Can't import mailboxes

I'm trying to import saved messages from another mac (Mail). Mail imports the folder, and the mailboxes, but then no actual emails show up in Mail. Even if I go back and manually drag the individual emails to the mailbox>messages folder in Library>Mail, and restart Mail, the emails still don't show up. I know they are there because I can open up individual emails from the finder, and they open in mail. I've tried deleting plist files also. Thanks for any help.

You’re welcome.
OK. You’ve answered the ‘what’, but not the ‘how’. Did you choose Mail for Mac OS X as the data format?
It should work. I don’t know why it doesn’t for you. Another thing you could try is converting those messages to standard mbox format using emlx to mbox Converter or Emailchemy, and import these into Mail as Other.
Most of the emails are from 2004 and 2005 so maybe that is an issue?
created in older version of mail?
No, that’s not the problem. That’s the format used by Mail 2.x.
if I drag them there manually it still will not show them in mail.
I’ve already explained this in my previous post.

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How can I import mailboxes from Eudora to my new POP Mail account?

Good afternoon!
I have 10.4.11 on my Mac Mini and want to transfer my mail service from Eudora to Mail. I opened a POP account, but when I tried to import mailboxes from the Eudora Folder stored in Documents I got an Error message: No valid Eudora files were found.
I know the mailbox folder is in the Eudora Folder in Documents, so why can't Mail find it?

I'm not sure if you need Eudora Mailbox Cleaner, but you might take a look at it.
http://homepage.mac.com/aamann/EudoraMailboxCleaner.html
Regards,
Steve M.

Can't import mailboxes into Mail

I am trying to import my mailboxes into Mail from my time machine backup but it doesn't work. The backup is from 10.5 and I am now on 10.7. I can't access the old computer I only have time machine. I would also like to import my Address Book contacts. Any tips? Thanks

Restore the mailboxes to a different location, such as the Desktop, and import them into Mail (File > Import Mailboxes...) I haven't tried this myself and I don't know for sure that it will work.

Can't import mailboxes when setting up

Hi,
Just upgraded to Tiger, now setting up Mail. When trying to open Mail it tries to import old mailboxes in previous version (total twenty-five thousand messages). It gets to 21492, then crashes. I can't open Mail to import manually, since whenever I open Mail, it tries to import automatically, then crashes. Hitting "cancel" at this point closes Mail. There seems to be no option to just open Mail, then import later.

