How To Remove Apple Intelligence Data from ProactiveHarvesting.Mail Folder

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If you notice that your hard drive is losing space and you want to free it up safely, it’s important to understand what’s causing the issue before deleting any files. Recently, I found a large folder on my Mac that was taking up over 28 GB of space. Its location was:

~/Library/Biome/streams/restricted/ProactiveHarvesting.Mail

This folder seemed related to Apple’s Mail app and its features like Apple Intelligence or mail summaries. To fix the problem, I first disabled the relevant features in Mail settings, such as summaries and Apple Intelligence. But even after turning these off, the folder remained.

You might wonder if it’s safe to just delete the folder. Usually, files created by system features like this are supposed to clean up on their own after you turn off the related options. However, sometimes they don’t. In this case, deleting the folder manually is possible, but you should be cautious.

Before removing the folder, try these steps:

1. Double-check that all related features are turned off. In Mail settings, confirm that summaries and Apple Intelligence are disabled.
2. Restart your Mac. Sometimes, a restart helps the system to clean up unnecessary files automatically.
3. If the folder is still there afterward, and you’re sure those features are off, you can cautiously delete it. To do this safely:
– Open Finder.
– Navigate to the folder path: ~/Library/Biome/streams/restricted/
– Find the “ProactiveHarvesting.Mail” folder.
– Drag it to Trash.
– Empty the Trash to free up space.

Keep in mind that manually deleting system-related files can sometimes cause unexpected behavior. If you’re unsure, it’s a good idea to back up your data first or consult support resources.

In summary, turn off the features that generate these files, restart your Mac, and then delete the folder if needed. This way, you clean up your storage without risking any damage to your system.