Clean up mail storage mac

The joys of cleaning up your Mac's mail storage! Here's a step-by-step guide to help you free up space and keep your email organized:

Before you start:

  1. Make sure you have a backup of your Mac and your email account(s) in case something goes wrong.
  2. Close all email clients and apps to prevent any conflicts during the cleanup process.

Step 1: Remove unnecessary emails

  1. Open the Mail app on your Mac.
  2. Select the mailbox you want to clean up (e.g., Inbox, Sent, or a specific folder).
  3. Press Command + Shift + Delete to delete all selected emails.
  4. Confirm the deletion by clicking "Delete" in the pop-up window.
  5. Repeat this process for each mailbox or folder you want to clean up.

Step 2: Empty the Trash

  1. Go to the Mailbox menu and select "Empty Trash" (or press Command + Shift + Delete again).
  2. Confirm the deletion by clicking "Empty Trash" in the pop-up window.

Step 3: Remove large attachments

  1. Open the Mail app and select the mailbox you want to clean up.
  2. Press Command + Shift + F to search for emails with large attachments.
  3. Select the emails with large attachments and delete them (or move them to a separate folder for later review).
  4. Repeat this process for each mailbox or folder you want to clean up.

Step 4: Remove duplicate emails

  1. Open the Mail app and select the mailbox you want to clean up.
  2. Press Command + Shift + F to search for duplicate emails.
  3. Select the duplicate emails and delete them (or merge them using the "Merge" feature in the Mail app).
  4. Repeat this process for each mailbox or folder you want to clean up.

Step 5: Compact the mailbox

  1. Open the Mail app and select the mailbox you want to clean up.
  2. Go to the Mailbox menu and select "Compact Mailbox" (or press Command + Shift + C).
  3. Confirm the compacting process by clicking "Compact" in the pop-up window.

Step 6: Check for email duplicates in other mailboxes

  1. Open the Mail app and select the mailbox you want to clean up.
  2. Press Command + Shift + F to search for duplicate emails in other mailboxes.
  3. Select the duplicate emails and delete them (or merge them using the "Merge" feature in the Mail app).
  4. Repeat this process for each mailbox or folder you want to clean up.

Step 7: Review and delete spam emails

  1. Open the Mail app and select the mailbox you want to clean up.
  2. Go to the Junk mailbox and review the emails.
  3. Delete any spam emails that are not marked as spam.
  4. Repeat this process for each mailbox or folder you want to clean up.

Step 8: Check for email accounts with large storage

  1. Open the Mail app and select the email account you want to check.
  2. Go to the Mailbox menu and select "Get Info" (or press Command + I).
  3. Check the "Storage" section to see how much storage is being used.
  4. If an account has a large storage usage, consider deleting old emails or archiving them to free up space.

Step 9: Archive or delete old emails

  1. Open the Mail app and select the mailbox you want to clean up.
  2. Select the emails you want to archive or delete (e.g., emails older than 6 months).
  3. Right-click (or Control-click) on the selected emails and choose "Archive" or "Delete".
  4. Repeat this process for each mailbox or folder you want to clean up.

Step 10: Verify the cleanup

  1. Open the Mail app and select the mailbox you want to verify.
  2. Check the mailbox size to ensure it has been reduced.
  3. Verify that the emails you deleted or archived are no longer visible.

By following these steps, you should be able to free up space on your Mac and keep your email organized. Remember to regularly clean up your email storage to prevent it from becoming cluttered again.