Apple Mail Not Showing Attachments on Mac? How to Fix It

Short answer: If Mail on your Mac shows a paperclip but no attachment, or attachments appear in the wrong place, check two settings first. Mail shows images and one-page PDFs inside the message; Control-click one and choose View as Icon (or View in Place to undo). And the account's Download Attachments setting, under Mail > Settings > Accounts > Account Information, may be set to Recent or None, so older files never download; set it to All. If an attachment is still missing, rebuild the mailbox and check that the sender actually attached it.

The steps are for macOS 27 and also work on macOS Tahoe 26, Sequoia 15 and Sonoma 14.

Attachments show inside the message, not as icons

This is how Mail is designed, not a fault. Apple's guide says some attachments, such as images and one-page PDFs, are displayed directly in the message. That's why people search for "attachments not in body": the file appears as a picture in the text rather than as an icon at the bottom, or the other way round.

To show an attachment as an icon: Control-click it in the message and choose View as Icon.
To show it in the message again: Control-click the icon and choose View in Place.

This changes how the attachment looks on your Mac only. Where the file sits in the message is set by the sender's email app, so an attachment placed in the middle of the text will stay there.

Paperclip shows, but no attachment

1. Set Download Attachments to All

Each account has a setting that controls which attachments Mail downloads automatically. Choose Mail > Settings, click Accounts, select the account and look at Download Attachments on the Account Information pane:

All downloads every attachment.
Recent downloads attachments from the past 15 months.
None downloads them only when you open them.

Images, PDFs, video and audio always download, whatever you choose. For other files, Recent or None can leave you with a paperclip and an empty space until the download happens. Set it to All, then click away from the message and back.

2. Check your connection and the account's status

An attachment that's still downloading, or can't download because the account is offline, looks missing. Look for a lightning bolt or warning icon next to the account in the sidebar, and choose Mailbox > Online Status to take it online. Large files on a slow connection can take a while.

3. Rebuild the mailbox

If attachments are missing from several messages in one mailbox, select it and choose Mailbox > Rebuild. For IMAP and Exchange accounts, Mail discards its local copies of the messages and attachments and downloads them again from the server. The mailbox looks empty until that finishes.

4. Check the message in webmail

Open the same message on your provider's website. If the attachment is missing there too, it never arrived: the sender may have forgotten it, or a provider may have stripped a file type it treats as risky. If it's there in webmail but not in Mail, the problem is on your Mac, so continue below.

5. Make sure the attachment wasn't removed

Mail has a Message > Remove Attachments command. If it was used on a message in an IMAP account, the attachment was deleted from the server too and can't be recovered from Mail. Ask the sender to send it again.

6. Free up disk space and update macOS

Mail needs room to save downloaded attachments. Check System Settings > General > Storage, and install any update in Software Update, since Mail bugs are fixed through macOS updates.

7. Remove the account and add it back

As a last step, remove the account in Mail > Accounts (Internet Accounts) and add it again. Mail downloads your IMAP, iCloud, Gmail or Exchange mail again, attachments included. Back up POP mailboxes first.

Large attachments and Mail Drop links

When someone sends a big file with Mail Drop, it arrives as a download link rather than a normal attachment, so there's no file in the message itself. Click the link to download it. On iCloud Mail, normal messages are limited to 20 MB, and Mail Drop handles files up to 5 GB. Each account's Account Information pane has a Send large attachments with Mail Drop option if you want to use it yourself.

Where Mail saves attachments

When you save an attachment, Mail puts it in the Downloads folder unless you choose another one in Mail > Settings > General > Downloads folder. Attachments you only open, without saving, go into a Mail Downloads folder inside your home Library folder, and Mail clears them out based on the Remove unedited downloads setting on the same pane. To keep a file, drag it out of the message or Control-click it and choose a Save option.

If Mail keeps letting you down

Disclosure: we make Canary Mail. If attachments are a daily headache across several accounts, another app may handle them better for you. Canary Mail is an email app for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows and Android that works with Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Yahoo, Exchange and other IMAP accounts. The free plan covers unlimited accounts on 2 devices with AI inbox sorting; the Growth plan ($36 a year) adds AI writing and summaries, read receipts and send later. More than 2 million people use it, and Apple has featured it on the App Store and the Mac App Store.

Be clear about what switching can't fix, though: if your provider is down, your password is wrong or your mailbox is full, every email app will hit the same wall.

Frequently asked questions

Why am I not seeing attachments in my email?

Mail may be set not to download them (Download Attachments set to Recent or None), the account may be offline, or the attachment may be shown inside the message instead of as an icon. Check the same message in webmail to see whether it arrived.

How do I show attachments as icons in Apple Mail?

Control-click the attachment in the message and choose View as Icon. To put it back in the message, Control-click and choose View in Place.

Why does Mail show a paperclip but no attachment?

Usually the attachment hasn't downloaded. Set Download Attachments to All in Mail > Settings > Accounts > Account Information, make sure the account is online, and rebuild the mailbox if it's still missing.

Where are Apple Mail attachments saved?

Saved attachments go to your Downloads folder by default (change it in Mail > Settings > General). Attachments you only open are kept in a Mail Downloads folder in your Library folder and cleaned up automatically.

How do I attach a file in Apple Mail?

In a new message, click the Attach button (the paperclip) in the toolbar and choose the file, or drag the file into the message window.

Other Mac Mail fixes

Sources

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Mac Mail Not Showing Attachments? How to Fix It (2026)