Hi alletun.
The conversion from Mail 1.x to Mail 2.x is broken, but Mail crashing because of this is rare, so verify/repair the startup disk first (not just permissions), as described in the following article, in case there is some filesystem corruption that also has a bearing on this:
The Repair functions of Disk Utility: what's it all about?
Now, here’s an example of the most common variant of this problem and how to proceed in those cases:
Just upgraded, Most of my old Inbox is gone!
Your problem, however, is different in that you don’t even get past an incomplete conversion. If Mail stalls or crashes during the conversion process, you may try to identify the mailboxes that Mail is choking on, quit Mail, move those mailboxes out of ~/Library/Mail/ (e.g. to the Destkop), and trash any Envelope Index-named files you may see in ~/Library/Mail/, so that Mail re-creates the index and tries to import the remaining mailboxes again, then manually import the problematic mailboxes as Other.
<hr>
Alternatively, you may want to set up Mail from scratch and manually import your mail back afterwards. This would allow you to use Mail normally while solving the problem of importing the old mail as you see fit:
1. Quit Mail if it’s running.
2. In the Finder, go to ~/Library/. Move (not copy) the entire Mail folder out of there, to the Desktop.
3. In the Finder, go to ~/Library/Preferences/. Locate com.apple.mail.plist and move it to the Desktop.
4. Open Mail and set it up again from scratch. If given the option to import existing mailboxes or something like that, don’t. Just enter the account information and check that everything works fine.
5. You’ll have to re-configure all your settings in Mail > Preferences. For spam-related security reasons, the first thing you should do is go to Preferences > Viewing and disable Display remote images in HTML messages if it’s enabled.
6. Do File > Import Mailboxes and follow the instructions to import your mail from the old Mail folder that’s now on the Desktop. Import the Mailboxes folder first, then each of the POP-username@mailserver account folders, if any.
There are two ways to import Mail 1.x mailboxes into Mail 2.x. The obvious one is importing them as Mail for Mac OS X. But Mail 1.x stored mail in standard mbox format plus some additional support files, and this allows Mail 1.x mailboxes to also be imported as Other, i.e. as generic mailboxes in standard mbox format.
Importing as Mail for Mac OS X produces the best results when it works, because it takes into consideration all the files in the mailboxes, not just the mbox files where the messages are stored, and hence, allows information such as status flags to be preserved. Importing as Other, on the other hand, may work in cases where importing as Mail for Mac OS X doesn’t, because it looks at the mbox files only, ignoring the support files which is what Mail 2.x usually chokes on, but precisely because of that, information such as status flags is lost and previously deleted messages may reappear.
Hence, you may try importing as much as you can as Mail for Mac OS X, then import the problematic mailboxes as Other.
Note that what Mail asks for when importing depends on the format chosen. Mail always asks for the folder that contains the “things” to be imported. If Mail for Mac OS X is chosen as the data format, the “things” to be imported are the *.mbox folders, so you must choose the folder that contains them, not the *.mbox folders themselves. On the other hand, if Other is chosen as the data format, the “things” to be imported are the mbox files, so you must choose the *.mbox folders that contain them in that case.
Note also that some of the mailboxes now on the Desktop may have already been partially converted to the new *.emlx format during the previous (failed) attempt to convert them in place. If you tell Mail 2.x to import as Mail for Mac OS X a mailbox that already has a Messages folder, Mail will simply ignore the Mail 1.x files present there. If the mailbox was successfully converted to the new format, that’s fine, but if the conversion was incomplete, that’s not what you want.
As a result of doing all the above, some messages may be duplicated. Andreas Amann’s Mail Scripts has a Remove Duplicates script that you may find useful.
If all is well and you don’t miss anything, the files on the Desktop can be deleted, although you may want to keep them for a while, just in case.
Note: For those not familiarized with the ~/ notation, it refers to the user’s home folder. You can easily locate any of the folders referred to in this post by copying the folder path here, doing Go > Go to Folder in the Finder, and pasting the folder path there.

Restored OS, can't import mailboxes from previous system

Dang. I've tried every which way to get email files from the archived "previous systems" folder over to my new email library. If I try to import mailboxes, it doesn't detect valid mailboxes to import. If I literally drag and drop email files to the new inbox, the files move over but I can't see them in mail viewer. The only way it has worked is to open each old file individually (they do open and read OK) and choose 'move to' from the message menu. I can then move the file to a mailbox on the new viewer and it shows up fine. But I have thousands of old emails and this would drive me nuts.
Any input or ideas?

Hi jdlaln, and a warm welcome to the forums!
Not certain, but this can fix myriad Mail problems, & I think may make the ones you moved over show up...
Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), it will try to repair your Disk Directory while the spinning radian is happening, so let it go, run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, then move these folder & file to the Desktop.
Move this Folder to the Desktop...
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Caches/Mail/
Move this file to the Desktop...
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Mail/Envelope Index
Reboot.

Apple Mail can't import mailboxes after switch to new Mac

I just purchased a new iMac (running Yosemite 10.10.2) and imported the Time Machine backup from my MacBook Pro (running Mavericks 10.9.5).
When attempting to launch Mail I am forced to import all mailboxes, there doesn't seem to be any way of skipping this step. In the second mailbox (Googlemail IMAP account) I can import 98% of the over 38,000 emails yet import stops at the same place every time. There seems to be something wrong with the file from which Mail is importing.
Is there any way to force Mail to skip this mailbox? Or replace the file Mail is attempting to import from?
I have the following backups: the Time Machine backup and an image I created using SuperDuper.

