How to Delete an eMail Account from Mac OS X

Mac users who rely on the Mail app in Mac OS X for handling email may eventually need to delete a specific email address from the application and their Mac. This is common when an email address has changed or is no longer in use, whether it’s a work email or personal account.

Note that by deleting an email account from the Mac and Mail app, you also delete all of the emails associated with that account from the Mail app as well. If you want to delete all emails without deleting the account in Mail for Mac OS X you can do that with these instructions instead, which preserves the account for use but clears all emails associated with it.

How to Remove a Mail Account from Mac OS X

This will completely delete an email address and email account from the Mac, including all settings for the email account, and removing all associated emails from the Mail app in Mac OS X.

1. Pull down the  Apple menu and choose ‘System Preferences’
2. Choose “Internet Accounts”



3. Select the email account you want to delete from the Mac from the list



4. With the email account selected, click the [-] minus button (or hit the Delete key on the keyboard)
5. Confirm that you want to remove the email account AND all of it’s associated emails and account settings from the Mac, including from the Mail application



6. The account will disappear from the list and all associated emails and settings from the email address will also vanish. You can repeat with other email accounts as necessary

This removes the email account, associated email account settings, and all associated emails. You will no longer be able to email from that email address again (unless you set it up again, assuming the account itself is still active).

Deleting an email account can be helpful for when an address is no longer needed or in use, but it can also be helpful if you have decided to ditch Mail app in favor of using a different default email client, whether it’s Gmail from the web or a different desktop app like outlook.

If you’re removing the email account because it is no longer active or no longer needed, you may want to also delete the email account from any iPhone or iPad where it’s in use as well. Just like Mac OS X, deleting an email account from iOS also deletes its associated emails and settings.