Deleting Directory "Mail Downloads"

Hi,
I noticed that the files stored under "user-library-mail downloads" take up more than 1 GB.
I wonder what will happen, if I delete all these files. As a test I deleted 1 file but still could find the file as an attachment to the original email as well as in the directory where I saved it at the time when receiving the email.
Could I safely delete all files in the library-mail downloads directory to re-gain 1 GB?
Thanks
Tom

Yes, and if you ever need them again you can re-save them from the email they came in.

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Other category on my iphone takes up 10.92 gigs?? I have tried EVERYTHING. I have restored it,downloaded phoneclean andgotten rid of unneeded files, even deleted my mail account. What the heck else can I do??

Other category on my iphone takes up 10.92 gigs?? I have tried EVERYTHING. I have restored it,downloaded phoneclean andgotten rid of unneeded files, even deleted my mail account. What the heck else can I do??

What about the fontbook not being able to resolve duplicates?
Try deleting the 'com.apple.FontBook.plist' file.
HD/Users/yourhome/Library/Preferences/ com.apple.FontBook.plist
any other fnts that can commonly cause problems besides the few that are mentioned all the time?
These two can cause problems 'Times Phonetic' -- 'Rougue Stencil-Type' but probably checked for them.
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Mail.app keeps saving downloads to Mail Downloads rather than ~/Downloads

I've modified Mail.app preferences to save downloads in the main downloads folder, ~/Downloads. But every time I double click an attachment, it still downloads to the wrong folder, Mail Downloads, in a terribly nested directory, ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Mail Downloads.
I've tried restarting Mail.app, I've tried restarting Mac OS X, to no avail. This is starting to smell like a constant's set somewhere, instead of referring to the current application preference.

When you get an email with attachments, mail automatically unpacks attachments into those funky nested folders. If you open the attachment directly that's what it opens, because it assumes that you just want to look at the attachment, not save it. on the other hand, if you right-click and explicitly choose download it will download a copy into the downloads folder where you expect it.

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,
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.
Image files, since they can be opened directly in the Mail window, by Mail, do not go into the Downloads folder, but if any were opened from the message, with say, Photoshop, then that image file would also be sent to the Downloads, temporarily.
Ernie

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.
1 - Does the mail downloads folder contain all attachments to emails OR
2 - Does the mail downloads folder contain files opened directly from Mail?
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?
If someone can enlighten me it would be great. Thanks
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.
iMac (Intel) Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Mail app will not open at all. I cannot even delete a mail account. Wondering if daylight savings time has caused an issue.

When I click on the mail app it either immediately crashes and brings me back to the home screen or it opens briefly and tried to download all previous emails and crashes in the middle. When I try to delete a mail account it says it can't because it is syncing. I closed mail using the double click (which only shows a black white box) and I have rebooted three times. The time changed today. Could it be a bug?

Please follow these directions to delete the Mail "sandbox" folders. In OS X 10.9 there are two sandboxes, while in 10.8 there is only one. If you're running a version older than 10.8, this comment isn't applicable.
Back up all data.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail
Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select
Services ▹ Reveal
from the contextual menu.* A Finder window should open with a folder named "com.apple.mail" selected. If it does, move the selected folder — not just its contents — to the Desktop. Leave the Finder window open for now.
Log out and log back in. Launch Mail and test. If the problem is resolved, you may have to recreate some of your Mail settings. You can then delete the folder you moved and close the Finder window. If you still have the problem, quit Mail again and put the folder back where it was, overwriting the one that may have been created in its place. Repeat with this line:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.MailServiceAgent
Caution: If you change any of the contents of the sandbox, but leave the folder itself in place, Mail may crash or not launch at all. Deleting the whole sandbox will cause it to be rebuilt automatically.
*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select
Go ▹ Go to Folder...
from the menu bar, paste into the box that opens (command-V). You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

I'm having problems with excessive email usage on my iphone 4/ios 7. Just noticed that (settings/usage) it was using 900 mb. I deleted all my mail, deleted the mail account, and it still says it's using 661 mb. My ipad uses a fraction of that.

