How to delete Mail and Messages attachments on a Mac
Every time you open an attachment in Apple Mail — a PDF, a photo, a zip — Mail saves a copy to a hidden folder so it can show it to you. Messages does the same with every photo and video you receive. After a few years, these copies can take up many gigabytes. Here's how to find and clear them without touching your actual email.
Where Mail keeps opened attachments
Opened attachments go to the Mail Downloads folder inside Mail's container:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Mail DownloadsTo open it, press ⇧⌘G in Finder and paste that path. macOS may ask you to give Finder or Terminal Full Disk Access first, because Mail's folders are protected.
Everything in Mail Downloads is a copy. The original attachment stays in the message on your mail server (for iCloud, Gmail and other IMAP accounts), so you can open it again any time.
Clear the Mail Downloads folder
- Quit Mail.
- Open the Mail Downloads folder as above.
- Select everything inside it and move it to the Trash. Don't delete the folder itself.
- Empty the Trash.
Edited attachments are the one exception: if you opened a document from Mail, changed it and saved it, the edited copy lives here. Move anything you want to keep to Documents first.
Stop it filling up again
In Mail, open Mail › Settings › General and set Remove unedited downloads to When Mail quits or After message is deleted. Mail then cleans up after itself.
Don't delete your mailbox
Mail's message store is in ~/Library/Mail. It can be large, but it's your mail, not a cache. If it's too big, delete old messages with large attachments in Mail itself — search for has:attachment, or sort a mailbox by size — rather than removing files in Finder. For POP accounts, this folder is the only copy of your mail.
Messages attachments
Messages keeps every photo, video and file you've received in ~/Library/Messages/Attachments. The safe way to clear it is from within Messages:
- Open System Settings › General › Storage, click the ⓘ next to Messages, and delete large attachments from the list.
- In Messages › Settings › General, set Keep messages to 1 year or 30 days so old conversations and their attachments are removed automatically.
- If you use Messages in iCloud, deleting an attachment removes it from all your devices.
Deleting files straight out of ~/Library/Messages/Attachments works, but the conversations will show broken thumbnails. Use the Storage settings list when you can.
See how much Mail is hoarding
SpaceSweep measures Mail attachments and Messages attachments for free, and clears the Mail Downloads folder in one click.
Scan your Mac freeQuestions
Is it safe to delete the Mail Downloads folder on a Mac?
Its contents, yes. Mail Downloads holds copies of attachments you've opened; the originals stay in your messages. Keep the folder itself, and move out any attachment you edited and want to keep.
Will deleting Mail attachments delete my emails?
No. Clearing Mail Downloads only removes the copies Mail made when you opened attachments. Your messages and their original attachments are untouched.
Why can't I open the Mail folder in Finder?
macOS protects Mail's data. Give Finder or Terminal Full Disk Access in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Full Disk Access, or use an app with that access.