Sync mail on two computers

i have two laptops and several email accounts - a mixture of POP and IMAP.
at the moment i use a macbook pro for email, but i'd now like to set up my macbook air to use with the same accounts when i'm travelling.
is it straightforward to duplicate all my accounts and messages on the MBA or are there any potential conflicts i need to watch out for that might run a risk of messages going missing or not being collected on both computers ?
any pointers towards how to do this would be much appreciated.

I'd use IMAP for all accounts. You already use IMAP for some of your accounts, so you should know the benefits of having synced mail across all devices. Can you switch your POP accounts to IMAP?

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Problem syncing Mail between two computers

I know this is a well worn topic and I've read the posts on syncing mail between two computers. Overall, I've gotten it to work pretty well. Whenever I move from one computer to another, I copy my ~/Library/Mail folder to my thumbdrive and sync it w/ the same folder on my other computer before I fire up Mail on it.
But here's the problem: I rebuilt the "sent" mailbox on one of my computers (let's call it computer A). This apparently gives new message numbers to the messages. Things worked great on computer A after that.
Then I synced the mailbox with my other computer, computer B. On computer B, the change in mailbox numbers apparently was not recognized. Every message in the "sent" folder gave me the message that I needed to go online and download the message. So I rebuilt the "sent" mailbox on computer B. Things then worked great.
Then I synced back with computer A and the same thing happened. Every message in the sent folder gave me the "download from server message."
It seems that I'm in some sort of infinite loop. The rebuild on one computer is not recognized by the other computer. Clearly, there is some file somewhere that contains info that's not being conveyed when I sync the ~/Library/Mail folder.
Any suggestions??

That is interesting. To that effect I have thrown together this Applescript:
(CAUTION... do not run this script, experimental only!
set flashDrive to "FLASH"
tell application "System Events" to exists process "Mail.app"
if the result is true then tell application "Mail" to quit
-- copy files to mounted disk
do shell script "rm -r /Volumes/" & flashDrive & "/Mail/"
do shell script "cp -r ~/Library/Mail /Volumes/" & flashDrive & "/"
do shell script "cp ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist /Volumes/" & flashDrive & "/Mail/"
--copy files to userfolder
do shell script "rm -r ~/Library/Mail"
do shell script "cp -r /Volumes/" & flashDrive & "/Mail ~/Library/"
do shell script "cp /Volumes/" & flashDrive & "/Mail/com.apple.mail.plist ~/Library/Preferences/"
Problem is, I don't know how to tell the script which version of mail data is older or newer. If you know of such a way let me know and I'll script it in, otherwise the user is stuck with manually choosing what to copy to where.
And as we all know, any user choices are error-prone.

Syncing Mail between two computers

I use both a desktop and a laptop computer and need to sync my work files including my >10GB Mail folder between the two. For the most part I have been able to do this pretty successfully using Chronosync. I have a firewire drive that I plug in and sync the desired files, and this fire wire drive goes back and forth to work. For Mail I backup ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist and ~/Library/Mail.
The problem I'm having with my mail is that every so often the index gets corrupted and then Mail abruptly quits. I'm assuming this is the Envelop Index file stored in the Mail folder, but I'm not totally sure. To rebuild it I have to restart Mail so it can rebuild the Index. That would be fine if that's all it did, but actually it re-imports all my email messages again and now I have duplicate copies. After this happens, I have triplicate and even quadruplicate copies. I'm using a Mail script to remove these duplicates, but this situation is getting out of hand. For example, today it will take ALL DAY to remove the >30,000 duplicates.
Does anyone know the answers to the following:
1. Why does the index get corrupted sometimes but not others?
2. What can I do to keep this file from getting corrupted?
3. Where are all these email messages that Mail re-imports coming from? I have extensive filters to sort incoming messages; I delete junk; I empty my trash on a regular basis. Why can't the index be created based on the existing folders that have the messages sorted into them? WHy are a bazillion messages being reimported?
I am currently using POP servers. I played around this morning with IMAP because my employer provides it, but I don't see how this will solve my problem with my local nested storage of messages on my two computers that I wish to sync. And I think that IMAP is going to give me troubles in a short time because my employer only provides 250 MB of storage space. So storing messages on the server really isn't going to be an option for me.
Any ideas anyone? Right now I'm not syncing to anything mobile other than my laptop, so I don't need any of iphone fixes....