The warranty entitles you to complimentary phone support for the first 90 days of ownership.

Can't import mailboxes from 10.4(PC) to 10.8

I have a new Imac running 10.8.3. I am trying to import my mailboxes from my old Imac PC running 10.4. The import wizard doesn't work for 10.4 PC. I have tried copying mailboxes from my library onto an external harddrive and then copying them into the mailboxes folder in the library on my new Imac, and the mailbox folder shows up on my mail window, but none of the emails in the folder display. They do show in the library in the individual mailbox folders in the library as emix files, but don't display in the mail program window. What do I need to do to get them to display?

Can you list step by step in detail what you did?
I got a bazillion import choices in 10.8.5 from 10.4.11...

I can not import mailbox in Mail

Has anyone had trouble importing a mailbox in Mail? I try to do the process, but with some boxes to import does not happen. The message is that everything worked out, but they do not enter the Imported folder.
Thank you.

Hi,
May I know which version of Outlook are you using?
If you are using Outlook 2013, you have to edit the message first, then edit the attachment:
http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/outlook-2010/edit-and-save-outlook-2010-attachments/
Please note you have to follow the steps in order to save the attachment to the original message.
1. Open message
2. Edit message
3. Open attachment
4. Edit attachment
5. Save and close attachment
6. Save and close message
You can also check if this helps:
Go to File -> Options -> Trust Center ->
Trust Center Settings -> Attachment Handling -> Uncheck
Turn off Attachment Preview -> OK.
Thanks,
Melon Chen
Forum Support
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"Import Mailboxes" can't see IMAP inbox in backup Mail folder

So, a friend of mine thought he'd be efficient and, via the webmail interface, deleted all the messages in the Inboxes of two IMAP accounts (hosted by Fatcow). He did not understand that this would delete all the messages in the inboxes on his computer, too. He understands IMAP better now that we've had a talk!*
We have a backup copy of his ~Library/Mail folder, and I thought it would be a piece of cake to use Import Mailboxes to reimport those missing messages back into Mail, from where he could drag them back into the Inboxes in the cloud. Being a Mac consultant, I have done this very thing many times.
However, no matter what we do, the Import Mailboxes dialog will not offer those two inboxes in the list of mailboxes to choose from. We see all the other boxes, including two inactive POP accounts. When we look inside the backup Mail folder in the Finder, we can open the IMAP folder for each account and burrow down to the actual messages. The hierarchy there is kind of too deep, perhaps because the IMAP Path Prefix in his account preferences is incorrect--one of the accounts has the final Inbox with the messages inside another Inbox folder inside the IMAP account folder**. This is the only reason I can think of that Import Mailboxes would not be able to see those inboxes. Does anyone know if it would work if I moved the final Inbox folder higher up in the hierarchy?
Thanks very much for any assistance.
*Please don't ask why he wasn't using Time Machine. He will be, very soon.
**I can't reproduce it exactly here because I was working with him over a LogMeIn connection, as he's in another state. Geographically speaking, not emotionally.

in finder rename the backup imap inbox from INBOX.imapmbox to INBOX.mbox. then Mail will let you import it if you choose it directly when importing mail.

Can't find Library when using Import Mailboxes option in Mountain Lion

Hi there, I'm trying to import my Mailboxes I've created on my iMac in my Apple Mail, but I can't see the "Library" folder. I've searched the web and found instructions to unhide the "Library" folder when using Finder, but this does not help me as I can't use this when following the instructions and prompts in the Mail>File>Import Mailboxes option. I'm running Mountain Lion. Can anyone help?

Sorry that option not available in mountain lion.
You can use a terminal command but the easiest way to do this is to choose Go>Go To Folder ~/Library.
When it opens drag the Folder from the window bar into your side bar.
This will make it always available.
To remove it just drag out of the side bar.

