how to delete messages on mac

One of the great benefits of the Apple ecosystem is that it has iMessage on any Apple device, including your Mac. However, if you think it’s causing clutter, privacy issues, or taking up too much storage, there are several ways to delete messages on Mac.

I have several solutions, whether you want to delete some bulky attachments, single or multiple messages, or full conversations. Just scroll down to find the one that suits your bill.

Before you delete a text message on Mac

Your Mac receives the message because iCloud sync is enabled. And if you make any changes to Messages on the Messages app on Mac, it’ll sync across all your Apple devices. If you want to delete messages from all devices, skip this section.

However, if you want to delete messages or conversations from Mac and not other devices, here’s what you need to do first.

1. launch messages,
2. Click messages Select More from the top menu choice (or type ,).
3. go to @iMessage tab,
4. uncheck Enable Messages in iCloud.
5. In the pop-up, click disable this device,

Any changes made from now on will only apply to your Mac.

Comment: If you re-enable Messages, everything will sync with the previous settings (as it is on iCloud backup), so be careful.

How to Delete Messages on MacBook from Messages App

The Messages app on Mac has two sections:

• Conversations – The side of the message window that lists all conversations.
• copy – All messages received in a conversation, including texts, photos, videos, etc., are shown on the right.

Now that these basics have been covered, let’s move on to the gist of this article.

Delete selected messages or attachments

1. open to Message Thread.
2. Right-click or Control-click message bubble,
3. Choose delete,
4. Click delete To confirm the action again.

how to delete multiple messages

1. In the message thread, click a message.
2. Now, press and hold Command key (⌘) and click multiple items to select them.
   Comment: You can also press and hold the first item, then drag across all the items.
3. press delete from keyboard.

pay attention: Unfortunately, the right-click and delete methods do not work when multiple messages are selected; You can use the keyboard or Finder (method mentioned below).

delete all messages on macbook

1. Choose Conversation,
2. Click to edit from the top menu bar.
3. to select clear the transcript,
4. Click clear to confirm.

The conversation remains in your sidebar, but all content is removed from the transcript.

how to delete a conversation

1. In Messages app, right click or control-click Conversation.
2. Click delete conversation,
3. Confirm action, click delete,

Optionally,

• Slide the conversation to the left with two fingers (with the trackpad or Magic Mouse) and select delete,

• Select a conversation, click file Select More from the menu bar delete conversation,

Delete All Messages on Mac Using Terminal

1. to start terminal From:
   • launch pad – Search terminal and click Application
   • headlines – search for terminal and click Application
   • Finder – go for Application utilities terminal
2. To erase,
   • to talk Use the command: rm –r ~/Library/Messages/chat
   • enclosure Use the command: rm –r ~/Library/Messages/Attachments/??

Notably, the result of these command lines is permanent and will delete all chat transcripts and attachments respectively.

How to Delete All Messages Via Finder

1. In Finder, click Go from the menu bar.
2. Choose go to folder either (Shift)+ (Command)+ G . click on,
3. Paste it ~/Library/Messages in the window.
4. Select the following files and move them to the Trash:
   • chat.db
   • chat.db-wall
   • chat.db-shm
   • Attachments (if you want to delete all attachments)
5. open to Garbage and empty it.

note, To specifically remove an attachment, paste ~/Library/Messages/Attachments and select files.

Sort and delete message attachments

1. press apple icon choose more from the menu About Mac,
2. go to storage tab and click manage,
3. From the sidebar, select messages,
4. Here you will see all the message attachments.
5. Choose
   • One: Click it.
   • Diverse: Click and drag or hold slip away ,I,order (e) and Click,
   • All: press Permission ,I, a Or click and drag from first to last.
6. Click delete delete To confirm again.

pay attention,

• Double-click the attachment to preview it in a quick way.
• If you only want to delete large attachments, click Shape Columns to align them in descending order and then delete them.

Auto-delete text messages on Mac

Once you’ve cleared your Messages app from unwanted messages, you can schedule them to auto-delete so you don’t have to repeat these processes.

1. In the Messages app, click messages like either type ,
2. go to Mango tab.
3. press keep message menu and select any of the options:

signing off

Decluttering certainly takes some time, but there is no turning back once you embrace digital minimalism. And whether your goal is minimalism or privacy, I hope you have found a suitable way to delete messages on Mac.

For more interesting messaging hacks, try these articles: