Running short on storage? And the only unnecessary thing you found taking too much space is old messages on email getting downloaded automatically? Then learn how to stop mail app downloading old messages and make some space out!
The latest update of iOS devices like iPhones and MacOS has made the task of checking your emails instead of making it easier. This custom mail app tries its best to download old messages in the mail app which are no longer needed. If you want to save some space and stop this from happening again, then we would recommend you follow through on how to stop mail app downloading old messages!
Here is how to stop mail app downloading old messages: Settings app > Passwords & Accounts > Accounts > Email Clients > Select Client > Mail Days To Sync > Select 1 Month and done! This process was for all iPhone devices! To know how to stop downloading old emails on Mac, keep reading!
This article is for every person who is seeking guidance on how to stop mail app downloading old messages on iPhone and MacOS devices! If this is something that matches your searching, then dive in without delaying any further!
How To Stop Mail App Downloading Old Messages?
There used to be a time when people used to sign in to their PCs whenever they felt like checking back their email inboxes! Although, with the advancement of smartphones and tablets, daily life activities changed a lot, that too for the betterment of the generation. Smartphone technology allows them to access their smartphones not only to make calls but also for photography, reminders, gaming, and, most importantly, accessing their emails!
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Despite being helpful, sometimes this feature starts irritating users as it automatically starts downloading the old piled-up emails, which are not of any use to the users! It becomes nothing but a burden having thousands and thousands of emails lined up in your mail inbox unnecessarily! Also, not every email client can manage high email numbers and complete tasks. Moreover, one may also have tens of thousands of emails which would be unmanageable to download for every email client! Not only this, but it would also be just wasting data and storage by downloading unnecessary emails!
So, whenever you buy a brand new iOS or MacOS device, the Mail app automatically starts downloading all your previous emails! It also may take place if you have recently updated your system’s device or might have added a new email address to your mail app! A few times, it feels like instead of making our lives easier, smartphones are making it even more complicated! Fortunately, there are a couple of things you can do to limit the number of emails on the in-built Mail app of your device and get rid of the mail app downloading old messages!
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To learn how to stop mail app downloading old messages, follow the below-given instructions carefully!
How To Stop Mail App Downloading Old Messages – MacOS
Mail App > Select Email Client > Get Account Info > Quota Limit
Step 01: Launch the in-built Mail app on your macOS device and tap on the faulty email client that is bringing you trouble!
Step 02: Next, find and hit the Get Account Info button!
Step 03: On the resulting page, you will see a Quota Limit section which will show you the covered space by your account with a green block below it to indicate the closeness to your fixed limit. You will also find a list of folders showing the folders in your mail inbox with size in MB of the covered space by them!
Now, you have learned how the storage of your device works with the account! It’s time to learn how to limit the mailbox from downloading older messages.
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NOTE: The below-given instructions are framed for Gmail accounts, but similar settings can be found on almost every popular email client.
Launch Web Browser > Open Gmail Account > Settings > Forwarding And POP/IMAP > Limit IMAP Folders To Contain No More Than This Many Messages > Set A Limit.
Step 01: Launch any trustable web browser, launch the Gmail account you use from the right sidebar of the screen, and tap on Settings.
Step 02: Next, click on Settings from the pop-up menu and find the Forwarding And POP/IMAP section at the top left corner of the screen. Next, click on it.
Step 03: Hit the field given next to the Limit IMAP Folders To Contain No More Than This Many Messages. Once the field turns blue, a tab will pop up asking you to fix a limit for the number of messages that need to be downloaded.
At last, set the limit, and you are done! You have now successfully restricted the Mail app from downloading all old messages. By setting a limit, you won’t be deleting any mail and can still access your old messages through any web browser just by setting the Mail app to download only a fixed number of emails.
How To Stop Mail App Downloading Old Messages On iPhone
Before moving forward with how to stop mail app downloading old messages on iPhone devices, make sure that you have updated your device to its latest version, as the older versions of iPhones won’t support the email downloading limit feature! Once you update your iPhone’s software system, you will find the feature to limit the number of emails downloaded on your device.
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Although, this is not any limit based on numbers. Instead, this limit is set on the basis of the date! For instance, select only download emails from a month before or a week before, etc. Setting up such a limit can be very easy and can be very simple and can be performed by altering the iPhone Settings very easily if you have the right guide.
Here are the instructions for how to stop mail app downloading old messages on an iPhone device:
Settings App > Passwords And Accounts > Accounts > Select Email Client > Mail Days To Sync > 1 Month
Step 01: Tap on the Settings app from the home screen of your iPhone device and find the Passwords And Accounts section.
Step 02: Once found, launch it and click on the Email Clients under the Accounts section.
Step 03: Then, from the given list of clients, select the one that is causing problems.
Step 04: Next, find the Mail Days To Sync option at the bottom of the screen and click on it.
Step 05: Now, from the list of options, including No Limit, 1 Day, 1 Week, 1 Month, etc., select any one according to your preference. For example, if you select 1 Month, mails older than one month won’t get downloaded by default on your iPhone.
And done! You have now restricted the email from downloading emails older than one month from downloading automatically! Also, if you think that emails older than one month will vanish or delete something, then you are absolutely wrong! They will be at their own place. You can access them whenever you want just by making changes in the limit or using the email through any web browser! Setting a limit on the number of emails that are downloaded automatically doesn’t mean that the older ones will be deleted or vanish!
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While preventing the Mail app from downloading old messages, you will also be increasing the efficiency of the app and saving the storage of your iPhone, which can be used somewhere else.
In case you ever feel like viewing old emails on your iPhone, just follow the above-given instruction on how to stop mail app downloading old messages and select No Limit instead of 1 Month under Mail Days To Sync.
To gain more knowledge about the Mail apps and email systems in iOS, then give the below-mentioned articles a patient read!
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- How To Use Hide My Email On Apple In Few Easy Steps?
Wrapping Up
A few of the iPhone 12 users were found reporting that their Mail app is automatically downloading older email messages and are looking for ways how to stop the mail app from downloading old messages! Such issues in the Mail app were observed occurring after the system update to the latest version of iOS 15. Since the update, the Mail app started putting extra effort and started downloading all the older and unnecessary email messages by default.
So, in order to help all iOS users, we have provided you all with details on how to stop the mail app from downloading old messages for both MacOS and iPhone devices. Follow the guide accordingly and get rid of all those years-old email messages!
Don’t forget to share this article with your other iOS users, and let us know your thoughts, suggestions, doubts, and queries in the comment section below!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Why Does My Email Keep Downloading Old Messages?
In case you download an email in your client and delete it while the feature is enabled, the duplicate left on the server will download the email again the next time you launch your email client. To prevent this, you can either make your mailbox use the IMAP protocol or disable the “Leave A Copy Of My Mail On The Server” option!
Q. How Do I Stop Old Emails from Downloading To My New iPhone?
Here’s how to stop mail app downloading old messages: Settings App > Passwords And Accounts > Accounts > Select Email Client > Mail Days To Sync > 1 Month. Find the details in the above article.
Q. Why Does My Mac Mail Keep Downloading Old Messages?
If your iPhone is still downloading older emails without your concern, try factory resetting the app and setting up or signing up for your account once again!
Q. What Is The Fastest Way To Clean Up Mail On Mac?
Head to the Mail app on your iOS device and perform the following:
- Select Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items > Select An Account
- Under the Mail Sidebar > Control-click a Trash Mailbox > Select Erase Deleted Items.
