How To Delete Messages In Messages App In macOS Ventura?

Do you want to delete messages in iMessage app but macOS Ventura is not allowing it?

This is the case with most users who fell prey to the Ventura beta version. Messages are the most essential forms of electronic communication. However, when the number of messages goes beyond a certain point, they can become a reason for your computer to become slow. Thus, it is essential to delete old messages and keep your system clean.

In this blog, we will discuss a few ways in which you can delete old messages in your macOS Ventura.

Step 1: Deleting Messages in macOS Ventura

The Apple ecosystem is such that once you start messaging on any one of your iOS devices, you can close it. And continue typing the same message on another device. It is seamless and effortless making communication on the go easier. However, once you start saving these messages, they clog up and can slow down your mac.

Following are the steps

Here’s a straightforward way to delete these messages from your messages app in macOS Ventura.

1. Go to the messages app on your mac and select messages.
2. Tap on settings and click on General.
3. A keep messages pop-up option will appear which you have to select.
4. In order to remove older messages automatically, you can select any of the time frames apart from forever. When you select a time of your choice, for example, to delete messages older than six months, the messages app will automatically start deleting those messages on a regular basis without needing your intervention.
5. Next, if you want to delete a conversation, find that particular conversation you want.
6. To delete an empty conversation, hover your cursor on that conversation and tap on the close button.
7. Furthermore, to delete a conversation, select it and control-click which will pop up another option called delete. Tap on it.
8. A trackpad or mouse can also assist in deleting a conversation if you just swipe left with your fingers on the sidebar and tap on delete.
9. To delete several conversations at the same time, select all the conversations you want to delete. Similar to the previous ones, control-click, and delete.

Step 2: Deleting an iMessage on a Mac

Deleting messages on an iPhone is not that difficult but deleting them on a macOS Ventura is definitely a tricky affair. Follow the steps below to remove messages within a conversation.

1. Go to the messaging app and select the conversation you want to delete.
2. Furthermore, right-click on the messages and tap on delete.
3. You can also delete entire conversations by right-clicking on the conversation and clicking on delete.
4. To delete messages from iCloud, open your messaging option from the top-left corner of your screen.
5. Tap on preferences and then iMessage. After that uncheck the box to enable messages in iCloud.

Step 3: Delete Messages on a Mac Permanently on macOS Ventura

Even though macOS Ventura is troubling people a lot more than expected, using the following method will be useful. You can delete all your messages permanently.

1. If you are in the iMessage app, exit it and press Command + Shift + G.
2. After you do this, it will open the Go to folder window and locate the Finder option from the top. In case you are not able to find it, click on the desktop.
3. Type ~/Library/Messages and tap on Go.
4. Inside the window, choose chat.db, chat.db.wal, chat.db-shm. You can also click on the other folders you find.
5. Furthermore, move the files to the trash folder and empty them. You can now open the iMessage app to check if the process is successful or not.
6. However, this method will not help in deleting attachments from the conversation. Thus, to delete the attachments, you can exit the iMessage app.
7. Simultaneously press on Command + Shift +G for the Go to the folder to open.

Conclusion

In addition to the above-mentioned methods, you can use the terminal command rm -r ~/Library/Messages/Chat. It will remove both messages as well as attachments if any forever. So before you perform this action, check for any important documents from previous dates.