Messages taking up space on a Mac is nearly always about attachments: every photo, video, audio message and file you've sent or received, in every conversation, for as long as you've used Messages. Messages keeps a copy of each one in ~/, and nothing leaves until you delete it.
The fix happens inside Messages. Delete the largest attachments from a conversation's details, or from the Messages category in Storage settings. Remove conversations you don't need, then empty Recently Deleted, where deleted items wait for 30 days.
To stop the growth, set Keep messages to a shorter period than Forever, or turn on Messages in iCloud, which keeps only the most recently used messages on your Mac and the rest in iCloud.
Two warnings before you start. Never delete files from the Attachments folder in Finder; Messages can't follow the change, and conversations end up with missing attachments. And with Messages in iCloud on, anything you delete on your Mac is deleted on your iPhone and iPad too.
Why Messages takes up so much space on a Mac
Messages looks like a text app, so its size surprises people. The text itself is small. What fills the disk is everything else people send.
What does Messages keep on your Mac?
Messages keeps two things in its own folder in your Library: the conversations themselves, and a copy of every attachment in them. The attachments sit in folders with coded names that only Messages understands, so you can't tell from Finder which photo belongs to which chat.
Attachments are the photos, videos, audio messages and files in your conversations. When you save a photo from a conversation to Photos, Photos imports its own copy, and the original stays in Messages too.
Why does it keep growing?
Messages removes nothing by itself unless you ask it to. With Keep messages set to Forever and Messages in iCloud off, every attachment this Mac has received stays on it, including those from group chats you've long since muted.
If you've used the same Apple Account for years and turned on Messages in iCloud on a new Mac, your history can arrive from iCloud too. How much of it stays on the Mac depends on how recently you've opened it, as the section on Messages in iCloud explains.
Do texts from your iPhone count too?
Yes, if you've turned on text message forwarding. With it on, SMS, MMS and RCS messages from people who don't use iPhone appear on your Mac as well as your phone. Photos and videos in those messages are kept on the Mac like any other attachment.
Which attachments take the most room?
Usually videos. A video takes far more room than a photo, and a busy family or friends' group can share several a day. Large documents and recordings you've kept come next.
Audio messages are usually small, and they often don't stay at all. Messages removes an audio message from the conversation 2 minutes after you play it, unless you click Keep.
How to see how much space Messages uses
Check the size before you start deleting. If Messages holds a gigabyte or two, there are better places to look. If it holds tens of gigabytes, it's often one of the largest things on the Mac.
In Storage settings
Choose Apple menu › System Settings, click General, then click Storage. Find Messages in the list of categories. Apple describes it as the content of your Messages conversations, including attachments.
Click the information button next to Messages to see the attachments it counts, with their sizes. You can select items you don't need and click Delete, as the next section describes. In macOS 26 Tahoe, Storage settings works the same way.
Is Messages part of System Data?
No. Storage settings counts Messages' conversations and attachments in their own Messages category, not in System Data. If System Data is the large number on your Mac, Messages isn't the reason, however big your chats are.
On a Mac with several user accounts, each person's Messages lives in their own home folder. Their attachments are counted under Other Users & Shared in your view, and they're the ones to delete them, from their own account.
In Finder, to look but not touch
In Finder, choose Go › Go to Folder, type ~/ and press Return. Select the Attachments folder and choose File › Get Info to see its size. Don't open, move or delete anything inside it.
Why the two numbers differ
Storage settings counts everything that belongs to Messages, conversations included, and works its figures out in the background. Finder's Get Info measures one folder when you ask. Items in Recently Deleted still count in both, until they're removed for good.
| Where to look | What it shows | Can you delete there? |
|---|---|---|
| Storage settings, Messages category | Messages' total and its attachments | Yes, attachment by attachment |
| A conversation's details in Messages | That conversation's photos, links and files | Yes, one or many at a time |
| View › Recently Deleted in Messages | Deleted conversations still taking space | Yes, permanently |
| Finder, the Attachments folder | The folder's size | No: changing it breaks conversations |
Delete large attachments in Messages
Deleting attachments rather than whole conversations keeps the text of your chats and removes what takes the space. Messages lets you do it from inside each conversation, or from Storage settings.
How do you delete attachments from a conversation?
- Open Messages and select a conversation.
- Click the contact or group icon at the top of the conversation.
- Scroll to a category, such as Photos, and click Show more.
- Shift-click each item you want to remove.
- Control-click one of the selected items and choose Delete.
