Mac OSX Mail; how to delay 'Mark as Read'

In OSX 10.10 Mail app a message gets read immediately when as soon as it is selected.

Often this happens by accident; i.e. when organising folders, or it gets auto-selected when you delete/move another mail. Suffice to say this behaviour can disturb a workflow.

From other mail clients I'm used you can give it a small offset (few seconds for example) before it is 'Mark as Read'. Does anyone know if OSX has such a setting?

Solution 1:

The Plugins MailHub and Mail Act-On have such options:

MailHub

MailHub is a 'smart' plug-in for Apple Mail that revolutionises email management. It learns as you work, suggesting likely filing locations to take the pain out of keeping your mail organized. It also allows you to set reminders on emails, so you can follow-up later.

Mail Act-On

Mail Act-On 3 new features give you unparalleled ability to manage your messages. Use Act-On's new templates to quickly reply to messages. Use Act-On composer options to specify when messages are delivered, where sent messages get archived, and even which outbox rules are applied.

Solution 2:

Found a solution today at Apple discussions: Mail - how to delay " Mark as Unread "

User posted "Close the preview pane by dragging it down to the bottom the window. Double click to open the mail you want to read, the rest will stay unread."

Works with Mail v9.0 under OS X El Capitan 10.11.