I'm having problems with excessive email usage on my iphone 4/ios 7. Just noticed that it (settings/usage) was using 900+ mb. I deleted all my mail, deleted the mail account, turned the phone off and back on, downloaded any remaining mail on the server to Outlook on my computer, and it still says it's using 661 mb. My ipad uses a fraction of that.
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Howdy there COUGAR444,
It sounds like your iPad all of a sudden seems to be restarting out of no where. If you haven't called AppleCare yet, I would start with quitting either the app that seems to be causing the issue, or all the apps if a single doesn't seem to be the culprit.
iOS: Force an app to close
Double-click the Home button.
Swipe left or right until you have located the app you wish to close.
Swipe the app up to close it.
When you have done that restart the device and test the issue again:
iOS: Turning off and on (restarting) and resetting
If the issue persists, backup your device to iTunes, then restore it as new and verify that it works.
How to erase your iOS device and then set it up as a new device or restore it from backups
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Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Regards,
Sterling

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Sounds like you are looking in the wrong Administrative Group container which is why you are seeing your Exchange 2010 servers in there.
When you install Exchange 2003 only you will see a container named by default as "CN=First Administrative Group" container. But this could be named anything if you changed the Organization Name on the installation when you installed the first
Exchange 2003 server into the domain/forest.
You will notice that when you install Exchange 2010 part of the AD setup is to create a new configuration container and is named by default "CN=First Administrative Group (FYDIBOHF23SPDLT)".
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You may find the following article also helpful for this issue which is the same resolution:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2012/05/17/empty-cn-servers-container-causing-issues-with-public-folders-on-small-business-server-2011.aspx
I recommend though that you ensure your Exchange 2003 servers are fully uninstalled or no longer present in your environment before you go deleting the Servers container though.. The following Microsoft article will help with this:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/gg576862(v=exchg.141).aspx

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I've deleted my Mail app. How to get it back?

Hi,
I have somehow, by accident (I have no idea how) deleted my Mail app. It is not in my applications folder and I cannot find it in spotlight. Is there somewhere I can download it or will I have to reinstall OS X, which would be a horror?
Any help is very welcome. Thanks!

Hello,
With Tiger, you need only to do a custom install. See:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301229
then after this custom install run the Combo Update to ensure that Mail is then compatible with your OS version. If you are only using 10.4.8, then you will need to search for the Combo that only takes you to that level. The first one you will find will be for 10.4.9, however.
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IPad Pop3 email deleting from mail server even though set to NEVER

Hello.
We are experiencing a most strange behaviour with our e-mail. We use a web host and access e-mail through POP3.
Two of our users are experiencing similar problems, and this is how their lives are setup:
1) Outlook 2010, set to remove e-mail from server once downloaded, however, we are manually polling to receive e-mails at will, rather than periodically.
2) iPad 2 3G - Set to delete e-mails from server "never".
3) iPhone 5 (ios 6) - Set to delete e-mails from server "never".
One of the users is receiving e-mails to their iPad, but not to either of the other two devices, sometimes to the two i-devices but not t Outlook, and sometimes to all three. Occasionally, they are not receiving e-mails at all.
I have talked to our web host, and in all instances and testing we have done with them, they can see e-mails received, and deleted from the server. However, their logs cannot tell us anymore than that.
Here's the scenario:
1) Send an e-mail. Check the web host e-mail interface and can see the e-mail has arrived in the user's inbox.
2) Open e-mail on iPad. Receive e-mail. Refresh webmail to see if e-mail is still present, and it is.
3) Hit send/receive in Outlook 2010. E-mail not received in Outlook 2010. Refresh webmail to see if e-mail is still present. It is not.
So from all indications, it looks like doing a send/receive in Outlook is deleting the message from the server, but it is not being received in outlook. I should note here that we have done extensive searches to check if the e-mail was received into some other folder, and have setup a search folder of all e-mails received today, just to make sure we weren't missing anything. The e-mails are indeed never reaching Outlook.
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This would leave me to guess that POP3 is trying to latch on to the e-mail on the server from both the iPad and Outlook 2010 at the same time and is failing, but Outlook is deleting the message from the server before it can actually download it because iPad has POP3 locked.
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Was this ever resolved?

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Hi,
I am using 4S (IOS 7).
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Hi there,
I seem to have an issue with Mailbox on my MacBook Air. Please note: I did NOT have the issue on my iMac, before I sold it and reset it. Both Mailbox accounts were set up exactly the same.
I have a hotmail account which I have set up through Mailbox. I can send and receive with no issues at all. The only thing I can't do is delete the mail. I have over 15,000 junk emails and can't delete them. It's exactly the same with my Sent and Trash folders. I like a nice clean Mailbox - this isn't good for my OCD!
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I deleted my mail application how do I get it back?