Start with the conversations you share the most photos and videos in, often family and friends' groups. That's usually where most of the space is.
How do you delete attachments from Storage settings?
Open System Settings › General › Storage and click the information button next to Messages. Look for the largest attachments first. Select the ones you don't need, then click Delete and confirm.
This route is quicker for a big cleanup, because it shows attachments from every conversation in one list. It's less good at telling you which conversation each one came from, so if you're unsure, delete from the conversation instead.
Find a photo or file with search
Click in the search field at the top of Messages' sidebar and type a name, a word or something in a picture, such as "car". Results are grouped into conversations, links, photos, locations and documents. Select a result and the conversation opens at that point, where you can delete it.
Search is the quickest way to find one large file you remember, such as a video from a particular trip, without scrolling through years of a conversation.
Save the ones you want to keep
Before you delete, save anything you want to keep. In a conversation, click the save button next to a photo, a stack of photos or a video to add it to your Photos library. Or drag it from the conversation's details to your Desktop or a folder in Finder.
Saving to Photos makes a separate copy in your Photos library, so the space moves rather than disappears. If the point is to free space, save only what you'll want again.
Does deleting an attachment remove it from Photos?
No. A photo you saved from Messages to Photos is a separate copy in your Photos library. Deleting the attachment in Messages leaves the copy in Photos untouched, and deleting the copy in Photos leaves the attachment in Messages.
That also means saving everything to Photos before a cleanup only moves the space from one category to another. Save the photos you'd be sorry to lose, not every picture in the chat.
Delete single messages
To delete one message, photo or file from a conversation, select it in the transcript, press Delete, then click Delete. This works for text, photos, videos, files, links, audio messages and emoji alike.
Deleting a message removes it from your conversation, not from anyone else's. To retract a message from the other person's device too, Messages offers Undo Send for 2 minutes after you send it, and nothing after that.
Delete whole conversations
Old conversations you'll never read again can go in one step, attachments included. It's the fastest way to clear a chat that was mostly photos.
How do you delete a conversation?
- Open Messages.
- Select the conversation in the sidebar. To delete several, Command-click to select them all.
- Control-click, then choose Delete.
With a trackpad or Magic Mouse, you can also swipe left with two fingers on a conversation in the sidebar, then click the delete button. To find an old conversation, search for the person's name or a word you remember.
Does deleting a conversation affect the other people in it?
No. Deleting changes only your own Messages conversations, not those of the people you were talking to. A group chat carries on for everyone else, and if anyone writes to it again, the new messages arrive as usual.
What about messages from unknown senders?
They keep their attachments until you delete them, like any other conversation. If you screen unknown senders, Messages filters their messages to a separate list, which is easy to forget. Check it and clear it now and then.
Why deleting doesn't free space right away
Deleted messages and attachments go to Recently Deleted first, and they keep their space there for up to 30 days. That's what lets you recover a conversation you deleted by mistake, and it's why your free space doesn't move after a big cleanup.
How do you empty Recently Deleted in Messages?
- In Messages, choose View › Recently Deleted.
- Select the conversations whose messages you want to remove for good.
- Click Delete, then follow the instructions on screen.
If you don't see Recently Deleted in the View menu, you may not have deleted a conversation in the last 30 days. In macOS 26 Tahoe, select a conversation in Recently Deleted and click Delete, or click Recover to bring it back.
What happens after 30 days?
After 30 days, Messages removes deleted messages from all your devices. With Messages in iCloud, Apple says they're deleted permanently from iCloud after 40 days. Within the 30 days, choosing Recover brings a conversation back, on every device where Messages in iCloud is on.
| Step | Where the item is | Takes space on the Mac? | Can you get it back? |
|---|---|---|---|
| In a conversation | Messages | Yes | Not needed |
| Deleted, under 30 days | Recently Deleted | Yes | Yes, with Recover |
| Deleted from Recently Deleted | Gone from this Mac | No | Only from a backup |
| Deleted with Undo Send | Gone for both of you | No | No |
Keep messages: let Messages clear old conversations
The Keep messages setting is the one switch that stops Messages from growing without end. It removes conversations, and every attachment in them, once they're older than the period you choose.
How do you change Keep messages?
- In Messages, choose Messages › Settings.
- Click General.
- Click the Keep messages pop-up menu and choose a period shorter than Forever, such as 30 Days.
You can set the same option in System Settings: click your name at the top of the sidebar, click iCloud, then Messages, where you can choose how long to keep messages. From then on, conversations older than the period are removed automatically.
