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Why does Apple Mail take up so much space on my Mac?

~/Library/Mail
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Mail Downloads

By Parsa Nasirimehr

Mail downloads your messages and their attachments so you can read them offline, into ~/Library/Mail, and saves a copy of each attachment you open into Mail Downloads. Mail Downloads is safe to clear. Shrink the rest from Mail's settings and by deleting old mail, never by deleting inside ~/Library/Mail.

How big it gets

It grows with your mailboxes: every account Mail syncs keeps a local copy of its messages and, depending on its setting, their attachments.

What it is

~/Library/MailEach account's mailboxes as Mail downloaded them. Deleting files here confuses Mail, which then downloads everything again.
Mail DownloadsA copy of each attachment you opened from a message. The message keeps the original, so the copies can go.
Download attachmentsFor each account, Mail › Settings › Accounts › Account Information › Download Attachments can be All, Recent or None.
Full Disk AccessFinder and Terminal need Full Disk Access to read these folders.

How to clear it

  1. Quit Mail.
  2. In Finder, choose Go › Go to Folder, open ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Mail Downloads and move what's inside to the Trash.
  3. For big accounts, set Download Attachments to Recent or None.
  4. For messages you keep, Message › Remove Attachments removes their attachments; deleting old mail with large attachments frees the rest.

What you lose: Offline copies, which Mail downloads again when you open a message, and the attachments you remove.

With Scrubs: Scrubs's Quick Wins lists the attachment copies in Mail Downloads as safe to clear. It needs Full Disk Access to read Mail's folders. Download Scrubs; scanning is free.

Related folders

Messages attachmentsWhy is Messages taking up so much space on my Mac?Downloads folderHow do I clean up the Downloads folder on my Mac?~/Library/CachesCan I delete the caches in ~/Library/Caches on my Mac?

Paths and commands apply to macOS 15 and later. See also how to free up disk space on a Mac.

About the author: Parsa Nasirimehr is a mobile app developer who builds Scrubs, a disk map for the Mac. Spotted something wrong? Write to support@getscrubs.app.