# Can I delete the ~/Library/Mail folder on Mac?

- URL: https://moreroom.app/folders/mail-store
- Item: Mail mailboxes
- Location: `~/Library/Mail`
- Verdict: Keep — your data — Your data. Shrink it from its app; don’t delete the folder.
- Comes back on its own: no
- From the app: Mail: select large messages and choose Message > Remove Attachments, or delete old mail.
- Source: MoreRoom rules catalogue (2026-10-17), by Yando Pte. Ltd.

## What is it?

Apple Mail’s local store: every mailbox, message and downloaded attachment for all your accounts, plus On My Mac mailboxes and Mail’s database. It commonly reaches several GB, and tens of GB for large mailboxes.

## What happens if you delete it?

For iCloud, IMAP and Exchange accounts Mail downloads messages again, which takes time; On My Mac mailboxes and anything stored only locally are lost for good.

## How to remove it properly

Do not delete it in Finder. In Mail › Settings › Accounts, select an account and set Download Attachments to Recent or None; delete old mail and erase deleted items. For large messages, select them and choose Message › Remove Attachments. Optimize Storage in System Settings › General › Storage also keeps only recent attachments.

## Before you delete it

On iCloud and IMAP accounts, removing attachments or deleting messages also changes the copy on the server and on your other devices.