diff --git a/internal/user/sync.go b/internal/user/sync.go
index ccf7b06b..af432080 100644
--- a/internal/user/sync.go
+++ b/internal/user/sync.go
@@ -415,6 +415,9 @@ func syncMessages(
 			logrus.Debugf("sync downloader exit")
 		}()
 
+		attachmentDownloader := newAttachmentDownloader(ctx, client, maxParallelDownloads)
+		defer attachmentDownloader.close()
+
 		for request := range downloadCh {
 			logrus.Debugf("Download request: %v MB:%v", len(request.ids), toMB(request.expectedSize))
 			if request.err != nil {
@@ -435,25 +438,13 @@ func syncMessages(
 					return proton.FullMessage{}, err
 				}
 
-				var attachmentSize int64
-				for _, a := range msg.Attachments {
-					attachmentSize += a.Size
-				}
-
-				// allocate attachment data.
-				result.AttData = make([][]byte, len(msg.Attachments))
-
-				for i, a := range msg.Attachments {
-					var buffer bytes.Buffer
-					buffer.Grow(int(a.Size))
-					if err := client.GetAttachmentInto(ctx, a.ID, &buffer); err != nil {
-						return proton.FullMessage{}, err
-					}
-
-					result.AttData[i] = buffer.Bytes()
+				attachments, err := attachmentDownloader.getAttachments(ctx, msg.Attachments)
+				if err != nil {
+					return proton.FullMessage{}, err
 				}
 
 				result.Message = msg
+				result.AttData = attachments
 
 				return result, nil
 			})
@@ -738,3 +729,86 @@ func wantLabels(apiLabels map[string]proton.Label, labelIDs []string) []string {
 		return wantLabel(apiLabels[labelID])
 	})
 }
+
+type attachmentResult struct {
+	attachment []byte
+	err        error
+}
+
+type attachmentJob struct {
+	id     string
+	size   int64
+	result chan attachmentResult
+}
+
+type attachmentDownloader struct {
+	workerCh chan attachmentJob
+	cancel   context.CancelFunc
+}
+
+func attachmentWorker(ctx context.Context, client *proton.Client, work <-chan attachmentJob) {
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			return
+		case job, ok := <-work:
+			if !ok {
+				return
+			}
+			var b bytes.Buffer
+			b.Grow(int(job.size))
+			err := client.GetAttachmentInto(ctx, job.id, &b)
+			select {
+			case <-ctx.Done():
+				close(job.result)
+				return
+			case job.result <- attachmentResult{attachment: b.Bytes(), err: err}:
+				close(job.result)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func newAttachmentDownloader(ctx context.Context, client *proton.Client, workerCount int) *attachmentDownloader {
+	workerCh := make(chan attachmentJob, (workerCount+2)*workerCount)
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(ctx)
+	for i := 0; i < workerCount; i++ {
+		workerCh = make(chan attachmentJob)
+		logging.GoAnnotated(ctx, func(ctx context.Context) { attachmentWorker(ctx, client, workerCh) }, logging.Labels{
+			"sync": fmt.Sprintf("att-downloader %v", i),
+		})
+	}
+
+	return &attachmentDownloader{
+		workerCh: workerCh,
+		cancel:   cancel,
+	}
+}
+
+func (a *attachmentDownloader) getAttachments(ctx context.Context, attachments []proton.Attachment) ([][]byte, error) {
+	resultChs := make([]chan attachmentResult, len(attachments))
+	for i, id := range attachments {
+		resultChs[i] = make(chan attachmentResult, 1)
+		a.workerCh <- attachmentJob{id: id.ID, result: resultChs[i], size: id.Size}
+	}
+
+	result := make([][]byte, len(attachments))
+	var err error
+	for i := 0; i < len(attachments); i++ {
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			return nil, ctx.Err()
+		case r := <-resultChs[i]:
+			if r.err != nil {
+				err = fmt.Errorf("failed to get attachment %v: %w", attachments[i], r.err)
+			}
+			result[i] = r.attachment
+		}
+	}
+
+	return result, err
+}
+
+func (a *attachmentDownloader) close() {
+	a.cancel()
+}