I'll just update to mention that I just noticed that the "Remove Duplicates" script isn't actually removing all the duplicates. I'm down from 3-4 copies of everyting to just two, and now I need a way to get rid of this one extra duplicate. Anyone know of any other ways to do this?

Sync Mail between two computers

After Leopard upgrade, I switched from Entourage to Mail.app, so I'm new to it.
I use two Macs and POP accounts. How can I sync Mail.app between two computers in Leopard? The Sync Service of Smart Folders is not enough for me.
May I use a sync app like Folders Synchrnonizer?
Thanks
Stefano

Both my wife and I have multiple macs and work at home and on the road - we've tried all sorts, and there are 3 approaches that work:
1) IMAP
I know you think this isn't the ideal solution for you, but it is unbelievably simple and rock solid once you get it working.
Set your POP mail addresses to forward all mail to your IMAP address (I use .mac which is brilliant, I don't know about Gmail).
Your mail is server based, so your laptop, desktop, iPhone, webmail from a PC etc. are all always in sync.
You will still get your mail from your old accounts.
You can set rules on any of your machines to filter your mail into folders according to which address they were originally sent to.
HOWEVER the mail you SEND will be FROM your IMAP address, so your clients / friends may get confused if you don't want them to use your IMAP address as your main address.
2)
Leave POP mail on the server.
In Mail preferences, highlight your POP account and click on the "Advanced" tab.
Select "Remove mail from server" to a 1 day if you come home each night.
If you are away for longer, make it 1 week or Never.
This way, if you download mail on your Laptop, when you get home that evening, your desktop will download the same mail again, as it has been left on the server.
It's sort of fake IMAP.
The downside is you can end up with a full mailbox at the server very quickly as you are now leaving messages on it, and you may have to empty the server yourself sometimes (in the same menu you just adjusted).
Also, if you are away from your laptop too long, you may download and later delete-from-the-server messages on your desktop, leaving your laptop out of date.
Use Mac Sync to keep your rules, mailboxes and preferences synced up.
This is the way it's designed to work, so it should work fine.
3)
Drag the Mail folder.
Assuming you're only using one Mac at any one time, you simply move the main mail folder to whichever machine is current.
Quit Mail on both machines.
On your target mac, go to youruserfolder/Library and rename the "Mail" folder to something else like "Mail Old". This is just so you have a backup.
On your source mac, go to youruserfolder/Library and copy that entire folder (not just the mailboxes) either to a drive to transfer to your target mac, or straight to it if you have it networked.
When you start up mail you will find the messages, folders, mailboxes etc. are the same as they were on your source mac.
Now you use your target mac (say your laptop) for a while.
When you are going back to your original source mac (e.g. your desktop), you now repeat the process in the other direction, replacing your desktop's mail folder with your newer laptop's version.
It's really important you use one mac at a time and swap the folder each time you switch.
If you rename the previous version before you overwrite it, you know you have a backup if things get out of sync.
It works really well if you only take the laptop out occassionally, or if you use it exclusively for days at a time (i.e you go away) and you only need to do the transfer every so often.
Also, it helps if you don't have thousands of emails - if your Mail folder is under half a gig, you can do this quickly using a USB keyring or similar. Any bigger and the transfer can get a bit slow.
I use option 1, and felt it was worth changing my email address for.
My wife uses option 2 when she is using her laptop in the day and she can run her desktop each evening the download the mail left on the server.
But she sometimes gets trouble with her popmail server filling up (she gets lots of video and audio attachments) so if she's going away or not planning to use her desktop in the evenings, she reverts to option 3 and removes messages from the server "right away", updating her desktop's mail folder at the end of the week and just using her laptop until then.
Good luck!

Sync nano to two computers?

If I have duplicate my iTunes files and folders on two computers can I sync a nano with both computers?
The reason I ask is that my PowerBook that I usually sync with does not have USB2 and I can get a USB2 PCI card for my PowerMac. I was hoping that I could do the inital sync on the PowerMac and do subsequent syncs on the PBook.
Thanks in advance.

