Mail data is shown to take up 5.6TB on my iMac's 500 GB SSD?

Question

Mail data is shown to take up 5.6TB on my iMac's 500 GB SSD?

Can anyone explain to me how Mail data shows taking up 5.6TB of my iMac’s 500 GB SSD? If I delete mail messages they show up again within a few seconds. Apple support got rid of my POP account and set me up with SMPT but POP has returned as well though I cannot find how to get rid of it again.

New operating system seems to add at least one mailbox labeled “import” or “recovered” every day. Cannot delete them either.

iMac 21.5″ 4K, 13.7

Posted on Mar 14, 2025 3:04 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Old Toad

Level 10

218,112 points

Mar 14, 2025 3:38 PM in response to lmwellenstein

Where are you seeing that Mail is taking up 5.56TB of space?

To confirm go to the Users/Home/Library/Mail and see what the Mail folder's size is. Also go in the Mail folder and check the size of the A10 folder.

Additionally, boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE 1: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following;

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

NOTE 2: if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode. This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will insure a successful boot into Safe Mode.

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Answer 2

den.thed

Level 10

97,122 points

Mar 14, 2025 4:05 PM in response to lmwellenstein

The EtreCheckPro shows that you have 115.82 GB Free Space and 118.97 GB of Available Space.

What App or Utility are you using to produce the incorrect Pie Chart...?

If it is TechTool Pro, it is wrong and you should uninstall and not use TechTool Pro.

Also while MalWareBytes is OK, it should only be used for an occasional scan of you system.

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Answer 3

Mar 14, 2025 7:33 PM in response to den.thed

That Pie chart is generated by Etre Check Pro. Also, below you see the results from About This Mac - More Info - Storage Settings. At the top you see on my Mac HD has 5.61 TB of 499.96 GB used. Now go down to Mail and you will find that 5.56TB of the mentioned 5.61TB is taken up by Mail. Totally bizarre and beyond understanding by 1 ½ hrs with it at Apple Genius Bar and 2 hrs on the phone with an Apple Support person they had call me in regard to this. I want to purchase a new mac but if I do - how can I be certain that I'm not going to transfer this issue to the new machine?