Q: How to delete mail app

Mail is intricately intertwined with Contacts, Address Book, Messaging, calendars, reminders, and Sync services. If you don't want to use Apple's Mail program, ignore it. It is far, far too much trouble to delete it, and it is likely to cause Update problems in the future if it is missing.

Mac OS X has over 250,000 files. Deleting a few dozen will not make any sort of measurable difference.

Change the setting for "Default email reader" in Mail's "General" preference.

I am using yahoo, what do I put in the default email reader?

Funny how you can't get into prefs without an account setup:

Thanks Malcom. I am trying to avoid the Mail.app from opening itself and launching at what seems like random times. (I think it's launching in response to old reminders I set up and can't delete.) I followed your instrux (I think) but the Mail.app keeps popping up, despite these settings. How do I stop it once and for all? I've been "just ignoring it" (as Grant suggested) for years, and I'm sick of it. It's one more distraction/aggravation I don't need. Thank you!

Best way is to delete the actual unix executable inside the Mail app.

To do this, right-click (Control + mouse click) on the mail app icon then select 'Show Package Contents' You'll see the Contents folder then down inside that is a folder named MacOS - inside that is the binary (little grey square icon that says 'exec' on it) that simply is the actual 'nut' of the program.

Copy the binary into a backup folder somewhere for safekeeping (you never know when you'll need it.. seriously if you have to put it back, you'll be glad to have it, its a bigger PITA to dig into an installer package than it is worth - edited to add: Make a text-edit file and put it inside with the binary and jot down where it goes. I have forgotten where files like this reside inside larger application environments and leaving instructions - even when they seem simple like this one - save a lot of time and keep a lot of misery at bay) and then take that original binary and put it in the trash. You'll have to put in your password to authenticate, and it is done.

Mail will not open and you have the benefit of keeping all the Mail resource files in place for the other apps that use them.

Deb.

Sorry, but the OS won't allow the exec file which you write about to be deleted. The file won't even stay unlocked. I'm using "El Capitan. Man, how I hate the "Mail" program.

fentonfromcollegeville wrote:

 

Sorry, but the OS won't allow the exec file which you write about to be deleted. The file won't even stay unlocked. I'm using "El Capitan. Man, how I hate the "Mail" program.

System Integrity Protection (SIP) will not allow core componets to be deleted.  Too many people delete things thinkking it is a good idea, and brick their Macs, OR malware replaces core components with modified versions and trick users into doing things.

The smart thing to do is run Mail, and change the Preferences to specify a different app as your default mail app, then just forget about Apple Mail.  Don't configure it, Do not setup any accounts, for Mail, etc...

If you insist on deleting SIP protected things, then Google "OS X Disable SIP" and you will find instructions on how to get SIP out of your way.

PS.  It would also help if you asked El Capitan questions in an El Capitan forum, instead of mixing your stuff in a Mavericks forum that has a different execution environment.