You need to put your Ipod into manual mode to sync it with multiple machines. To do this you need to connect it to the original computer click on "Display Ipod options" or edit>preferences>ipod>select manual sync. Between two computers there is no way to auto sync but hopefully manuel will work for you.

Syncing podcasts on two computers

Is there anyway to sync podcasts on two computers without download them twice? I have an iMac, a Macbook, and an iPhone. I'd like to be able to download recent podcasts to either computer and have them show up on both computers so I don't have to worry about which computer I sync my iPhone with. I have 'Home Sharing' turned on, but it doesn't seem to help.
Sorry for the convoluted question. I hope it makes sense.

If they are purchased songs and both computers are the same i.e. both Mac or both PC, then you should be able to hook up the iPod to one, turn off auto sync and manually manage music. Add the purchased songs to the iPod and next time you hook the iPod up to the first computer it will ask if you want to transfer purchased music not on that computer. Do that, then you can turn auto sync back on without losing everything.
Another way to go is to make a CD/DVD back up of your purchases and then use that to transfer everything to one computer. You might want to do this anyway so there is less a chance of losing all your purchases.

Sync Mail for two apple computers?

Hello
I have two apple computers, one iMac and one MacBook. I use Mail on both to access the same account. But I never get my emails to both accounts. For example, while im on my MacBook, i get emails, but as soon as it is in sleep mode, new emails go to the iMac, and never show up in the inbox of the MacBook. Is there a way to sync them?

If you are using POP email accounts, just change the settings in mail on both computers to leave the mail on the server for 2-4 weeks (whatever the maximum interval is that you would not be using one of your computers). Then, each Mac will be able to download and store all of your messages.
bd

Synchronize Mail Across Two Computers

Hey everyone!
I have two iMacs running 10.5.7 with Apple Mail set to download email from my own domain with a POP server. I have a gigabytes of locally stored mail that I would like to have synchronized to another, iMac also running 10.5.7. I don't have the option of IMAP, but even if I did, the gigabytes of saved mail would go over my quota.
I tried using Live Mesh, but it does not support files in the /library directories, and MobileMe does not support IMAP/POP accounts.
Any other ideas?
Thanks in advance!

there is no good way to keep POP mail synced across two computers. one time syncing is possible by exporting a mail archive and moving it to another computer but it's not something you want to do on a regular basis. the best i can suggest is to check the option in mail preferences->accounts->advanced to keep messages on the server after retrieval. this way you can download them to both computers.
Message was edited by: V.K.

Sync iphone to two computers without delete data

Hi everybody!
I want to sync an iphone4 to two computers, both of them running mac os X 10.5.8 and iTunes 10.
The first one, called home computer, holds apps, music, videos, podcasts, photos. I don't want to sync contacts and calendars on it.
The second one, called office computer, contains just that: contacts and calendars, and nothing else. Actually, it contains a few other items, but I don't care to sync them.
First, I disabled automatic syncing in both computers.
Then I synced the iphone to the home computer, checking all the requested panes: apps, music, videos, podcasts, photos. I unchecked just the info pane. Everything worked fine.
Troubles are coming syncing to the second computer, office computer.
I check the info pane (everything ok, so far). But when I uncheck the app pane, it appears a box asking (sorry not to be precise, I have to translate from italian) "Do you really want to unsync all apps? All apps contained in iphone will be deleted". If I choose not to sync, the multicolor bar below starts worringly to decrease, and the green part (apps) disappears.
I wanted not to sync the app in the iphone, not to delete them!
The same happens if I uncheck all other interested panes, i.e. music, videos, podcasts, photos.
The final result is a sad, short bar showing just a very small yellow strip, "other" meaning contacts and calendar.
What I have to do?

