Mark email message as replied-to in Mail

Nov 10, '09 07:30:00AM

Contributed by: germin8

Apple Mail doesn't provide a built-in mechanism for marking emails as replied (or clearing said mark). I solved this weakness with a simple AppleScript that operates on whatever messages are currently selected. Simply create the following script using the Script Editor, and save it to Library » Scripts » Applications » Mail in your home directory, or in /Library » Scripts » Mail Scripts for use by all users.

This script marks the selected messages as replied to:

using terms from application "Mail"
  tell application "Mail"
    set selectedMessages to selection

    repeat with eachMessage in selectedMessages
      -- set was replied to of eachMessage to false
      set was replied to of eachMessage to true
    end repeat

  end tell
end using terms from
For marking as unreplied, I used the brain-dead solution of simply creating a second script which is identical with the exception of substituting the value false into the set was replied to line, as demonstrated by the commented line which starts with --. Save the two versions of the script to one of the above folders.

Now you should see whatever name you chose for your scripts available from the AppleScript menu. (Assuming you have the AppleScript menu enabled.)

[robg adds: Mail should automatically track reply status for messages, and if you're using IMAP, that information should appear on all your Macs. However, I have seen Mail get confused in the past and lose the reply status on certain messages. The above script provides a simple fix for those times.]

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