Search Apple Mail on Mac, open the exact message
Nov 6, 2025
Search Apple Mail on Mac, open the exact message
Apple Mail search has fallen short for years. You remember the promise in an email, not the mailbox. The thread is noisy, the search misses context, and you still end up scrolling. With Fenn on your Mac, you ask once in natural language, then open the exact message or attachment that proves the point. Everything runs on your machine for privacy.
What you can do now
Ask like a human using the Semantic search, get the exact email.
“Show the approval from Alice on the pricing change last October.”Agent Mode for heavy lifts.
“Gather all vendor onboarding emails that mention SOC 2.”
Your result list shows the best matches with context. One click opens the exact message in Apple Mail.
Why this is different from Mail search
Understands intent, not just tokens. You can ask by outcome and timeframe, then open the message that matters.
Thread precision. Stop landing at the top of a giant chain, jump to the specific reply.
Private by default. Indexing and search run on your Mac, your mail stays local.
Quick start
Install Fenn on an Apple Silicon Mac, macOS Sonoma 14 or later is recommended.
In Fenn, add Email (.emlx) as a source, and the select the folder where your emails are (see documentation)
Let Fenn index on device.
Press your Fenn shortcut, ask in natural language, open the exact email.
If you want more control, switch search modes between Semantic, Keyword, Hybrid or Exact mode.
Helpful examples with Agent interaction mode.
“From legal, any messages about termination within 30 days.”
“All emails with the subject containing ‘MSA’ from September 2025.”
“Find receipts from Stripe or Paddle in 2025”
“The email where the customer approved the pilot extension to Q4.”
Manual search when you want full control
Sometimes you want to drive. Fenn includes four precise modes for Apple Mail and the rest of your sources.
Semantic. Ask in natural language, find paraphrases and related wording.
Keyword. Match exact words or phrases when language must be literal.
Hybrid. Combine semantic and keyword for recall and precision.
Exact. Force strict literal matches across your mail and documents.
Use the mode switcher to tune results, then open the message or attachment immediately.
Performance notes
Agent Mode works best on Macs with at least 32 GB of RAM. If you have 16 GB, please reach out and we will help you make it work on your machine. Core email search works on device and benefits from Apple Silicon for fast indexing and low latency.
Where teams win with email search
Sales and success. Recover the promise you made, open the proof, keep deals moving.
Legal and compliance. Triage discovery from Apple Mail without exporting mailboxes.
Finance and ops. Locate approvals, invoices, and receipts, then open attachments in one step.
Product and research. Find decisions and specs buried in threads, open the exact message to verify.
Pricing
Local, 9 USD per month, billed annually. On device indexing. Semantic and keyword search. 1 Mac. Updates. Founder support.
Lifetime, 199 USD one time. On device indexing. Semantic and keyword search. 1 year of updates. 1 Mac. Founder support.
Stop digging through mailboxes. Ask once, open the exact message, and move on with your work.