With the iPhone, you can sync all iTunes content with only one computer. Trying to sync iTunes content with a second computer will result in iTunes erasing the content from the first computer. However, non-itunes content such as contacts, calendars, mail settings, notes, etc. (anything in the Info pane) can be synced from another computer.
Do not allow your iPhone to sync until you have set up your selections. Prevent automatic syncing one time, without changing settings: Open iTunes. Then, as you connect iPhone to your computer, press and hold Command-Option (on a Mac) or Shift-Control (on a PC) until you see iPhone appear in the sidebar.
At home, make your selections from the Music, Videos, Applications, etc. panes, but leave the selections in the Info pane that you want synced from your work computer unchecked. When you are finished, click the "Apply" button at the bottom right of the iTunes window.
At work, Prevent automatic syncing one time, without changing settings: Open iTunes. Then, as you connect iPhone to your computer, press and hold Command-Option (on a Mac) or Shift-Control (on a PC) until you see iPhone appear in the sidebar. Make sure all options in all the panes you used at home are deselected (not checked), particularly the "Sync Music" at the top of the music pane.
Go to the Info pane and select your sync choices that you left unchecked at home (such as contacts, calendars), then click the "Apply" button at the bottom right of the iTunes window.

Strange sync behavior -- Itunes wants to sync music on two computers!

I use my iphone to keep contacts and calendars synced between my office and home computers, which it does nicely (asking me each time I switch machines whether I want to merge or replace the data--to which I always reply merge).
I thought Itunes was NOT supposed to be able to sync music with more than one computer--that it was supposed to produce a message saying, "The iPhone "xx" is synced with another iTunes library. Do you want to erase this iPhone and sync with this iTunes library?" And then let me opt out of syncing the music, while still merging the calendar and contacts files. That's exactly what happened with my previous office computer.
Since setting up my new office computer, however, Itunes on both computers WANTS to sync the music on each. That would be fine, if it were syncing my music BETWEEN the two computers (leaving me the same tunes on each computer and on the iphone), but it's not--instead it's alternatively syncing with one and then the other, removing stuff I bought at home every time I sync at the office. If I try to tell the office computer NOT to sync the music, it warns me that that would mean erasing everything on the iphone.
Anyone have any ideas about what's going on here and how I can correct it?
Thanks!

No, unfortunately you can't sync your music from your iPhone to your computer.
I'd suggest using and external disk to transfer your music from your XP system to your new MBP. You'll just have to authorize your account in iTunes when you first play the songs.
If you have an iPod, you can use that as a disk to transfer the music: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93651 or you can use any other hard disk.
Once you have the songs on your Mac, just sync. The songs on currently on your iPhone will be replaced with the ones in your iTunes Library, as you stated.

Can I sync iPad on two computers?

Is it possible to sync them using both my MBP and my iMac?

I've detected a slight difference in iTunes behavior trying to sync an iPhone & iPad on two computers. There's been much written about doing this with the iPhone and I've settled into groove over the last year and a half where I sync music and photos at home and just sort of use the work set up to backup and charge. But syncing Apps is something I've always done in both places. However, when I tried this with iPad the dual set up doesn't play nice and even unchecks the Sync Apps box at work.

Is it possible to sync to/from two computers but only sync from a third (no upload to third/work computer, but download from it)?

Is this possible:
Two directional sync (to/from) of history, bookmarks, etc on two computers and only unidirectional sync (from only, not to) on a third? I have sync set up on my work computer and I like knowing my work history when at home or on my laptop, but I don't want all of my home history being sent to the work computer. Is there a way to have a two directional sync between 2 computers but only send history from, but not to, a third computer?
As it stands now, if someone at work would get on my history it would look like I have been looking up flights and buying things on the internet at work, but I only do that at home.
Thanks.
-erik

As far as I know, you can only access the iTunes store of the country you are currently in.

Synchronizing Mail on two computers

I use two computers: my MacBook Pro and an iMac. I'm pretty good about keeping the appropriate files backed and and/or synchronized on both machines. I have a problem with Mail, though.
Here's what I know:
Mail messages are stored in user/library/mail/ and then in various folders that are the names of my various e-mail addresses. They are stored as numbered files, i.e., 74056.emlx.
During the course of the week, because I don't synchonize every day (can't, really), a message may end up on my lap top with the same number as one that ends up on my desk top, but they may be completely different messages. In the past, I've been able to resolve the conflict by letting ChronoSync do it's job and then rebuilding whatever mailbox I knew to have a message header that no longer represented the real message.
But now, when I rebuild, hundreds of messages I have deleted return, and create duplicates or triplicates in my mail folders. I have deleted them from the server, I have used "erase deleted messages" from the drop down menu, and I am, as I write this, using Mail Scripts to search and delete.
That said, what am I doing wrong? I want to keep neat orderly duplicate free mail boxes without losing the important info that various messages still contain.
Suggestions?

