Inline attachments in Apple Mail, like images and PDFs, often appear directly in the body of the message instead of as separate downloadable files. While this can be useful in some cases, many users find it disruptive, especially when trying to forward or archive emails. If you want to turn off inline attachments, you can do it with a simple Terminal command or a few manual workarounds. Here’s exactly how.
Table of contents
How to Stop Inline Attachments in Mail on OS X
1. Terminal Method (Best Option)
This method disables inline attachment previews in Mail for all images, PDFs, and other files.
- Quit the Mail app if it’s open.
- Open Terminal (Applications > Utilities > Terminal).
- Paste the following command and press Return:
defaults write com.apple.mail DisableInlineAttachmentViewing -bool yes - Press Return again if needed.
- Restart the Mail app.
Once done, attachments like images and PDFs will now appear as icons rather than embedded content.
How to Revert This Setting
If you ever want to return to inline previews:
- Open Terminal.
- Enter the following command:
defaults delete com.apple.mail DisableInlineAttachmentViewing - Restart the Mail app again.
2. GUI Workaround for Sending Mail Without Inline Display
Apple Mail doesn’t provide a built-in toggle for this in the interface, but you can avoid inline behavior when sending by:
- Compressing files before attaching (Right-click > Compress)
- Attaching via “Attach File” icon, not drag-and-drop
- Adding files from Finder instead of dragging into message body
These steps don’t change how you receive inline files, but they help prevent inline formatting on the sending end.
Tips for Managing Attachments in Mail
- Use Preview to open attachments externally: Right-click the icon and choose “Open in Preview” instead of double-clicking.
- Zip multiple files before attaching: It reduces confusion and avoids inline display.
- Set Apple Mail to always send Windows-friendly attachments (Mail > Preferences > Composing > [check] “Send Windows-Friendly Attachments”).
- Forward emails as attachments if you want to preserve original formatting.
Frequently Asked Questions
It prevents inline display of most standard attachments like JPEGs, PNGs, PDFs, and more. Files will show as icons instead.
Yes. You can use drag-and-drop to attach images inline for yourself, and compress files when sending to avoid inline display for others.
Summary
- You can disable inline attachments with a quick Terminal command.
- GUI methods can help you avoid sending inline files, even if receiving remains unchanged.
- It’s fully reversible, just delete the Terminal setting.
- Compressing files or sending as icons helps with professional formatting.
Conclusion
If you prefer a cleaner, icon-based experience in Apple Mail, turning off inline attachments is a simple and effective solution. You can always undo the change if needed, so feel free to experiment and find what works best for your workflow.
Didn’t work for me (Tahoe 26.5) but appreciate the effort.
FWIW, I’d really rather an “attachment tray” kind of setup whereby you’d have a tray/window at the top of the message that you’d drag attachments to and, when viewing incoming messages, there’d be the same.
All in all, I do surely wish Apple would overhaul Mail entirely. It feels ages old, and just patched & struggling.
WIth Sequoia Terminal needs Full Disk Access for defaults write com.apple.mail …
Mail Settings Viewing Tab: Load Remote Content has been dropped.