How to Delete All Messages, Conversations on Mac.
Do you want to uninstall iMessages on Mac? The Messages app lets you quickly delete unwanted text, attachments, and conversations, whether for privacy reasons, to reduce clutter, or to free up disk space.
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So, below, you will learn several ways to delete messages, conversations or all iMessages on MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac and Mac mini. But first, you can turn off Messages in iCloud.
About Messages in iCloud on Mac
Messages in iCloud lets you sync your messages (regular and iMessage) across Apple devices such as iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
However, if you have the service enabled on your macOS device, deleting any messages will also delete them from other devices that you signed in with the same Apple ID. If you want to stop this, you must deactivate Messages in iCloud.
1. Open the Messages app and select Messages> Preferences from the menu bar.
2. Click the iMessage tab and uncheck the box next to Include Messages in iCloud.
3. Select Disable This Device to disable Messages in iCloud for Mac.
If Messages to iCloud is not enabled on your Mac and you want your changes to apply to the rest of Apple devices, simply repeat the steps above, but check the box next to Enable Messages in iCloud. Then select “Sync Now”.
Delete Individual Texts and Attachments
You can remove any SMS or iMessage text from conversation threads in the Messages app on your Mac. The same goes for attachments – videos, images, links, etc. You can also select and delete multiple messages at the same time to speed up the process.
1. Open the Messages app.
2. Select the conversation thread from the sidebar.
3. Hold down the Control key or right-click the pop-up message or attachment in the text to the right. Then select “Delete”.
If you want to delete multiple messages at the same time, hold down the Command key and select items. Then Control-click or right-click any of the selected messages and choose Delete.
4. Click the “Delete” button to confirm.
5. Repeat these steps for any messages from other conversation threads that you want to delete. Try using the search bar at the top of the sidebar to find specific texts and attachments faster.
Delete Space-Consuming Attachments
If you want to save space on Mac just by deleting large iMessage attachments, don’t waste time digging through the conversation threads in Messages. Instead, use the Storage Management app on macOS to quickly remove them from local storage.
1. Open the Apple menu and choose About This Mac.
2. Go to the “Storage” tab and select “Manage”.
3. Select “Messages” in the sidebar and select the “Size” column to sort attachments by size.
4. Select the attachments you want to remove (hold Command to select multiple items) and select Remove.
Tip: You can use Quick Look to preview attachments. Just select an item and press the spacebar.
5. Select “Delete” to confirm.
Delete Entire Conversation Threads
In the Messages app, you can delete all messages in a conversation, as well as the thread itself. This is a quick way to delete old chats and iMessage spam.
1. Open messages.
2. Control-hold or right-click the conversation in the sidebar. If you can’t find a conversation, use the search bar at the top of the sidebar to filter by contact or group name.
3. Select “Delete Conversation”.
4. Select “Delete” to confirm the deletion of the entire conversation.
If you want to send a message to the same contact or group later, you must create a new conversation by clicking the New Message button at the top of the Messages sidebar.
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Clear Conversation Transcripts Only
Alternatively, you can delete all messages in the transcript, leaving the thread visible in the Messages sidebar. This way you will be able to send messages later without having to create a new conversation from scratch.
1. Open the Messages app.
2. Select a conversation in the sidebar.
3. Choose Edit> Clear Transcript from the menu bar.
4. Select “Clear” to confirm.
Automatically Set Up Messages for Deletion
By default, the Messages app on your Mac stores texts and iMessage attachments indefinitely. However, you can tell the Messages app to delete your messages after a specified period of time. This avoids clutter and helps conserve disk space.
1. Open the Messages app.
2. Select Messages> Preferences from the menu bar.
3. Open the drop-down menu next to Keep Messages and select 30 Days or 1 Year from the menu bar.
4. On the Delete old messages? in the pop-up window select “Delete”.
The Messages app will instantly delete all messages prior to the selected duration. It will also continuously delete any messages as soon as they reach the time limit.
Delete All Messages on Mac
If you want to delete all SMS and iMessages texts on Mac, you don’t need to carefully delete every conversation individually. Instead, you can get rid of everything by moving the files and folders containing your messages to the trash.
Important: If you are using Messages in iCloud, all deleted messages will reappear on your Mac. To avoid this, be sure to disable the service before starting work (instructions at the beginning of this manual).
1. Hold down the Control key or right-click the Messages icon in the Dock and choose Quit.
2. Open Finder and choose Go> Go To Folder from the menu bar.
3. Enter the following path and press Enter:
~ / Library / Messages
3. In the Finder window that appears, select the following folder and files while holding down the Command key:
Attachments chat.db chat.db-shm chat .db-wal
5. Restart your Mac and open the Messages app again.
Advice. You can also turn off the Messages app on Mac and stop receiving messages entirely if you want.
Cut Down the Clutter in Your Messages
As you just saw, you have several approaches to remove unwanted texts, attachments and iMessage conversations on Mac. Just take the approach that works best for you. While you are doing this, you can also find out about deleting unwanted messages on your iPhone and iPad.
How to Delete All Messages, Conversations on Mac
How to Delete All Messages, Conversations on Mac