Synchronization of local mail data between computers by means of a file synchronization utility is a really bad idea if more than one computer is allowed to access mail between synchronizations.
Mail uses a global Envelope Index file to keep track of every message within the ~/Library/Mail/ folder. If this file is modified on both computers between synchronizations, there is no way a file synchronization utility can handle the situation properly.
Another more subtle and dangerous issue is that Mail may use different *.emlx sequence numbers to name the same message on different computers, or worse yet, the same sequence number to name different messages. The only thing a file synchronization utility can do about it is create duplicates of some messages while overwriting (i.e. losing) others.
Mail data “synchronization” at the filesystem level can only be done reliably if it’s a one-way operation, i.e. if the entire contents of the Mail folder on one computer are overwritten by the entire contents of the Mail folder on the other. You should think of the ~/Library/Mail folder as if it was a monolithic entity.
BTW, this is not a Mail thing. Although the granularity may be different, you would encounter similar issues with any other mail client because there is no way you can avoid the same files being modified differently on both computers if you use both between synchronizations. The only reliable way to achieve mail synchronization between computers is using an IMAP account and storing mail on the server.

Sync Elements on two computers?

I have Elements on two computers. How do I sync without getting duplicate photos with -1 added?

ducks3986 a écrit:
Thanks, Michel, for such a quick reply. I was afraid that might be the answer. I was hoping for a simple Backup/Restore sytem like in my genealogy software. I think I tried that and thus got all the duplicate photos.
When you restore a backup to a drive with an older version, you have to pay attention to the messages. I generally wipe all my pictures before restoring, but I seem to remember that there is an option to overwrite if you keep the older image files.
Would it work to use an external drive for all new photos, import them into the Catalog on both computers; erase the external drive, and start that process all over?
Not very practical with the Organizer, unlike Lightroom which can import from a temporary catalog.
If you need synching frequently, the external drive option with images and catalog is a common solution. Of course, you'll need a backup. A common solution is to keep the backup on a separate external drive.
If you have enough space on your two computers x and y, you could try the following:
- master catalog and image library on external drive A
- periodical full backup on external drive B (can be run overnight)
- periodical full restores on x and y, fully operational except for new files since the last backup.
Is this solution too redundant?
I don't think so. With the organizer, you are only sure your backup is 100% ok when you have succeeded to restore it.
You have three useful backups or copies
You can store the backup drive B in a safe place when not in use
You can work independently from computers x and y if the external drive A is not available.
The restore to x and y can be run independently when they are not used.

Mirror mail on two computers

I have a typical situation, with a desktop computer in my office, and a lap top that travels with me.
I need my mail to be identical on both machines. I'm trying to use Mail, but haven't figured out how to get this to work. Ideally, the sync feature would sync not just accounts, but actual mail. (Which I thought it would do by the way, initially!) Having sync only sync my accounts, which basically never change, but not my emails, which change all the time, seems very non-intuitive.
I have a POP account, and do not want to use IMAP for this process, for various reasons.
I had hoped I could find a solution similar to iCal and Address Book, where I could make changes on either computer anytime, and once the computers are synced, changes from both would be seen on both computers. (Is this a planned upgrade for the future??)
Any ideas? Or am I missing something somewhere?
Intel Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.6) laptop: PowerPC G4, also on 10.4.6

Mike,
Thanks for the suggestion, but that doesn't actually work for me. I need all sent and received email to be the same on both computers, and I don't think the sent mail would be the same on both with your suggestion.
The other problem is that I get enough mail that my mailbox would clog on my server, and I don't really want to pay for more space, since I have the space on both the local computers.
Previously, I was copying all my Entourage files from one computer to the other, which worked, although not convenient. One of the reasons I switched to Mail (at least for now), is to make this process more convenient for me. I do like Mail better, as far as the interface is concerned. If I were to do it "the brute force way", like I used to, do you know what files I need to copy from one computer to the other? Is that my only option, to have an identical copy?
By the way, I don't use both computers at the same time. I use one while in town, and one while out of town, so I just have to do this when I leave and when I come back.
Thanks for any suggestions!

Sync mail on two computers

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