Mail - no account, no email but all email still there

[nelson2010]

Hi

I used to use Mail on my Mac, I don't anymore so I removed the account (Mail > Accounts > Internet Accounts > Gmail > Unchecked Mail)

However when I use Spotlight to search it shows results from Mail which include actual emails. When I select the email through Spotlight the email opens in Mail. But when I look at Mail there are no emails, when I search for emails in Mail there are no results.

So where are all these emails hiding on my system? I guess in the Library. Do you know if I can force remove them so that I can save on disk space (Macbook Air with suffering 128SSD)

I've tried looking for these hidden emails in Library but can't find them. I also expected Spotlight to show the 'Original Location' much like Microsoft Windows but it doesn't.

Thanks!

Nelson

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"When I select the email through Spotlight the email opens in Mail. But when I look at Mail there are no emails, when I search for emails in Mail there are no results"

What I'd try:

I'd download something called "EasyFind" from here:
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/11076/easyfind

I would use Spotlight to "summon up" one of the "lost emails", as you said you did above.

I would then copy some text from the email, and paste it into EasyFind's search window.

I would set up EasyFind's search options (on the left) as such:
- Search for: file contents
- Operator: phrase
- Comparison: ignore case
- Include: Package Contents and Invisible Files & Folders

I'd then hit the magnifying glass, and let EasyFind run and see if it finds anything.

If it does, I'd right-click on the result and choose "Show in Finder".
I'd make note of just where it was by command-clicking "up above" the current location to show me the path TO that location.

If this works, it should "point the way" as to WHERE the "hidden emails" are residing...

 

[BrianBaughn]

You say you looked in "Library" but did you, in the Finder and pressing the "Option" key, go to Go>Library>Mail>V2 ?

 

[Pomeroy]

To see where a file is when using Spotlight hold the command key down, the path will show at the bottom of the window. If you use Finders Search the path will show at the bottom when you click on a file name. If the file path isn't showing in Finder go to Finders View menu and see if " Show Path Bar" is showing.

 

[nelson2010]

@ Fishrrman - thank you for your detailed post, I would have tried this if BrianBaughn's advice hadn't worked so well.

@ Pomeroy - I held the Command key down whilst using SpotLight but the path didn't show (OS X Yosemite). Finder didn't show the emails either, but I will remember to use the 'Show Path Bar' in the future - nice tip.

@ BrianBaughn - thank you so much - nearly 50k of items discovered with your method. I had no idea whilst pressing the Option key this would happen. My CPU went nuts for a while listing all the files but it worked like a charm. I didn't attempt to look so deep in that folder when attempting to resolve this earlier. I'm now going to just hard delete the top level folders and probably screw the Mail application up - but I want rid of these files. Thank you so much again.

 

[nelson2010]

@ BrianBaughn - you've just helped me recover 10GB of free space, which will make a HUGE difference to me.

I read on another site that when in Finder and when in a folder, if you choose View > Show View Options > Calculate all Sizes it'll do just that - and give you an accurate folder size per folder. I did that on this occasion to get the total file size of what was in Mail > V2

Awesome

Nelson