delete mail archives macbook

Is your email a POP email, or IMAP, or exchange?

Typically unless your message is based on a POP mailbox, or stored as a On my Mac, the archives are managed by the email hosting provider, whether it be Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, or whomever you have your email account with.

If a message comes through on just your Mac, and no other devices, then it may just be on your Mac.

Any messages stored as a POP message will be stored locally in a Finder accessible folder, either in Go menu -> Go to folder ~/Library/Mail or ~/Library/Mail Downloads

BE CAREFUL. Deleting or moving files from either of these folders that do not clearly show they belong to your archives could mess up the construct of your Mail App's storage. Do so only when Mail is not showing as running in command-Tab switching applications. If your archives are not showing up in either folder, then it likely is stored in the email host's own folder. If the email host is a web host they can tell you where they store messages that are manages by your email account managed with them.

www.icloud.com will give you access to iCloud/Mobileme/dotMac stored mail folders through the Mail app on the webpage.

Smart Folders are not true folders. You need to find the original folder of a document before deleting it.

You can control mouse click (right click if available) a message in a Smart mail box, and choose to move the document to a different regular folder. Then you can choose to delete it. If you select multiple messages in a smart mailbox they can be moved to a real mailbox the same way before deleting them.