Mail logs getting gigantic, full HD, Apple Mail

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Level 1

6 points

Mail logs getting gigantic, full HD, Apple Mail

For over a year I've struggled with lower battery life and the fan coming on for long periods of time, and the HD getting full. Another question and answer showed this was due to mail logs and that they can be deleted from the Mail logs in the Library.

On a 1TB drive, my mail log specifically for Google had reached 365GB and I was out of space so had to find a solution. Deleting the log temporarily reclaimed the space, but then the logs just started growing all over again.

I found the solution elsewhere and it's SO simple. From within Apple Mail, select Window > Connection Doctor. In Connection Doctor you'll see a checkbox at the bottom turned on for "Log Connection Activity". Turn that off and the endless logging ceases.

Hope this helps someone else...

Posted on Jan 4, 2018 6:46 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Eric Root

Level 10

684,015 points

Jan 30, 2018 9:52 AM in response to KLfromhull

In Finder hold down the option/alt key while selecting the Go menu item. Select Library. Then follow the instructions above.

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Answer 2

Jan 29, 2018 1:16 PM in response to Rob_P

Hi Rob, Your info was very helpful to me. I have the same problem and have now disabled the Log Connection Activity button. How do I find my mail logs? I found the library but can't see a folder with mail logs - not even in the log folder...

Many thanks for any help!

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Answer 3

Rob_P Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 30, 2018 1:30 AM in response to KLfromhull

Hi KL,

Took me a while to find the path again. In the path, replace "Rob" with whatever your username is. The logs are down the user path, not the main system one (hope that makes sense).

Macintosh HD >Rob >Library >Containers >com.apple.mail >Data >Library >Logs >Mail

In there you'll find a log corresponding to every email account you have set up in Apple Mail. If you're wondering how the heck I found where it was... search the whole HD based on files size and mine was by far the largest file on the HD. Fortunately this path still showed open when I just went looking to get the path details for you!

Good luck!

Rob

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Answer 4

Jan 30, 2018 1:49 PM in response to Rob_P

Hi Rob and Eric,

You have both been excellent. Thank you. I found the mail logs a different way by opening the connection doctor in apple mail and clicking on show logs. Found my imap log was 176GB!! Deleted it and now have 187 available GB. So happy!

Thank you again,

KL

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Answer 5

Jan 31, 2018 11:33 AM in response to Eric Root

Hi Eric, another somewhat related question for you. Since cleaning out my mail logs, I have been checking my available GB of storage and notice that there seems to be a slow drain on it which I can't readily explain - from Monday at 5 PM to Wednesday at 2 PM, I have lost 1.5 GB of available space - every time I checked over the last few days, it was a bit lower. I have not added anywhere near 1.5GB in the last few days. Do you know what would explain this seemingly slow drain? Thanks for any help! Kathy

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Answer 6