What is ~/Library/Mail on Mac? Can you delete it?
Do not delete ~/Library/Mail by hand. This is your data: the Mail app's local copy of your messages and attachments, and for some accounts the only copy. Shrink it from inside Mail instead.
Where it is
~/Library/MailWhat it is
The Mail app stores everything it downloads in ~/Library/Mail: messages, attachments, mailboxes you created under On My Mac, and the index that makes search fast. The data sits in a folder named V followed by a number, which changes with major macOS versions.
It grows with the amount of mail you keep and the attachments Mail has downloaded. With IMAP, iCloud or Exchange accounts the messages also stay on the server, so the folder is a local copy. With POP accounts and On My Mac mailboxes, the copy on your Mac may be the only one.
macOS protects this folder. Terminal and other apps cannot read it unless they have Full Disk Access.
How big it gets
From a few hundred MB to tens of GB, depending on how many years of mail and attachments you keep.
How to shrink it the right way
- In Mail, delete messages you no longer need, starting with those that have large attachments. Sorting a mailbox by size makes them easy to find.
- Choose Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items and Mailbox > Erase Junk Mail. Deleted messages keep using space until you do.
- To stop Mail downloading every attachment, open Mail > Settings > Accounts, select an account, and set Download Attachments to Recent or None.
- If you no longer use an account in Mail, turn it off or remove it in System Settings under Internet Accounts. Mail then removes that account's local copy. Check first that the messages are still on the server.
- To see the size of the folder, run the command below in a Terminal that has Full Disk Access.
du -sh ~/Library/MailWhat happens afterwards
Messages you delete in Mail are removed from the server too for IMAP, iCloud and Exchange accounts. Attachments you chose not to download are fetched again when you open the message.
How Diskzy handles it
Diskzy shows ~/Library/Mail and its size on the disk map once it has Full Disk Access. Reducing it is done in Mail, so your mailboxes stay consistent.
Related guides
- Mail Downloads~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Mail Downloads
- Messages attachments~/Library/Messages/Attachments
- Containers~/Library/Containers
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