What does Keep messages remove?
Whole conversations older than the period, text and attachments together. It doesn't sort the photos you liked from the rest. With Messages in iCloud on, removing a conversation removes it on your other devices too.
Before you change it, scroll back through the conversations you care about and save the photos and files you want. After that, the oldest history is gone for good, unless a backup holds it.
Which setting suits you?
If you treat Messages as a running record and want the history, keep Forever and prune attachments by hand a few times a year. If Messages is just for today's plans, a short period keeps it small with no effort at all.
There's a middle path: keep Forever, but delete the attachments of the largest group chats. That keeps every word of every conversation and frees much of the space.
Messages in iCloud: keep the history, not the gigabytes
Messages in iCloud stores your conversations in iCloud and keeps them in step across your iPhone, iPad and Mac. For storage, the important part is what stays on the Mac: Apple says only the most recently accessed messages are stored locally.
How do you turn on Messages in iCloud?
- In Messages, choose Messages › Settings.
- Click iMessage.
- Select Enable Messages in iCloud.
Or open System Settings, click your name, click iCloud, then Messages, and turn on Use on this Mac. Messages in iCloud needs two-factor authentication and iCloud Keychain, and the same Apple Account on every device.
What happens when you first turn it on?
Messages already stored in iCloud become available on your Mac, and new messages you receive there are stored in iCloud. Apple says it can take some time for all your messages to appear on each device; you can keep sending and receiving while it catches up.
What does Messages in iCloud cost?
Your messages, with their photos and other attachments, count toward your iCloud storage. Every Apple Account includes 5 GB, which a long message history with videos can fill on its own. Apple's paid iCloud+ plans start at 50 GB for $0.99 a month in the United States.
The other cost is that deleting becomes global. With Messages in iCloud on, deleting a message or conversation on your Mac deletes it on every device where Messages in iCloud is on. iCloud Photos works the same way, as the post on deleting photos from a Mac explains.
Can you keep Messages on an external drive?
Apple doesn't document a way to move Messages' folder to another disk, as it does for the Photos library. Moving the folder yourself risks the same result as deleting files in it: conversations with missing attachments. Messages in iCloud is Apple's way to keep a long history without keeping it all on the Mac.
Where these settings are in each macOS version
Messages' own settings have barely moved in recent years; System Settings' iCloud pane has. If your Mac runs an older version, look here.
| Setting | macOS 27 and macOS 26 | Earlier versions |
|---|---|---|
| Messages in iCloud, in Messages | Messages › Settings › iMessage | Before Ventura: Messages › Preferences › iMessage |
| Messages in iCloud, in System Settings | Your name › iCloud › Messages, under Saved to iCloud | In Sonoma or earlier, under Apps Using iCloud |
| Keep messages | Messages › Settings › General | Before Ventura: Messages › Preferences › General |
| Messages' size | System Settings › General › Storage | Before Ventura: About This Mac › Storage |
Can you delete messages on your Mac but keep them on your iPhone?
Not while Messages in iCloud is on for both: a delete on one is a delete on all. To keep separate histories, turn off Messages in iCloud for this Mac only. In Messages' iMessage settings, deselect Enable Messages in iCloud, and choose to disable it for just your Mac.
From then on, what you delete on the Mac stays deleted only on the Mac. The trade-off is that the Mac no longer gets your history from iCloud, and its own copy of everything it keeps counts against the Mac's disk, not iCloud.
| On this Mac | Where messages are kept | What a delete does | Space on the Mac |
|---|---|---|---|
| Messages in iCloud on | iCloud, with recent ones on the Mac | Deletes on every device with it on | Only recently used messages |
| Messages in iCloud off | On this Mac only | Deletes on this Mac only | Everything this Mac has kept |
| Keep messages shorter than Forever | Either of the above | Removes older conversations automatically | Only the chosen period |
Which approach fits your Mac?
The right mix depends on two questions: do you want to keep your message history, and do you use Messages in iCloud? Find the row that sounds like you.
| Your situation | Best first step | What you give up |
|---|---|---|
| You want every conversation, and Messages in iCloud is off | Delete the largest attachments in busy group chats | Those attachments, on this Mac |
| You want every conversation, and iCloud has room | Turn on Messages in iCloud | iCloud storage for your history |
| You only need recent conversations | Set Keep messages to a shorter period | Older conversations, on every synced device |
| You want the Mac's history to differ from your iPhone's | Turn off Messages in iCloud for this Mac only | Syncing between the Mac and your other devices |
| Messages is small next to other categories | Leave it, and look elsewhere | Nothing |
A worked example
Say Storage settings shows Messages at 40 GB on a Mac with little room left, and Messages in iCloud is on. Deleting a lot of attachments here would delete them on your iPhone too, so that's not the first step.
