How do I delete jpg attachments to mail

[fpayne]

I have just searched through all the jpeg pictures on the computer (more than 10,000of them) and noticed there were photos that had been attached to emails. These emails had been deleted but the photos still remain in various folders in library/mail/account/ bin or similar. There are hundreds of these folders and sub folders all containing pictures from mail that was deleted. They are from both GMail and .Mac mail.

Does anyone know how to ensure these images are deleted when the mail message they are contained in is deleted.

I am using Apple Mail, Entourage and Thunderbird but the problem seems to be confined to the way Apple Mail organises mail folders.

Thanks

iMac 27" i7, OSX 10.6.4
13" Macbook Pro, OSX 10.6.4

[earthsaver]

There's a Mail General preference to delete unedited attachments of deleted messages. Have these messages been emptied from the Trash and the attachments are still being stored?

[fpayne]

Thanks for the reply.

Yes. Some of the messages were deleted over a year ago. The preference to delete unedited attachments is set to delete them when the message is deleted. But the jpegs are still there even though the message itself has gone. I have started going through them to delete them manually, which I guess is the only way, but it is also to ensure any future ones are deleted.

[earthsaver]

I wonder if you will achieve any benefit by rebuilding your mailbox.

[ElDiabloConCaca]

The preference to delete unedited attachments is set to delete them when the message is deleted. But the jpegs are still there even though the message itself has gone.

Has the message truly been deleted, or is it simply located in Mail's "Trash" or "Deleted Items" folder(s)?

For example, if you have your mail account preferences set to "move deleted items to the Deleted Items" folder, then when you delete an email, it is not deleted -- it is moved to the "Deleted Items" folder. There is a separate option to empty the Deleted Items folder on either an interval (like 2 weeks), when Mail is quit, or never.

[fpayne]

Thanks again to both earthsaver and ElDiabloConCaca for your replies. I have rebuilt the mailboxes but it does not seem to have made any difference. As regards to the delete folders, yes they are, or at least should be, deleted permanently. With GMail they are moved to the GMail bin and the bin manually emptied from the web page at least once a week. Likewise for the .Mac deleted mail. That is emptied at least once a week.

This is what I think has happened. At some point I changed GMail from a pop account to an IMap account. Mail created a whole new account. The pop account was disabled in preferences (it is still there). While all the messages in the inbox were copied to the new account, anything that was in the bin was ignored and is still there. If I enable the pop account again, it shows the inbox but nothing else. Likewise I changed the .Mac account to a Me account and that created a separate mailbox.

I guess I will have to go through all the messages individually and compare the attachments. Some of the saved mail goes back ten years so it could be a long job. Please say if you know of a quicker way or if I am missing something.