Personality traits show substantial heritability but their genetic foundations are poorly understood. This study investigated whether structural genetic variation – specifically, copy number variants (CNVs) where segments of the DNA have been deleted or duplicated – contributed to variation in personality and mood in later adulthood. The Big Five personality traits and symptoms of anxiety and depression were measured in two Scottish cohorts aged 81 (N=423) and 70years (N=877). Neuroticism, Extraversion and depressive symptoms were measured in an English cohort aged 41–86years (N=1547). Trait scores were regressed on: (1) number of CNVs ⩾500kb and ⩽5% frequency, (2) total length of CNVs, and (3) number of genes they disrupted. Analyses were repeated for deletions and duplications. Agreeableness correlated (−0.07, p<0.05) with the number of genes affected by CNV duplications, but not at a level expected above chance. In this first CNV study of personality traits and mood symptoms, no support was found for a causative role of large, uncommon CNVs. Larger studies are needed to investigate rarer CNVs, and improvements in CNV prediction are needed to consider smaller CNVs using single nucleotide polymorphism data.