Delete messages and conversations in Messages on Mac
In the Messages app, you can delete messages, attachments, and entire conversations anytime, without affecting what your recipients see.
Tip: Use Undo Send to retract (within 2 minutes) a message you sent accidentally, deleting it from both your iPhone and your recipient’s iPhone.
Delete messages and attachments
Go to the Messages app
on your Mac.Select a conversation.
Select one or more messages (including text messages, photos, videos, files, web links, audio messages, or emoji) in the transcript, press Delete, then click Delete in the dialog.
Deleted messages and attachments remain in your Recently Deleted folder for up to 30 days, and you can recover them, as below.
Note: When you delete a message, it’s moved to the Recently Deleted folder on your device, but not anyone else’s. When you want to delete a message for everyone, use Undo Send within 2 minutes of sending it.
Delete multiple attachments of the same type
Go to the Messages app
on your Mac.Select a conversation, then click the contact or group icon at the top.
Scroll to a category, such as Photos, then click “Show more.”
Shift-click each item you want to delete, Control-click the selected items, then choose Delete.
Delete a conversation
Go to the Messages app
on your Mac.Delete any of the following:
A single conversation: Select a conversation, Control-click, then choose Delete.
Tip: If you have a trackpad or a Magic Mouse, swipe left with two fingers on the conversation in the sidebar, then click
.An empty conversation: Move the pointer over an empty conversation, then click
.Several conversations at the same time: Select the conversations in the sidebar, Control-click, then choose Delete.
Permanently remove recently deleted messages and attachments
Deleted messages and attachments remain in the Recently Deleted folder for 30 days, but you can permanently remove them before that.
Go to the Messages app
on your Mac.Choose View > Recently Deleted.
Select the conversations whose messages you want to delete permanently, click Delete, then follow the onscreen instructions.
Automatically delete old messages
You can delete messages and attachments on an ongoing basis.
Go to the Messages app
on your Mac.Choose Messages > Settings, then click General.
Click the “Keep messages” pop-up menu, then choose an option.
Important: If you choose an option other than Forever, your conversations (including all attachments) are automatically removed after the specified time period elapses.
You can also set this option in iCloud settings. See Change iCloud settings.
Recover deleted messages
When you delete a message or conversation in the Messages app, it’s moved to the Recently Deleted folder. You can view and recover items in the Recently Deleted folder for up to 30 days. After 30 days, the messages are removed from all your devices. After 40 days, the messages are permanently deleted from iCloud.
You can restore messages you deleted for up to 30 days.
Go to the Messages app
on your Mac.Choose View > Recently Deleted.
If you don’t see Recently Deleted, you may not have deleted a conversation within the last 30 days.
Select the conversation in the sidebar.
Do one of the following:
Recover a recently deleted message or conversation: Click Recover.
Permanently delete a recently deleted message or conversation: Click Delete.
If you use Messages in iCloud, recovering a message or conversation on your Mac recovers it on all your devices where Messages in iCloud is on. See Keep your messages up to date with iCloud in the iCloud User Guide.
Recovering messages changes only your own Messages conversations, not those of your recipients.
If at least one participant isn’t using iMessage in a blocked conversation, and you recover that conversation, incoming messages won’t be automatically deleted.
Note: Any message that you delete from a conversation using Undo Send is permanently deleted. Audio messages that expire before being saved can’t be recovered.
Deleting messages changes only your own Messages conversations, not those of your recipients.
If you use Messages in iCloud, deleting a message or conversation on your Mac deletes it from all your devices where Messages in iCloud is on. See Keep your messages up to date with iCloud in the iCloud User Guide.
Note: Any message that you delete from a conversation using Undo Send is permanently deleted. Audio messages that expire before being saved aren’t recoverable.
An audio message is removed from the conversation 2 minutes after you play it. To save it in the conversation, click Keep. See Find out when messages were sent.
Tip: To view the time a message was sent, Control-click it in the conversation transcript and choose Show Times. If you have a trackpad or a Magic Mouse, you can also swipe left with two fingers on the message.