For Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 10 users, you start by pressing the Windows key on your keyboard. Then, type in Downloads and press Enter. This will open the Downloads folder. Once you open the folder, highlight the files to clear by using the mouse or by pressing Ctrl and A. Then, press Delete to clear your Download files. Follow these instructions to delete old email attachments: 1) Open a Finder window. 2) In the Search bar, type Mail Downloads and hit Enter. Alternatively, you can navigate to the following folder manually: For your personal information, you may want to right-click on the folder and check how much storage space it is taking.
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- Read iSecrets.New magazine about gadgets and mobile technology. How to delete downloads o.
- Although they do nothing once you delete the associated application, they do take up some disk space. If you want you can look for them in the above location and delete them, too. Some applications may install an uninstaller program that can be used to remove the application.
By Vernon Roderick, Last updated: June 16, 2020
The Downloads folder can mean a lot to many users. It’s where most files go when you download something from the internet. And we all know that this folder is built-in, meaning it is already there before you even got your Mac.
Despite being built-in to the Mac computer, it is still as vulnerable to data loss as other folders on your Mac. In fact, quite a few users have already been complaining about losing their Downloads folder out of the blue.
This article will talk about how you can restore deleted Downloads folder Mac so you may also restore the files contained within the folder. Let’s start with what I consider the best solution.
Part 1: Restore Deleted Downloads Folder Mac with Mac Data Recovery
Our very first entry involves a third-party tool that specializes in file recovery. File recovery software is known to have the capability of recovering files and even folders altogether. As such, a data recovery tool is a must, and for that, I recommend FoneDog Data Recovery.
FoneDog Data Recovery is a tool that is capable of restoring files from their original state. It supports all kinds of files and can even include folders. Since it supports Mac, it is the perfect tool for the job. Here’s how you can restore deleted Downloads folder Mac with this tool:
Data RecoveryRecover deleted image, document, audio and more files.Get deleted data back from computer (including Recycle Bin) and hard drives.Recover loss data caused by disk accident, operation system crushes and other reasons.
Step 1: Choose File Type and Storage Drive
Open the FoneDog Data Recovery software on your computer. Now on the main page, there will be a selection of file types and storage drives. For the file type, I suggest selecting the Check all file types option since the Downloads folders are likely to have all kinds of files. For the storage drive, select the drive where the Downloads folder is located, which is most likely to be the C: drive.
Step 2: Scan for Files
Once you have configured the settings on the first page, click on the Scan button. This will initiate a Quick Scan by default. However, you may continue with Deep Scan if you want to get more results.
Step 3: Restore Deleted Downloads Folder Mac
The scanning will start after you click on the Scan button. At that point, you will get a list of files on the next page. However, all you have to do is look for the Downloads folder and click on its box. Then, click on the Recover button.
It should be very easy to restore deleted Downloads folder Macwith this tool. However, some people may find it very difficult to trust a tool that they haven’t heard of before. If that’s you, then this solution may not be the most suitable option for you. So you may want to look elsewhere for the best solution.
Part 2: Restore Deleted Downloads Folder Mac from Trash
The keyboard of Mac is the same as of Windows’. They both have the Delete key that is used to delete items on your computer. That’s why if Windows users can unintentionally delete folders in their computer, Mac users can also do the same. If your case is an unintentional deletion, there is a high chance that you will be able to restore deleted Downloads folder Mac.
This is pretty common since there are two ways to send files and folders to the trash. The first one would be by pressing the Command + Delete, and the second one is selecting Move to Trash. Files and folders that go through this process will always be sent to the Trash, but since it is common, a solution was made immediately.
If that’s the case, you can restore deleted Downloads folder Mac by first opening the Trash by clicking on its icon on the Mac Dock. Once you are in the Trash, you can restore deleted Downloads folder Macin several ways:
- Select the Downloads folder and press Command + Delete. This will return the selected files or folder into its original location.
- Drag back the Downloads folder outside. This of course will not return the folder into its original location, but into the place where you drag it into.
This is a very quick solution since it won’t take long even if the Downloads folder is filled with files. However, there are many occasions where you won’t be able to use this method. You now have the Downloads folder again. Now, what if you can’t find the Downloads folder in the trash? How will you restore deleted Downloads folder Mac then?
Part 3: Restore Deleted Downloads Folder Mac from Home
Although most files that are lost get sent to the Trash, sometimes you just need to look harder since it was probably sent somewhere else and not deleted. This is the problem with some users. They often assume immediately that the files are deleted just because they can’t find it the same way they did before.
Fortunately, there is a way to automatically go to where the Downloads folder is located and possibly put it into the Dock once again. This is so you can restore deleted Downloads folder Maceasily. Here are the steps to do put the Downloads folder into your Dock again:
- Open a session of Finder on your Mac.
- On the menu bar of Finder, click on Go.
- From the resulting dropdown menu, select Home.
- Now you will see a list of folders inside the Home directory. You can now find the Downloads folder here.
- Simply click and drag the Downloads folder and drop it into the Dock.
The Downloads folder is now on the Dock once again. With this, you can restore deleted Downloads folder Mac by simply finding it and not recovering it from deletion. However, there are actually two possible reasons why you can’t find the Downloads folder in the Trash. The first one would be because it wasn’t deleted in the first place, which is that case you can solve it with this method.
The second reason would be if it was permanently deleted, thus explaining why it wasn’t sent to the Trash. This is often the case when the user presses Shift + Delete instead of the Delete key only.
