How to reset mail to factory settings.

The e-mails will still take up space on your computer, but try going to Mail/Mailbox/Export Mailbox. If the e-mails remain in the mailbox, delete them. You can then save the exported mailbox as an archive. To access the e-mails, Mail/File/Import Mailbox.

So my email is a complete mess to begin With having like 17 different emails half of which I forgot passwords to... me being me a self proclaimed tech savvy cellphone genius decided to switch a bunch of crap around so much so that I don't even get my apple emails anymore or half of any of my emails due to me making and deleting folders and swapping places ..... yadahh yaddah

I want me email on my iphone7+ to go back to basic setup as it was before .... inbox. sent . Drafts. Etc etc

Is it too late to fix my mistake

Ps I don't have access to a mac or MacBook or computer of any sort ......

Annnnnnnnnnnd go ... lol

Linc hasn't posted in awhile. You might want to consider starting a new discussion. Since this one is marked solved and is a couple of years old, less people are likely to look at it. A new post would be much more visible. You can link to this one.

Settings/Mail - delete the accounts and add them back.

I don't know if there is still someone here but let's try.

I have a problem with this file "V2" it is really heavy (11 Gigas) I would like to lighten it or even to delete it to make Mail not so a heavy application. What can I do if I want to conserve one year of past emails in my box, for instance?

Thank you very much!

Thank you very much for your help Eric. In fact I mistaked myself and the one that is really huge is V4. As I need it I have just spent a couple of hours deleting old heavy emails with some files attached and archiving the year 2016. I clearly need to start deleting every email that is not useful if not I loose the control on my mailboxes.

My problem with the Mail app is that it takes long time to send messages and after each reboot it cannot properly set the SMTP settings for my accounts and additionally I cannot remove old settings from accounts which I am no longer using (the mail app lists them in the SMTP server list).

I would like to reset the mail app to factory settings.

I followed your steps but it doesn't help in macOS High Sierra. Do you have an updated solution ?

Thanks

Quit Mail.

In the Finder, hold down the option key and select

Go ▹ Library

from the menu bar. Move the following items from the folder that opens to the Trash (some may not exist):

• Caches/com.apple.mail
• Saved Application State/com.apple.mail.savedState
• Application Support/AddressBook/MailRecents-v4.abcdmr
• Containers/com.apple.mail
• Mail
• Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist
• Preferences/com.apple.mail.searchhistory.plist

Note: you are not moving the Mail application. You’re moving a folder named “Mail.”

Hi there,

I would also like to reset mac Mail to factory settings, but keep my folders in the left column with all the saved emails within them.

Thanks!

Steve

Export your folders to your desktop, then import them after the reset. You may have to drag the imported messages to where you want them.

I went through the steps that Linc Davis explained on June 21. From his list of folders to remove, do you know which one contains the email messages?

The e-mail messages are stored in your user library/Mail/V2.

Thanks a lot from France.

I only found and trashed the following files :

> MailRecents-v4.abcdmr

> com.apple.mail

> Mail

And my previous e-mails have been downloaded from my Gmail account. Perfect.

Thanks again !

Yes, thanks Linc, it saved me. Your the best.

Cheers

I followed these instructions but Mail wouldn't let me re-add the email account, Settings > Internet Accounts and unchecking, rechecking Mail had no affect. However, removing all the previous Mail accounts completely and re-adding them has gotten Mail working like new.