If you remember who sent a file but not the email’s subject, search in Apple Mail by the sender and narrow the results to messages with attachments. Start in the mailbox where you expect the message; if it is missing, expand the search to all mailboxes. Then inspect the matching messages and preview or save the attachment you need.

Search Mail by the sender

Open Mail on your Mac and click the search field in the toolbar. If it is hidden, click the Search button. Type the sender’s name or email address, then choose the matching suggestion Mail displays. Apple documents searching message headers by entering a field name and value, such as from: Ashley Rico, and selecting a suggestion. You can also type a person’s name and choose the appropriate “From” suggestion. Selecting a suggestion matters: Mail turns it into a search filter and shows matching messages. Search for emails in Mail on Mac

Use the address if you know it, especially when several people share a name. A sender’s display name can be ambiguous, and the visible suggestion helps establish whether Mail is treating the person as the sender rather than searching for that text anywhere in a message. If you only remember part of a name, begin with that and inspect the suggestions and results before adding another condition.

Add the attachment condition

Keep the sender filter in the search field, then add a second filter for attachments. Type attachment and choose Mail’s “Message with attachments” suggestion. Apple says Mail combines multiple search filters so results match all of them. In this case, the result set should be messages that match the selected sender and have attachments; the subject does not need to be known. Apple’s Mail search instructions

Mail’s search field offers suggestions according to the text entered. Use the offered “Message with attachments” criterion rather than assuming an undocumented keyword or exact query syntax. The documented control is the suggestion; Apple does not specify that typing a made-up expression such as has:attachment will work in Mail on every macOS version or account configuration.

If the sender filter seems too restrictive, remove or adjust that filter with its down-arrow menu. Apple notes that a filter can be changed to search messages to or from a person, or to search subject lines or entire messages. Since the task is sender-based, keep the “From” form when available; searching a broader message body for the name may produce unrelated matches.

Check the mailbox scope

Mail can search one or more mailboxes. The mailbox selected in the sidebar affects where you begin, so check it before concluding that no matching message exists. If Mail reports no results in the current mailbox, click “Search all mailboxes” below the search field. You can also select one or more mailboxes in the sidebar or Favorites bar to define the search scope. Apple’s Mail search instructions

For multiple accounts, consider whether you remember which account received the message. Search that account’s relevant mailbox first if you do; otherwise broaden the search so a message in another account is not overlooked. Apple also documents mailbox filtering by account, but the simplest recovery step when the current mailbox returns nothing is the “Search all mailboxes” control.

Identify the right message and attachment

Review the matching message list rather than opening the first result automatically. Sender identity, date, message preview, and the visible attachment indicator can help distinguish messages from the same person. If you remember roughly when the file arrived, add a date range using Mail’s search guidance. Mail may place Top Results first based on factors such as messages you recently read or replied to, so result order alone is not proof that a message is the one you want. Apple’s Mail search instructions

Select a likely message and inspect its attachment. Apple notes that the Attach button appears below the message date for a message that includes attachments. Some images and one-page PDFs appear inline in the message rather than as a separate-looking file icon, so check the message content as well as the header area. View, save, or delete email attachments in Mail on Mac

To preview an attachment, select it and press Space, or use Force Click. To open it in a chosen app, Control-click it, choose “Open With,” then select the app. These steps let you confirm the file before saving it. Apple’s attachment guide

Save the file once you have confirmed it

Move the pointer over the message header and click the Attach button. Click the attachment’s name to save that file, or choose “Save All” if you intend to save every attachment in the message; then choose a location and click Save. You can also select the message and choose File > Save Attachments, or drag an attachment from the message to the desktop. Apple says the default destination is Downloads, and you can change it in Mail > Settings > General. Apple’s attachment guide

If the sender search returns too many messages, refine in small steps: use the more specific sender address, narrow the mailbox scope, or add a date range you remember. Mail’s documented search filters combine as an AND, so every added condition can exclude a message that does not match it. If the right email disappears after adding a condition, remove that condition and inspect the broader result set again. Search for emails in Mail on Mac

If the message still does not appear

First confirm that the search includes the right mailbox or all mailboxes, and that the selected suggestion means “From” rather than a general text match. Remove any extra filters and retry with a less specific sender name. Then check whether the file was sent in a different message than you remember or whether the person forwarded it from another address; searching a forwarded message by the original sender may not match its current sender header. That last check is a practical troubleshooting inference from how a sender-based search works, not a special Mail feature.

Mail’s “Only Mail with Attachments” message-list filter is another documented way to show messages with attachments in a mailbox: choose View > Filter, or click and hold the Filter button and choose a filter. Use it when you want to browse a mailbox’s attachment-bearing messages, but for the task here, the sender-plus-attachment search filters are more targeted. The message-list filter can also be removed from the same menu. Apple’s Mail search and filter instructions

When the message is found, clear the search with the Clear button in the search field if you want to return to the normal message list. Wallo is relevant only if you then want to keep an already-open Mail window alongside other open windows and a task under a goal; it organizes open Mac windows and to-dos locally. It does not search Mail, locate messages or attachments, or restore a closed Mail session.

Sources