Can I and Should I Delete All Mail on my Mac?

[macuser1232]

It's all in the title. I was wondering if I could delete all my mail because it will free up a lot of space even though I don't need to free up any hard drive space. I do want to keep all the mail in my Inbox though. I have already tried deleting All Mail but it keeps coming back so im wondering if I should be deleting it or not.

 

[Dark Void]

Mail is not stored on your hard drive, it is stored on the Mail server that your account is linked to.

 

[macuser1232]

yeah I realized that. But I just found out that if I delete all mail it will also delete everything in my Inbox which I don't want to happen.

 

[Dark Void]

yeah I realized that. But I just found out that if I delete all mail it will also delete everything in my Inbox which I don't want to happen.

I don't understand what you mean.

You are trying to delete what? The e-mails being displayed on your IMAP Mail application or on the server itself via browser?

 

[Weaselboy]

It's all in the title. I was wondering if I could delete all my mail because it will free up a lot of space even though I don't need to free up any hard drive space. I do want to keep all the mail in my Inbox though. I have already tried deleting All Mail but it keeps coming back so im wondering if I should be deleting it or not.

From your comment about an "All Mail" folder, makes me think you are using GMail with IMAP in the Mail app... yes?

If you want to cut the disk space used in half, go to gmail.com and in the settings uncheck All Mail from the "show in IMAP" section like in my screen shot.

With All Mail checked it essentially keeps a second copy of every message in that folder in Mail and you don't need that.

 

[jrs22]

I'm not the OP but this is very helpful information. Because I rarely check my mail in the browser, as I prefer the Mail app, I never looked at the settings. I can get rid of 'all' and 'important', so thanks for the tip.

 

[Mal]

Mail is not stored on your hard drive, it is stored on the Mail server that your account is linked to.

Not if you use a local application on your computer. It syncs with the server, but it saves a copy for offline storage (assuming you haven't adjusted the settings to avoid that). Weaselboy's solution cuts down on how much of that occurs.

jW

 

[Dark Void]

Not if you use a local application on your computer. It syncs with the server, but it saves a copy for offline storage (assuming you haven't adjusted the settings to avoid that). Weaselboy's solution cuts down on how much of that occurs.

jW

Yes I understand that, I just misunderstood the OP. It wasn't specified as IMAP or not initially.