How to delete messages on your Mac and keep them on your iPhone

How we know

The cross-device delete rule is Apple’s Messages guide for Mac. So are the attachment steps, and the Recently Deleted timing: up to 30 days to recover, removed from all your devices after 30 days, permanently deleted from iCloud after 40 days (Apple Support).

Turning the feature off on one Mac is Apple’s too. The current iCloud guide says to open Messages > Settings, click iMessage, and deselect Enable Messages in iCloud. You can turn it off for every device, or for this Mac only (Apple Support). Apple’s Messages in iCloud page names the two buttons: Disable This Device, and Disable All (Apple Support).

The Storage pane is published reporting, dated July 3, 2024. Michael Tsai points out that System Settings > General > Storage is about space on this Mac, so the Messages row looks local. The confirmation shows a hard drive and how much space you would free. He quotes Ryan Jones: deleting iMessage media from that screen also deletes it from the cloud, with Messages in iCloud on and Keep messages set to Forever. Tsai’s conclusion is that the files are deleted from iCloud and from your other devices (Michael Tsai).

Finder is separate from those guides. Apple does not document deleting ~/Library/Messages/Attachments in Finder. The reports linked below are posts by individual people on MacRumors, Apple Community, and Reddit.

We have not finished a Super Duper Space test of Messages in iCloud with a Mac and an iPhone, so there is no dated lab result from us here. The Super Duper Space lines below match what’s already on the site.

What happens on the iPhone

This table is for Apple’s Messages app and Apple’s Storage pane. Super Duper Space is later on this page. The Storage pane result in the first row is Tsai’s report. The other rows follow Apple’s condition: the cross-device delete applies when you use Messages in iCloud (Apple Support).

We have not run our own Mac and iPhone test of these three rows. If you later turn Messages in iCloud back on for this Mac, it syncs again, and messages you deleted locally can download back.

Turn off Messages in iCloud on this Mac, then delete

Do this before you delete anything you still want on your iPhone.

1. Open Messages.
2. Choose Messages > Settings, then click iMessage.
3. If Enable Messages in iCloud is checked, uncheck it.
4. Choose Disable This Device.

Disable This Device turns off Messages in iCloud for your Mac only. Messages on your Mac are no longer stored in iCloud. On any other device where Messages in iCloud stays on, messages continue to be stored in iCloud (Apple Support). The current iCloud guide describes that same choice as this Mac only, or every device, from Messages > Settings > iMessage (Apple Support).

Disable All is the other button. It turns Messages in iCloud off for all your devices. Messages are no longer stored in iCloud. They are stored on each device (Apple Support). Skip it when you only want space back on this Mac.

Then delete on the Mac. In a conversation, Apple’s steps are:

1. Select the conversation.
2. Click the contact or group icon at the top.
3. Scroll to a category, such as Photos, and click Show more.
4. Shift-click the items, Control-click the selection, and choose Delete.

For one message in the transcript, select it, press Delete, and click Delete in the dialog (Apple Support). Those deletes go to Recently Deleted, below.

The Storage pane is separate. Choose Apple menu > System Settings > General > Storage, click the info button next to Messages, select the files, and click Delete. Use that Delete button after Disable This Device. With Messages in iCloud still on, Tsai’s report says it removes the files from iCloud and your other devices. To see which files are large before you start, use the Messages storage guide.

The Storage pane looks local

System Settings > General > Storage is where macOS shows what is using the disk. Apple describes the Messages category as content from Messages conversations, including attachments (Apple Support). The info button opens a list you can sort by size.

The other rows on that screen free space on this Mac. Messages is the one that can reach iCloud. Ryan Jones, quoted by Michael Tsai, says deleting iMessage media from device storage deletes it from the cloud, even with Messages in iCloud on, Keep messages set to Forever, and the storage screen in front of you. The confirmation shows a hard drive and a freed-space number. Tsai’s report is that you are deleting the files from iCloud and from your other devices (Michael Tsai).

So if Enable Messages in iCloud is still checked, treat that Delete button like Delete in the Messages app. Turn the feature off on this Mac with Disable This Device, then come back to the list. The rest of the Storage screen, including the System Data number, is a different pile. See System Data on Mac.

Recently Deleted keeps them for 30 days

These rules are for messages and attachments you delete in the Messages app. Apple keeps them in Recently Deleted for up to 30 days. To get one back, choose View > Recently Deleted, select the conversation, and click Recover.

If Messages in iCloud is on, recovering on your Mac recovers it on all your devices where Messages in iCloud is on. After 30 days, Apple says the messages are removed from all your devices. After 40 days, they are permanently deleted from iCloud (Apple Support).

You can clear them sooner. Choose View > Recently Deleted, select the conversations, click Delete, and follow the instructions. With Messages in iCloud on, that is still a delete on your Mac, so Apple’s cross-device rule applies. The other person in the chat keeps their copy. Apple says the delete changes your conversations.

Keep messages can clear old chats on the iPhone too

Messages > Settings > General > Keep messages. Forever leaves conversations in place. Any other choice removes whole conversations, including every attachment, after that time. Apple says you can also set this in iCloud settings (Apple Support).

The menu sits on this Mac, and it can still reach your other devices. Michael Tsai notes that one device set to Forever loses messages if another device uses a shorter time (Michael Tsai). Pick 30 Days or 1 Year only if you are fine losing those old texts on your iPhone too. For space on this Mac alone, Disable This Device and then delete the files you choose.

The Attachments folder in Finder

The files live in ~/Library/Messages/Attachments. In Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder and paste that path. They sit in nested folders with random names, so finding one video by hand is slow. How to measure the folder is in the Messages storage guide.

Deleting files here is a gray area. Apple does not document it. On MacRumors, one person reported deleting the folder, keeping old messages on the iPhone, and seeing files download again later (MacRumors). An Apple Community thread says a deletion on a Mac with Messages in iCloud on happens everywhere (Apple Community). The question is also posted on another Apple Community thread and on r/MacOS. We cite those posts as anecdotes. Use the Messages app, or the Storage pane after Disable This Device.

If you delete files in Finder anyway: back up with Time Machine first, quit Messages, and leave chat.db and the other files in ~/Library/Messages alone.

Where Super Duper Space fits

Super Duper Space is a Mac app for the attachment files already on this Mac. It lists them with the biggest videos first, and you decide file by file. It is in private beta for macOS 14 or later. It needs Full Disk Access to read the Messages folder. It does not sign in to iCloud, and it does not change Messages settings. You choose Disable This Device yourself when you want Apple’s Delete buttons to stay on this Mac.

You pick Keep or Remove from this Mac. Remove from this Mac adds the file to your list. On the browse grid, Select does that too. Chosen files move to Ready to delete. They still use disk space there, and you can put them back until you choose Delete for good. After that, the app checks those files and reports how many are gone. The free space macOS shows can differ from the file sizes.

It removes the copy stored on your Mac. Your other devices keep their copies. If Messages in iCloud is on, a file may download again later, and we’re still testing that setup. The app reads attachment filenames, dates, and conversation labels. It does not read your message text. It does not edit chat.db, so it does not delete conversations or message text. A removed file can show up as a missing attachment in that conversation on this Mac. There is no account. More product answers are on the FAQ.

Join the private beta

Related: Messages storage, System Data on Mac, FAQ.