How to delete messages on Macbook Air? (Quick Guide 2023)

We all enjoy how iMessage keeps our chats connected on our Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. It’s handy, but over time, all those messages, especially the ones with pictures and videos, can mess up our Mac and slow it down. So knowing how to clean Mac by deleting messages is a real game changer. 

Whether you want to clean up your chat history, make sure private information stays secure, or prepare your Mac for selling, this guide will show you the steps to handle your messages effectively.

How could we delete messages on Macbook Air?

There are some easy ways through which we can delete messages on Macbook Air:

How to Delete Messages on MacBook Air:

Deleting a Single Message:

• First, I open up the Messages app on my MacBook Air.
• Then, I find the conversation where the message I want to delete is located.
• I simply right-click or control-click on the specific message I want to remove.
• A menu pops up, and from there, I choose the “Delete” option.
• To make sure I really want to delete it, I confirm the deletion.

Deleting Multiple Messages:

• Again, I start by opening the Messages app.
• I locate the conversation that has the messages I want to delete.
• To select multiple messages, I hold down the Command key on my keyboard.
• Then, I click on each message I want to delete.
• Right-clicking on any of the selected messages, I choose “Delete” from the menu. Alternatively, I can go to the Edit menu and select “Delete.”

Deleting an Entire Conversation:

• I open the Messages app, just like before.
• This time, I found the conversation I wanted to remove entirely.
• By right-clicking on that conversation, a menu appears, and I select “Delete Conversation.”

Automatically Deleting Messages:

• Once more, I open the Messages app.
• Up in the top menu bar, I click on “Messages.”
• From there, I go to “Preferences” and then “General.”
• I can now choose how long I want to keep my messages – I can pick 30 days, one year, or forever.

Deleting Message Attachments:

• To delete attachments like photos and videos, I open Finder.
• While in Finder, I press Command + Shift + G.
• A window pops up where I type ~/Library/Messages/Attachments and hit Enter.
• In this folder, I delete the files and folders to remove attachments.

Deleting All Messages:

• Once again, I open Finder.
• In the top menu, I click on “Go” and select “Go to Folder.”
• In the box that appears, I type ~/Library/Messages and click Go.
• Here, I delete the chat.db, chat. db-wal, and chat.db-shm files.

Deleting Messages Using Terminal:

• If I want to delete messages using Terminal, I find it in the Utilities folder and open it.
• To delete messages, I can use the command rm –r ~/Library/Messages/chat. For attachments, it’s rm –r ~/Library/Messages/Attachments/??.
• The terminal will do the rest, but remember that this deletes messages and attachments without moving them to the Trash, so be careful.

Final words

In the end, we need to learn how to delete messages on our MacBook Air because it’s crucial for maintaining a clean and organized digital environment. Whether we’re looking to free up storage space, safeguard our privacy, or prepare our Mac for resale, these methods offer us the flexibility to manage our messages effectively. 

We can delete single messages or entire conversations and even set our Mac to automatically remove older messages, ensuring our chat history stays neat and clutter-free. So, let’s take control of our message management to keep our Mac running smoothly and our digital conversations well-organized.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)