Changing "Mail Downloads" folder for attachments

It seems in Leopard Mail, when you double click an attachment to open it, it is temporarily saved to ~/Library/Mail Downloads. This is in contrast to (I think) Tiger, where it would be saved to the Downloads folder set in the General preferences. There is still a setting for the Downloads folder in the General preferences, and according to the help window, it is to "Specify the folder in which to temporarily save attachments you open from a message". To me, that means the same as the Tiger behavior. However, if I change this preference to, say, "Desktop", it seems opening an attachment (not explicitly saving it) still saves it to the ~/Library/Mail Downloads folder, not the assigned folder. Is this the correct behavior? If so, the help window is misleading. Personally, I would like the option to change this folder, although I suppose there are workarounds such as changing the Mail Downloads folder to an alias of the desired destination folder.
thanks.

Ok, so much for that clever workaround. Doesn't work, Mail just throws up an error and refuses to save the attachment. Any other ideas? I just want Mail to auto-save opened attachments onto the Desktop, in case I forget to explicitly save it, and so I don't have to root into subfolders to find it.

Similar Messages

  • How to (successfully) change Mail Downloads folder?

    Hi,
    I've been trying to wrestle with my Mail Downloads folder location without success, so I thought I would ask.
    I dislike having a separate "Mail Downloads" folder because stuff accumulates endlessly there. The default Mail Downloads is at ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Mail Downloads. Here's what I have tried:
    The obvious: change "Downloads folder" in Mail prefs. No matter what I choose, the files are still downloaded to the default folder.
    I removed ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Mail Downloads and made it a symlink to my ~/Downloads folder (where I'd like to put everything). This causes opening attachments from Mail to hang (I have to save them first, and then open from the saved location). I get these messages in Console (in this example, trying to open an attachment named "Manual.pdf", and PID 56818 is the Mail app):
    9/13/12 11:52:29.707 AM CoreServicesUIAgent[56818]: Quarantine resolution refused to pid 56809 because it is not allowed to read /Users/a10022/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Mail Downloads/Manual.pdf
    9/13/12 11:52:29.000 AM kernel[0]: Sandbox: sandboxd(56817) deny mach-lookup com.apple.coresymbolicationd
    9/13/12 11:52:30.221 AM sandboxd[56817]: ([56809]) Mail(56809) deny file-issue-extension /Users/a10022/Downloads/Manual.pdf
    9/13/12 11:52:30.238 AM sandboxd[56817]: ([56809]) Mail(56809) deny file-issue-extension /Users/a10022/Downloads/Manual.pdf
    9/13/12 11:52:30.253 AM sandboxd[56817]: ([56809]) Mail(56809) deny file-issue-extension /Users/a10022/Downloads/Manual.pdf
    Any thoughts? The symlink trick was working fine in Lion and before, the trouble started with the upgrade to Mountain Lion.
    Thanks,
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    Hi,
    I have spent quit some time on this and there is no decent option to do so. Mail is a buggy product since it ignores the default preferences. Old tricks with the symbolic link don't work. Most likely because Apple wants you to look at all the nice inline attachments in stead of treating them as a real attachment. Just like they do in their commercials.
    I found some posts on how to move it to another disk but that was not my goal. So in the end, there was only one option left for me and that is to just make it a faourite folder in my finder so I can at least review it daily to clean it up.
    Sorry for not having a desent fix but this works for me.
    Good luck!

  • Attachments in Mail Downloads folder

    I found a folder Home>Library>Mail Downloads which was loaded with about every attachment I have ever received using Mail. I was trying to figure out why. In Mail prefs, there is an option to select a folder, I have chosen Home>Downloads pretty much which is also default for my browser. The action is set to remove unedited copies when message is deleted. I'm confused because it looks like the Destination and Action are independent. When I have an attachment, if I click "Save" it populates the selected path to the "Downloads" folder. If I open that attachment, it seems to populate the Home>Library>Mail folder.
    What controls the opened attachments form populating this, somewhat, obscure folder?

    Hi,
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    Attachments to messages are actually stored in the mailbox along with the message text. It is when an attachment must be opened with another application, such as a Word document with Word, that the attachment is also placed in the Mail Downloads folder. There it can be used and edited by the application used to open it, and from there can be returned as edited to the sender or to others.
    There is no reason files must permanently stay, but if you edit or otherwise alter files that have been attached, then you must elect some place to keep them for your own use.
    You will note that in the Mail Preferences/General there is also a selection regarding when to remove files from Downloads folder if not edited. Any file that is not edited need not remain in the Downloads folder since it already exists in the mailbox with the message it came attached to.
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  • Mail Downloads Folder

    Hiya
    I was wondering what the mail downloads folder actually does. I know there is a clue in the title but what I mean to say is this.
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    I want to know if I delete all the 112mb of files in this folder will I delete the attachments in the emails themselves? Will the attachments still be there for saving elsewhere?
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    Mike

    You are very right, the help file contained the advice below. I think I will make the suggested changes and get the program to delete the items in the folder on exit. Thanks for the tip it was very useful.
    Setting the location for attachments that you open in Mail
    Files attached to (or enclosed in) an email message are stored as part of the message. Since attachments are part of the message itself, they are usually deleted when you delete the message. You can save separate copies of attachments by clicking the Save button in the message window.
    Mail also temporarily saves an attachment as a separate file on your computer when you open the attachment by clicking it in the message. The file is saved in the Mail downloads folder, located by default in the Library folder of your home folder.
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  • How to Change Outlook Default Folder for Insert-Attachment and Save Email/Attachemnt while Outlook is open (VBA)

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