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thanks

How to Use Pacifist to Replace Deleted OS X Applications
Insert the OS X Installer DVD into the optical drive. Use a simple utility like TinkerTool to toggle invisibility so you can see invisible items. Alternatively, open the Terminal application in your Utilities folder and at the prompt enter the following:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles Yes
Press RETURN.
To turn off the display of invisible files repeat the above command substituting No for Yes.
The install packages are located in the /System/Installation/ folder on the DVD.
Download the shareware utility Pacifist from VersionTracker or MacUpdate. Use it to extract a fresh copy of the missing item(s) from the file archives on your OS X installation DVD. The file archives are in the /System/Installations/ folder (use Go to Folder option in the Go menu of the Finder.)
Here are Four Basic ways to use Pacifist (courtesy of George Orville.)
A. Drag a .pkg icon onto the Pacifist window .....proceed to step 7.
B. Click on “Open Package ....” and navigate to package desired and click “Open” in the open/save window.....proceed to step 7.
C. Insert Mac OS X installer CD and when it mounts, navigate to .... Menu->Go->Go to Folder.
In the path field enter or paste ....
/Volumes/disc name/System/Installation/Packages (where disc name is the name of the CD/DVD that you inserted.
• Click on the "Go" button .....
• Drag a .pkg to Pacifist..... proceed to step 7.
The package you'll need will have to be discovered by trial and error, but for most applications you should start with the Essentials.pkg and/or Additional Essentials.pkg.
D. Insert your Mac OS X install disk 1 .... and open Pacifist.
1. In Pacifist, select "Open Mac OS X Install Packages" ... dialog may appear asking for disk 2, then disk 3 and finally disk 1 again.... {if DVD is not used)...If “Stop Loading” is selected...the procedure will stop!!!
2a. When loading is complete, a new window appears, click the triangle to display contents of each package...Select item and proceed to step 7.
2b. or click the “Find” icon in the Pacifist window and type the name of the software you need.
3. In the list that comes back, click the top most entry for the item that you want. ..... that is the one for the English language.
4. On the top of the Pacifist window, click “verify” .... you will probably be prompted for your password.
5. Enter checks for.... “verify permissions” and “verify file contents.” and click “verify” ....enter password when prompted.... you will get back output which may look like this:
20 files were scanned.
20 of 20 files were present on the hard disk.
0 of 20 files had file permissions that did not match those specified in the package.
0 of 20 files had checksums that did not match those specified in the package.
6. Click “close”. Go to step 7.
Extract or Install........
7. In the Toolbar (upper left), you now have the option to extract or install. Click a file in the lower list and those two icons will be enabled.
8. If “Extract to...” is selected.... navigate to the location where the file will be placed, select “choose”, select “extract” in new dialog that appears,authenicate , if prompted, click “OK”.
9. In the next dialog, click “Extract”.
10. If “Install” is selected... dialog will appear with the location/path of the installed software. Click “Install”
11. Type in your password, click “OK”
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Stop
Leave original alone
Update ..... Default selection
Replace .... Replace option should only be used on full install packages

Mail downloaded headers but not content...

...and now won't download message headers either ...
i can't receive new mail and i can't get to the content from any mail. i'm at a loss. here's what i did andexperienced today:
1) deleted 'old' mail account (hadn't pulled new mail since 11/2 9AM)
2) created 'new' mail account 11/3 10:15AM
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- 'new' did not download any message content for any mail
3) sent test message at 10:18 from another account to 'new'
- "another test" did not appear in mail client
- "another test" did appear in webmail client
4) synchronized 'new' in mail client
- no changes ... 'another test' did not appear
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i'm having the same issue on my MBP and G4 Dual 1.25.
the MBP is running 10.4.10.
the G4 is running leopard.
the mail is served by an xserv running 10.4.X.
thanks in advance for advice/direction.
ken.

Turns out the prefs were corrupted after the Leopard install on the G4. Then the prefs sync'd with the MBP and caused the problem. Had to scrap prefs, etc. and recreate my mail accounts.

Deleting Directory "Mail Downloads"

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