5 Easy Ways to Delete Messages on Mac/MacBook [Tutorial]

Messages is a built-in app of Apple. It is convenient for Apple users to sync messages and conversations on multiple devices, like Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, etc.

However, since you sync messages on multiple devices, it may be accumulated with time. Some useless messages may occupy your Mac space. And when someone uses your Mac, he can also read your messages. Do you really need so many useless messages on your Mac?

So how to delete messages on Mac? Is there a quicker and more effective way? Learn more information below!

How to Disable Messages in iCloud

Before introducing how to delete messages and conversations, we’d like to introduce how to disable messages in iCloud. If you need this tutorial, just follow it. If not, just skip to the introduction of deleting messages on Mac.

1. Open Messages.
2. Click Settings on the drop-down menu of Messages.
3. Uncheck Enabled Messages in iCloud.

How to Delete Multiple Messages on Mac

To delete multiple messages or conversations, just click on a message or conversation in the Messages app, then hold down the Command key until you have selected all the messages or conversations you want to delete. Finally right-click ＞Delete.

How to Delete All Messages on Mac via Finder

If you have a lot of messages and conversations, it can be very tedious to delete them manually via the Messages app.

In this case, using Finder can save you a lot of time and steps. And you can also delete attachments with Finder.

Here is how to use Finder to delete messages:

1. Open Finder.
2. Click Go in the drop-down menu of Finder＞Go to Folder.
3. Enter ~/Library/Messages.
4. Move the following files to the bin:

• chat.db

• chat.db-wal

• chat.db-shm

  

5. Empty Bin.

Here is how to delete attachments:

1. Open Finder.
2. Click Go in the drop-down menu of Finder ＞Go to Folder.
3. Enter ~/Library/Messages/Attachments.
4. Move the included files to the bin.
5. Empty Bin.

Also, you can delete attachments by following this: About This Mac＞Storage＞Manage＞Messages＞Right-click unwanted attachments＞click Delete.

How to Delete All Messages on Mac via Terminal

In addition, there is a quicker way for you to delete all messages.

However, it's worth noting that the -rm command is dangerous.

Misuse may lead to data loss. If you are used to and know well about Terminal, you can follow the detailed steps below:

1. Open Terminal.
2. Paste the following command: rm –r ~/Library/Messages/chat

To delete attachments, just paste this command: rm –r ~/Library/Messages/chat

How to Delete a Specific Message on Mac

To delete a specific message or conversation, you can directly delete them via the Messages app.

And here is how to delete a specific message:

1. Open the Messages app.
2. Click on the conversation that contains the specific message you want to delete.
3. Find the message you want to delete and right-click＞Delete.

Here is how to delete a specific conversation:

1. Open the Messages app.
2. Right-click on a conversation you want to delete and click Delete. / Or move your mouse directly over the conversation, and click x. / Or click on a conversation you want to delete＞find Files in the horizontal menu of the Messages app＞click Delete Conversation.

How to Automatically Delete Messages on Mac

Besides deleting messages manually, you can also set automatic deleting after a certain period. After you set it, the messages will be deleted automatically after the set time range.

And here is how to set automatic delete:

1. Open Messages.
2. Click Preferences＞General.
3. Keep Messages: Forever/ One Year/ 30 Days.

Besides the Messages app, there are many other chat apps nowadays, like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, etc.

To ensure your privacy in the safest way, you can uninstall the chat apps using BuhoCleaner after you delete messages. It helps you uninstall the chat apps completely without leaving any traces.

How to Free Up More Mac Space with BuhoCleaner

If you delete messages mainly to free up space, you can also pick a professional cleaning software to clean your Mac.

BuhoCleaner is one of the best Mac cleaners. Flash clean, app uninstall, large files cleaning, duplicates cleaning, etc. are all available in it. Just do a big cleaning for your Mac with it!

And here is how to use BuhoCleaner:

1. Free download, install, and launch BuhoCleaner.
2. Click Flash Clean on the left sidebar＞ Scan.

   

3. Click Remove.

Conclusion

In this post, we introduce how to delete messages on Mac in detail. Hope them works for your Mac. Just practice them out and do a big cleaning for your Mac!