How to Show Message Sizes in Apple Mail

Keep an eye on your storage

By
Heinz Tschabitscher
Heinz Tschabitscher
Heinz Tschabitscher
Writer
  • University of Vienna
A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997.
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Updated on May 13, 2022

What to Know

  • Select View > Show Message Size.
  • If you want to sort your email by size, select View > Sort By > Size.

This article explains how to display the size of messages in Apple's Mail app. Instructions apply to Mac OS X 10.11 and higher.

How to Show Message Sizes in Apple Mail

To display the message size in the Mail message list:

  1. Go to your inbox in the Mail app and select View on the menu bar.

    Apple Mail with View highlighted on the menu bar

  2. Select Show Message Size in the drop-down menu.

    Mail View menu with Show Message Size highlighted

  3. Now, the size of a message appears under the date you received it.

    Apple Mail inbox with the message size displayed

  4. If you want to sort your email by size, select Sort By in the View menu and choose Size.

    Apple Mail with Sort By and Size highlighted

Why Would You Want to Know the Message Size?

You might want to know the message size to determine whether a message has attachments or images in it. You might be looking for an especially long message or one with a lot of information or a large attachment. If your mailbox is full, you may want to delete large messages first to free up space on the mail server or to speed up the syncing of a new device.

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