Over the years and upgrading machines, I now have over 20k of emails in the import mailboxes within several folders. How can I archive these in way so the are still available, if necessary, to search, but don't load and slow down my mail app.

Over the years and upgrading machines, I now have over 20k of emails in the import mailboxes within several folders. How can I archive these in way so the are still available, if necessary, to search, but don't load and slow down my mail app.

Ok Thank you.
I wont worry now.
Just maybe dig in deep and delete the deleted mails that are still around and that will hopefully clean it up a bit.
Many thanks for your help and advice.
Regards
Chrispl0

How can I transfer mailboxes from one computer to another?

How can transfer all mailboxes(and their contents from one MBP to another? Migration assistant was no help.

Select all your mailboxes, and then select
Mailbox ▹ Export Mailbox...
from the Mail menu bar. Export the mailboxes to the Desktop folder. Transfer them to the new machine.
On the new machine, import the mailboxes:
File ▹ Import Mailbox...

Can't import LDIF format exported mail address to Address Book

New to iMac and trying full migration from PC
I have a LDIF format address file (exported from Comcast's Webmail in Netscape Communicatore LDIF format). Can't import the file to my new iMAC's Address Book.
Getting the following msg: No Cards Added. No importable cards were found.
It is a small file, there are records in the file- I opened the file with MS Notepad. I have opend the file with TextEdit as well and see the records in the file. Records have givenname:, sn:, mail:. xmozillanickname:, description:.
I've checked the FAQ, all support pages and there doesn't seem to be a solution.
Is this ture?
iMAc Mac OS X (10.4.7)

I found a solution.
When I tried importing the mailboxes, I was selecting "Files in mbox format," because that's what they are, right? No. Apparently, I needed to select "Apple Mail" instead.
That imports everything under an Import folder, and then I can select the emails and drag them to the appropriate inboxes (after re-setting up the accounts).
Ugh, this is not easy. But I'm getting close.
(Oh, step 6 will be to clear off Time Capsule and start a new backup. But only after I'm convinced things are running right. Obviously, I will be looking at other options for catastrophic backup in the future.)
Another note: I first tried copying my entire user folder to my external drive. But after a few minutes of copying, that failed, saying that I didn't have permission to copy one or more files. It didn't tell me what it was, or ask whether to skip it. It just failed. So that's why I was left to selectively pick files.
Another lesson learned: Know your Time Capsule password. If you rely on Keychain for this, and your machine dies, you're going to have a hard time recovering (if it's possible).

Can't import mbox file into Mail anymore

Hi all, I am getting nowhere with this issue...I have archived my Apple Mail inbox and then turned around and imported it into Apple Mail (so as to have it on the local computer, not the network) many times in the past. It no longer works. I got to File>Import Mailboxes. I get the window "Import data from:" and my choices for file formats are "Apple Mail, Microsoft Entourage, Netscape/Mozilla, Thunderbird, Eudora, Files in mbox format." I first chose "Files in mbox format" as I have in the past. I hit "Continue." I go to the folder where I keep my archived mail. I click the containing file for my most recent export, "Inbox 5.mbox." This opens a new window listing "Items to import" that I may check off. Every item on this list is an old mbox folder. My new export folder doesn't show up. If I go back, open the containing file I mentioned above, "Inbox 5.mbox" and click the actual mbox file, I get the message, "no valid mbox files were found."
I've found other threads referring to this and some say the solution is to pick the "Mail from Mac OSX" data type from the import list, the problem is, this is not an option for me!
If anyone can help I would appreciate it, this is really frustrating...

