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Mail Application on Macbook Pro

The Mail app is taking up 5.2GB of my storage and i dont even use it. Anyone know a way of wiping the whole app's data? I've tried logging out and everything, when i click on it when managing storage it just comes up saying "Mail is using 5.2 GB", thats it.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Aug 29, 2020 10:26 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 29, 2020 12:01 PM

Gotcha! See below. It also deals with "Other" space reported by Storage.


What is This Other Category in Storage Display


What is 'Other' and 'Purgeable' in About This Mac?


"Other" contains any of the following types of files. They cannot necessarily be deleted wholesale. Furthermore, “Other” is not an actual, physical file. Rather it’s an arbitrary category to which the files are assigned for display convenience.


  • System temporary files
  • macOS system folders
  • Archives and disk images (.zip, .iso, etc.)
  • Personal user data
  • Files from the user’s library (Application Support, iCloud files, screensavers, etc.)
  • Cache files
  • Fonts, plugins, extensions
  • Hidden files
  • Other files that are not recognized by a Spotlight search


Get Correct Storage Information


Do not use the information from the Storage section of the About This Mac dialog. Ignore the Storage information as it is typically wrong. To find out the correct information for any disk: Select a Desktop disk icon. Press Command-I to open the Get Info window and look at the topmost panel displayed. You will find the disk information displayed for Capacity, Available, and Used. If you have more than one disk/partition then repeat for each one on your Desktop.


The categories found in the Storage section of About This Mac are simply an arbitrary way of displaying files on your drive. There are no such categories actually on the drive.


Most likely that space is being used by the email program you are using. The Mail files category does not refer to the Mail application but to a collection of files assumed to be email data.


7 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 29, 2020 12:01 PM in response to elliefromhaverhill

Gotcha! See below. It also deals with "Other" space reported by Storage.


What is This Other Category in Storage Display


What is 'Other' and 'Purgeable' in About This Mac?


"Other" contains any of the following types of files. They cannot necessarily be deleted wholesale. Furthermore, “Other” is not an actual, physical file. Rather it’s an arbitrary category to which the files are assigned for display convenience.


  • System temporary files
  • macOS system folders
  • Archives and disk images (.zip, .iso, etc.)
  • Personal user data
  • Files from the user’s library (Application Support, iCloud files, screensavers, etc.)
  • Cache files
  • Fonts, plugins, extensions
  • Hidden files
  • Other files that are not recognized by a Spotlight search


Get Correct Storage Information


Do not use the information from the Storage section of the About This Mac dialog. Ignore the Storage information as it is typically wrong. To find out the correct information for any disk: Select a Desktop disk icon. Press Command-I to open the Get Info window and look at the topmost panel displayed. You will find the disk information displayed for Capacity, Available, and Used. If you have more than one disk/partition then repeat for each one on your Desktop.


The categories found in the Storage section of About This Mac are simply an arbitrary way of displaying files on your drive. There are no such categories actually on the drive.


Most likely that space is being used by the email program you are using. The Mail files category does not refer to the Mail application but to a collection of files assumed to be email data.


Mail Application on Macbook Pro

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