Mail.app keeps saving downloads to Mail Downloads rather than ~/Downloads

Question

Level 1

8 points

Mail.app keeps saving downloads to Mail Downloads rather than ~/Downloads

I've modified Mail.app preferences to save downloads in the main downloads folder, ~/Downloads. But every time I double click an attachment, it still downloads to the wrong folder, Mail Downloads, in a terribly nested directory, ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Mail Downloads.

I've tried restarting Mail.app, I've tried restarting Mac OS X, to no avail. This is starting to smell like a constant's set somewhere, instead of referring to the current application preference.

Mail.app-OTHER, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Aug 1, 2013 7:51 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 1, 2013 10:59 AM in response to apennebaker

Log a bug report with Apple, and (if you're inclined, pending Apple resolution, and comfortable with the command line) consider setting up the mail downloads directory as a link to a subdirectory of your downloads directory. Exit Mail.app and then "repark" (link) the downloads folder somewhere easier to access.

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Answer 2

twtwtw

Level 5

4,936 points

Aug 1, 2013 11:04 AM in response to apennebaker

When you get an email with attachments, mail automatically unpacks attachments into those funky nested folders. If you open the attachment directly that's what it opens, because it assumes that you just want to look at the attachment, not save it. on the other hand, if you right-click and explicitly choose download it will download a copy into the downloads folder where you expect it.

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Answer 3

MacProf

Level 1

4 points

Oct 31, 2013 7:54 AM in response to twtwtw

Thanks so much, twtwtw. Great information!

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Answer 4

Nov 25, 2015 8:49 AM in response to twtwtw

But you shouldn't have to do that. It should ask you where you want it or at the very least let you set where you want files downloaded to in the preferences.

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