Part 4: Restore Deleted Downloads Folder Mac with Time Machine
How do I restore my Downloads folder? If your case involves deleting the Downloads folder permanently, there is only one solution left, and that would be to revert your whole computer altogether into its original state. In other words, you have to turn back time on your computer, which will return the Downloads folder along with other files and folders.
Altogether it is quite extreme; there is an easy way to do this. And it involves a function that is literally named “Time Machine”, and you can probably guess what this function can do.
Time Machine is a built-in function in all Mac devices that allows users to turn back time on their computers. It is often used to solve any issues that may be related to the operating system.
Follow these steps if you are ready to restore deleted Downloads folder Mac:
- Connect the Time Machine disk into your Mac. It should be the disk that you used when creating the Time Machine backup.
- Go to the Applications folder.
- Select Utilities and open the Migration Assistant.
- Follow the onscreen instructions until you get to the main page of Migration Assistant.
- Select From a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk and click on Continue.
- Select the backup that you would like to use, preferably the one where the Downloads folder still exists and you already have the new files. Click on Continue.
- Select the files you want to include. I recommend including Applications, the option with your profile name, and Other files and folders. Click on Continue.
This will not only restore deleted Downloads folder Mac, but it will also restore other files that you have lost, regardless of whether you intend to recover them or not. The only downside of this is that you will lose some of your files, most likely the ones that you didn’t have before or the ones you have recently downloaded or transferred into your Mac.
Data RecoveryRecover deleted image, document, audio and more files.Get deleted data back from computer (including Recycle Bin) and hard drives.Recover loss data caused by disk accident, operation system crushes and other reasons.
Part 5: Conclusion
A lot of users complain about not being able to access their Downloads folder the same way they did before. This often leads to many complications, but that just goes to show how important the Downloads folder is to Mac users.
Although it is quite difficult, you can always learn how to restore the deleted Downloads folder Mac. Once you have gained such skills, you can always keep tabs on your Downloads folder and possibly retrieve it if the worst comes to pass.
System cleanup in one click
For many of us, email is a necessary email. Email makes our student and professional lives significantly easier, as a way of sending and sharing information. Not everything can be sent in a text, Facebook or WhatsApp message, or using Snapchat or Slack.
Often, especially for those in creative professional or knowledge economy roles, we rely on email to communicate professionally and send more complex and detailed information.
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Remove every mail attachment stored on your Mac with a powerful macOS cleaner, CleanMyMac X. Give it a go!
Do emails take up storage?
Mail downloads, also known as attachments, are a big feature in busy inboxes, either taking up space in the cloud - if you use a cloud-based email client - on your phone, and if you use a desktop-based email client, on your Mac too. Attachments are everywhere, and you’ve probably got multiple versions of the same attachments in different places, taking up even more space.
Chances are, once you’ve downloaded and worked on an attachment, you won’t need the original. Or when you’ve worked on a document or folder, you’ve got more than one duplicate on your computer, and you can send back a revised attachment to the sender. In practice, this means one attachment often turns into at least three or four versions of the same document stored in different folders and within inboxes and/or cloud-based email services.
How To Delete Downloaded Software On Mac
How to find Mail Downloads on a Mac
Apart from inside your inbox, mail attachments are found in one of two - or both - places within your Mac. You may also have some on your iPhone or iPad if you have email on another device.
The common way to view, save or delete email attachments in Mail (the built-in Mac OS email client) one by one:
How Do I Delete Downloads On My Mac Air
Select a message that includes attachments. Look for the Attachment icon next to the sender's name in the message list.
In the message, do one of the following: Open an attachment in an app: Double-click the attachment.
Within a Mac OS, those who use Mail can find downloads and attachments in the following folder:
Users > YourName > Library > Containers > com.apple.mail > Data > Library > Mail Downloads
All attachments that you've either opened in Mail or viewed in Quick look gets saved there.
To delete Mail downloads saved in this folder just delete the files you don't need and then close the folder.
How To Delete A Downloaded File
People who use a cloud-based, or another desktop email client, should see everything you’ve downloaded from your inbox in the Downloads folder. In some cases, you may have a duplicate of the same downloads in both folders, which means these will be taking up even more space. Now that you know where all your mail downloads are hiding, it’s time to stop your Mail app from wasting gigabytes of your Mac space.
Deleting Mail Download files from a Mac
One way to save space and stop mail download overload is to use an email client that makes it easier to find, organize and delete attachments. Take Unibox, for example, which groups emails by sender, making it far more intuitive and easy-to-use compared to Mail or other email services. This app is available from Setapp and described as “A welcome, fresh new approach to email on the Mac” (Macworld).
Within Unibox mail client you can do the following with email attachments:
Preview attachments without launching external apps;
Visually browse your attachments and images;
Quickly find documents and files with an attachment list.
All of these features make it significantly easier to find and delete attachments, no matter which email service you use. This app will work with every popular and self-hosted email provider, with one simple download and setup process.
Before switching email client, however, you might want to get rid of existing gigabytes of useless attachments. Most people would have attachments and duplicates of those files, images, documents and videos dating back to when they first bought their Mac, with some going back to previous Macs if you synced from one device to another when setting-up a new computer. That is potentially a lot of old downloads and duplicates!
How to free up email space on my Mac?
One of the best ways to get rid of Mac Mail downloads is using CleanMyMac X, a popular and easy-to-use app that over 3 million people are using to remove documents, files, images, apps, music and other junk that they don't need anymore.
Also available from Setapp, you can get your Mac tidied up then download a new email client that will keep it more organized.