list too, look in the Junk mailbox. Mail's junk filter can move real mail there, and you can change what it does in Mail Settings under Junk Mail.

   Mail›Settings…›Junk Mail›When junk mail arrives

4. Your iPhone and iPad have their own category setting in their Mail app, so turn it off there too if you want the same plain list everywhere.

5. If emails still don't arrive at all, check them on your email provider's website. If they're there but never reach Mail on your Mac, contact Apple Support.