First, check the iCloud storage bar: open System Settings, click your name, then iCloud. If iCloud has room, Messages there already keeps only recently used messages on the Mac. What remains is mostly recent, so the gain is in deleting what you truly don't want, on every device at once.
If you'd rather keep everything on the iPhone and shrink only the Mac, turn off Messages in iCloud for this Mac only, then delete attachments here. Either way, finish by emptying Recently Deleted, or the space won't come back for 30 days.
What if your iCloud storage is full?
The iCloud pane in System Settings shows a status circle next to your storage. When it says storage is full, new items don't save to iCloud, and when it's almost full, some apps may fail to sync. While it's full, Messages can't store more of your history there.
Make room in iCloud first, or choose a larger plan. Deleting large attachments you don't want frees space in both places at once, since with Messages in iCloud the same delete reaches iCloud and the Mac.
What not to do
The Attachments folder looks like the obvious place to clean: one folder, many gigabytes, in a known place. It's the one approach that reliably causes trouble.
| Don't | Why | Instead |
|---|---|---|
Delete files in ~/Library/Messages/Attachments | Conversations keep pointing at files that are gone | Delete attachments in Messages |
| Move the whole Messages folder to the Trash | It holds your conversations, not just attachments | Delete conversations in Messages |
| Paste Terminal commands from a web page | They can delete without the Trash, with no undo | Use Messages and Storage settings |
| Turn on Keep messages before saving what you want | Old conversations are removed, attachments and all | Save photos and files first |
| Delete on the Mac to save Mac space, with Messages in iCloud on | It deletes on your iPhone too | Let Messages in iCloud keep only recent messages locally |
Is it safe to delete the Attachments folder?
No. Messages keeps track of the files in that folder itself. Removing them in Finder leaves conversations with missing attachments, and Messages can't put them back. The catalog's Messages attachments entry is rated Review first for that reason: it's your own data, and removing it goes through Messages.
Before a big cleanup
A large cleanup is hard to undo once Recently Deleted is emptied. A few minutes first saves regret later.
- Check whether Messages in iCloud is on, so you know whether your deletes reach your iPhone.
- Save the photos, videos and documents you want, to Photos or to a folder.
- Make sure a recent backup of your Mac exists, if you use Time Machine.
- Delete attachments and conversations in Messages.
- Wait a day or two, then empty Recently Deleted once nothing's missing.
Don't rely on Messages as your only copy
If a conversation holds photos or documents that matter, keep them somewhere else too: in Photos, in a folder you back up, or both. A change to Keep messages, a mistaken delete or a sync problem can remove them, and Recently Deleted only covers 30 days.
Other messaging apps on your Mac
Messages isn't the only chat app that keeps media. Other apps keep their own databases and attachments, each in its own folder, and each has its own way to clear them. As with Messages, use the app, not Finder.
WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal
- WhatsApp keeps its message database and media in a shared folder in your Library. In WhatsApp, open a chat, click its name, click Media, Links, and Docs, then select items and choose Delete for me. See WhatsApp chats and media.
- Telegram keeps a cache of the media you've viewed. Cloud chats stay on Telegram's servers, so clear the cache in Telegram's Settings › Data and Storage › Storage Usage. See Telegram data and media cache.
- Signal Desktop keeps its own encrypted copy of your messages and attachments. Delete chats you don't need in Signal. See Signal Desktop messages and attachments.
Mail keeps attachments too
Mail is the other Apple app that collects attachments. When you open one, Mail saves a temporary copy so another app can open it, and copies from messages you keep can stay behind. The Mail Downloads entry explains that folder; the attachments themselves stay in your mailboxes.
Why their folders aren't safe to delete either
Each of these folders holds the app's history on this Mac, not just a cache. Removing WhatsApp's folder removes your chat history from this Mac; removing Telegram's also removes secret chats, which exist only on the device where they started; removing Signal's means linking Signal Desktop to your phone again.
- Messages attachments5–100 GB · Review first
- WhatsApp chats and media2–50 GB · Review first
- Telegram data and cache1–50 GB · Review first
Typical ranges on Macs that have these apps at all, from the research behind the app's catalog. Many Macs have far less; the high end is years of photos and videos in busy group chats.
