Excerpt #

A guide for users to configure Apple Mail on macOS to limit the amount of email content and attachments downloaded locally, helping to manage disk space on their computer.

Content #

When you set up your Google Workspace email account in Apple Mail on your Mac, the application typically downloads all your emails and their attachments for offline access. For large mailboxes (like one with over 50,000 emails), this can consume a significant amount of local disk space. You can adjust Apple Mail’s settings to manage how much data is stored on your computer.

Understanding How Apple Mail Works with IMAP (Google Workspace) #

Apple Mail uses the IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) for Google Workspace accounts. This means:

• Your emails and their attachments are primarily stored on Google’s servers (in the cloud).
• Apple Mail synchronises a copy of these emails to your Mac for quick access and offline viewing.
• Changes you make in Apple Mail (e.g., reading, deleting, moving emails) are synced back to Google’s servers.

Steps to Limit Local Storage Usage in Apple Mail: #

You can configure Apple Mail to download only message headers or recent content, rather than the full mailbox with all attachments, saving local disk space.

1. Open Apple Mail:
   • Click on the Mail icon in your Dock, or find it in your Applications folder.
2. Access Mail Settings/Preferences:
   • Go to the top menu bar (next to the Apple logo).
   • Click Mail.
   • Select Settings... (or Preferences... on older macOS versions).
3. Select Your Google Workspace Account:
   • In the Mail Settings window, click on the Accounts tab at the top.
   • In the left sidebar, select your Google Workspace account (e.g., yourname@yourorganisation.co.uk).
4. Adjust Message Download Settings:
   • Click on the Account Information tab (this might also be labelled Server Settings or Mailbox Behaviours depending on your macOS version).
   • Look for a dropdown menu or option related to “Download attachments” or “Download messages” or “Keep copies of messages for offline viewing”.
   • Change this setting to one of the following options, based on your preference for local storage versus offline access:
     • Recent or Recent messages only: This is a good balance. It will download a certain number of recent messages or messages from a recent period (e.g., last month), and only download older messages or attachments when you click on them.
     • Headers Only: This is the most restrictive option for local storage. Apple Mail will only download the sender, subject, and date of each email. The full message content and attachments will only be downloaded when you click to open that specific email. This is ideal if you have very limited disk space or a massive archive of emails.
     • None (for “Download attachments”): If this is a separate setting, choosing “None” will ensure attachments are only downloaded when you specifically open the email containing them.
     • Avoid “All” or “All content”: If you are concerned about disk space, do not select “All” or “All content” as this will download everything.
5. Close Settings and Apply Changes:
   • Close the Mail Settings window. You may be prompted to save changes. Click Save or OK.

What to Expect After Changing Settings: #

• Disk Space Reduction: Apple Mail will begin to clear local copies of emails and attachments that fall outside your new download settings. This process may take some time, and you might not see the disk space freed up instantly.
• On-Demand Downloads: When you click on an email that has not been fully downloaded (e.g., an older email when you selected “Recent,” or any email when you selected “Headers Only”), Apple Mail will download its full content and attachments on demand when you are online.
• Offline Access Impact: If you choose “Headers Only,” you will only be able to view the basic details of older emails when you are offline. You won’t be able to read their full content or open attachments without an internet connection.

By adjusting these settings, you can effectively manage the local disk space consumed by your Google Workspace emails in Apple Mail, balancing convenience with your computer’s storage capacity.