We have users who have been importing collections of old pine and alpine messages who are having problems since switching to SL.
I discovered that alpine has been saving to MBX format, so users ende dup with collections of mixed mbox and MBX files. The "file" command can tell you which file is which format. There is an old program called "mailutil" that can be used to convert MBX to mbox (available in linux "uw-imap" packages). It is also in MacPorts imap-uw, but the latter is not maintained and appears aimed at older versions of MacOSX. There is also a FileImport plugin for Euroda_OSE that seems to handle more of the .mbox files than Apple Mail does, but still has problems with .mbox files from pine for the period 2002--2005. The file command indicates the problem files have long lines. I tried splitting one of the files
using mh inc, but it had 1000's of messages and a large fraction have the long lines problem.
Can you read the archived messages using "mail -f <filename>"? What does "file" say?

Mail stops importing mailboxes after Time Machine restore

Hello,
I replaced the hard drive in my MacBook Pro by a solid state drive (Crucial M4 512Gb) hard drive.
Before installing it, I let Time Machine backup my complete hard drive to an external USB hard drive (backup done over night).
I installed the SSD, booted the MacBook in recovery mode (CMD R), initialised the SSD using Disk Utility and restored the complete hard drive from the Time Machine Backup.
Everything fine except for Mac Mail.
If I start Mac Mail: it wants to import my mailboxes.
However, it stops at:
Importing mailbox
Imported 1112 of 1124 messages
Time remaining: Less than a minute
Then the fan comes up (high CPU load) and nothing happens.
If I cancel, the fan speed drops and Mail quits.
If I start Mail again, it reports one message less to import, thus:
Importing mailbox
Imported 1111 of 1123 messages
Time remaining: Less than a minute
I can repeat this (everytime the number of mail messages drops by one).
Problem is that I can't start using Mail until the messages are completely imported.
Anyone a tip what's going wrong and how to solve it?
As extra info: I made the Time Machine backups with nothing started on my MacBook (only Finder running).
Kind regards,
emeu1

I downloaded the mailbfr and ran
mailbfr -f
mailbfr -o
They seemed to execute fine, although the output did instruct me to login as root, which I assume is expected.
When I logged back in as the standard administrator I took a look at the log files. I see this:
system log:
Sep 13 22:15:49 fhsserver Server Preferences[17569]: The shared folder 'Local Administrator's Public Folder' has custom file system ACLs which cannot be displayed. Editing the permissions may replace any custom ACLs.
Sep 13 22:36:28 fhsserver ctl_cyrusdb[20170]: checkpointing cyrus databases
Sep 13 22:36:28 fhsserver ctl_cyrusdb[20170]: done checkpointing cyrus databases
Sep 13 22:45:49 fhsserver Server Preferences[17569]: The shared folder 'Local Administrator's Public Folder' has custom file system ACLs which cannot be displayed. Editing the permissions may replace any custom ACLs.
Sep 13 23:01:03 fhsserver imap[20454]: login: [10.0.1.202] john GSSAPI User logged in
Sep 13 23:01:03 fhsserver imap[20454]: IOERROR: creating directory /var/spool/imap/user: Permission denied
Sep 13 23:02:42 fhsserver mds[63]: (Error) Server: Peer checkin failed -- no store for path '/private/var/localadmin/Public'
Sep 13 23:02:42 fhsserver com.apple.AppleFileServer[362]: MDSChannelPeerCreate: (os/kern) invalid argument
Sep 13 23:05:02 fhsserver imap[20524]: login: [10.0.1.202] john GSSAPI User logged in
Sep 13 23:05:02 fhsserver imap[20524]: IOERROR: creating directory /var/spool/imap/user: Permission denied
Sep 13 23:06:28 fhsserver ctl_cyrusdb[20542]: checkpointing cyrus databases
Sep 13 23:06:28 fhsserver ctl_cyrusdb[20542]: done checkpointing cyrus databases
In the mail service imap log I see this repeating:
Sep 13 19:19:12 fhsserver imap[17664]: IOERROR: creating directory /var/spool/imap/user: Permission denied
In the Mail service smtp log is this repeating:
Sep 13 19:36:04 fhsserver postfix/postfix-script[17937]: fatal: the Postfix mail system is not running
Got any ideas?

Can't import mailboxes

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