Keep Messages from filling up again
Messages grows a little with every photo anyone sends you, so a short routine does more than an occasional big cleanup.
- Decide once how long to keep messages, and set Keep messages to match.
- Every month or two, open the details of your busiest group chats and delete videos you've already watched.
- Save the photos you want to Photos as they arrive, so the conversation isn't your only copy.
- Check View › Recently Deleted after a big cleanup, and empty it once you're sure.
- Look at the Messages category in Storage settings now and then, to catch growth early.
When is Messages worth the effort?
When it's among the largest categories in Storage settings. If Messages holds a few gigabytes and your disk is full, the space is somewhere else: the guide to freeing up space on a Mac covers the other usual suspects.
If Photos is the larger category, see what's really in the Photos library instead.
How much space should Messages take?
There's no right size. A Mac that has kept every conversation for years, with Messages in iCloud off, can hold a lot; one with Messages in iCloud on keeps mostly recent ones. What matters is whether Messages is crowding out things you need room for.
Compare it with the other categories in Storage settings. If it's in the top three, it's worth an afternoon. If it isn't, your time is better spent on whatever is.
Does clearing Messages make a Mac faster?
No. Removing attachments frees disk space, and that's all; it doesn't change how fast your Mac runs. It's worth doing when you need the room, not as a tune-up.
How the app does it
Wombit is a native Mac app that shows what's using your storage and explains every item in plain language. It scans the whole disk or any folder, reading only names, sizes and dates. File names and paths never leave your Mac.
Messages' Attachments folder appears on the map with its real size, explained from the catalog's Messages attachments entry: what it holds, why removing files there breaks conversations, and how to delete attachments in Messages and set Keep messages instead.
It's Review first. The app doesn't move the folder or anything inside it; it points you to Messages' own steps instead. The same goes for WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal's folders, each explained with its own app's steps.
~/
Library/ Messages/ Attachments Photos, videos, audio messages and files sent and received in Messages on this Mac.
Review first · Explained only: the app shows you how
~/
Library/ Group Containers/ group.net.whatsapp.WhatsApp.shared WhatsApp's chat history and the photos, videos, voice messages and documents from your chats on this Mac.
Review first · Explained only: the app shows you how
~/
Library/ Group Containers/ *.ru.keepcoder.Telegram Telegram's local copy of your chats and the photos, videos and files it has downloaded.
Review first · Explained only: the app shows you how
macOS keeps Messages' folder private until you allow an app to read it. With Full Disk Access, the scan measures it; without it, the app lists the folder as one it couldn't read rather than guessing.
The scan, the map, the explanations, System Data explained and Apple Data are free. Cleanup, the Apple Data actions and the uninstaller are PRO: one payment of $4.99 with lifetime access. Every Pro tool's review is free to open, so you see what would go and why before you buy.
Frequently asked questions
How do I see which Messages attachments take the most space?
Open System Settings, click General, then Storage, and click the information button next to Messages. It lists the attachments Messages keeps, with their sizes. Select the ones you don't need and click Delete.
Can I just delete the Attachments folder in ~/Library/Messages?
No. Messages keeps track of the files in that folder, and removing them in Finder leaves your conversations with missing attachments. Delete attachments in Messages or in Storage settings instead, so Messages stays in step.
Will deleting messages on my Mac delete them on my iPhone?
Yes, if Messages in iCloud is on for both. A delete on one device deletes on every device where Messages in iCloud is on. To delete only on the Mac, turn off Messages in iCloud for just this Mac first.
Why is Messages still using space after I deleted conversations?
Deleted conversations wait in Recently Deleted for up to 30 days, and they keep their space there. In Messages, choose View › Recently Deleted, select the conversations and click Delete to remove them for good.
Does Messages in iCloud save space on a Mac?
Yes. Apple says that with Messages in iCloud, your messages are stored in iCloud and only the most recently accessed ones are stored on the device. The messages and their attachments count toward your iCloud storage instead.
How do I stop Messages from keeping everything forever?
Choose Messages › Settings, click General, and change Keep messages from Forever to a shorter period, such as 30 Days. Conversations older than that, attachments included, are then removed automatically, so save anything you want first.
Does clearing Messages speed up my Mac?
No. Deleting attachments frees disk space but doesn't make your Mac run faster. It's worth doing when Messages is one of the largest categories in Storage settings and you need the room.