Transferring Mail Folders

I want to move all my current Mail folders to a new Mac using Firewire. What folders/files do I need to move and where are they?
Thanks, Bill

Mail stores most preferences and all account settings in ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist (except the passwords, which are stored in the keychain). Everything else, including all your messages and mailboxes, is stored within the ~/Library/Mail/ folder.
Similarly, Address Book stores the settings in ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.AddressBook.plist and the data in ~/Library/Application Support/AddresBook.
Other applications store preferences and data in other places. You may want to ask in the appropriate forums for more information on those.
If both computers are running the same major version of Mac OS X, copying these files & folders from one computer to the other is all you need to do in order to have an exact copy of all your data on both computers.
In order to avoid potential permission issues, copy the files operating on the destination computer and while logged in as the user that’s going to use them. Also, be sure the affected applications aren’t running on either computer while doing that.
You may also want to read the following articles:
How to back up and restore your important Mac OS X 10.4 files
Transferring files between two Macintosh computers
Transferring data with Setup Assistant / Migration Assistant FAQ
Note: For those not familiarized with the ~/ notation, it refers to the user’s home folder, i.e. ~/Library is the Library folder within the user’s home folder.

Similar Messages

Problems transferring mail folders from eMac to Mac Mini

Okay, so here’s the problem.
I just upgraded my boss - well, her computer, anyway - from an eMac running 10.2.8 to a Mini running 10.4.6. I am now having problems transferring mailboxes from the old computer to the new one. She is one of those people who have a couple of thousand messages in fifteen different mailboxes she’s created, so I really need to get them across to the new machine.
Here’s what happens when I try (both machines are ethernetted together)(if that’s a word). I open Mail (2.0.8) on the Mini, and go to ‘File’, then ‘Import Mailboxes’ (Mail on the old machine, if it matters, is 1.2.3). If I select ‘Mail for Mac OS X’, then ‘Continue’, I get the box asking for location. Select the eMac, go to ‘Users’, select the User’s folder, then ‘Library’, ‘Mail’, ‘Mailboxes’.
If I click on ‘Choose’ then, I get all of the mailboxes under ‘Items to Import’ as (for example) ‘inbox.mbox’. Click on ‘Continue’, and get a progress bar stating it is importing. It then tells me I can find them in the folder named ‘Import’ in the main Mail window. However, when I go to the ‘Import’ folder there are only three of the mailboxes, and they are all empty. No, I can’t figure out why just those three, since all of the boxes have mail in them. If I choose an individual mailbox folder I get the ‘No Valid Mail for Mac OS X files were found’ message. It will not allow me to choose the individual *.mbox files.
Okay, so if I follow the above path to the ‘Import Mailboxes’ dialog box, then select ‘Other’, and in the import box select ‘Mailboxes’ at the same location as above, I get one item to import, named ‘mbox’. Click on ‘Continue’, I get the progress bar, then the same message about the ‘Import’ folder.
But, once again, if I click on the ‘mbox’ folder under Imports it’s empty.
So I’m currently stuck. I could forward the old messages back to the same address, but frankly I consider that to be a silly enough idea that it might have been suggested by Microsoft. Does anyone have any ideas where I can go from here?
I apologize for the long windedness, but I’ve done tech support via email, and I personally always hated info-light messages like “My email keeps crashing. Why?” Please let me know if any of you need to know anything else. Thanks!
Mac Mini 1.5 Intel Core Solo Mac OS X (10.4.6) I am currently whistling "On the Sunny Side of the Street"

"There are a couple of things you seem to be missing that might or might not have a bearing on your problems."
I'm not at all surprised. I've been missing things most of my life
"First, ~/Library/Mail/Mailboxes is not the only place where mail is stored. You may want to also import the ~/Library/Mail/POP-username@mailserver account folders."
Okay, that one sounds good... unfortunately, there's no joy so far. I've tried it importing as Mac OSX Mail. If I select the [email protected] folder, I get a checkbox for each of the folders, then a brief progress bar when I click 'Continue'. There is then only one of the folders I tried to import under the 'Import' folder, and it again appears to be empty. If I try selecting any of the individual mailboxes I get the 'No Valid Mail for Mac OSX Found' message.
I get a bit further using 'Other', but not a lot. Selecting the POP folder gives me two of the mailboxes (one labeled simply 'mbox') and 'Continue' another brief progress bar... but again empty mailboxes. Selecting the individual mailboxes give the same result.
"Second, when importing as Other, Mail wants you to select the folder that contains the mbox files to be imported. Hence, when choosing that option, you may want to try importing the *.mbox folders one at a time, rather than the entire ~/Library/Mail/Mailboxes folder at once."
I was pretty certain I tried that, but I just went back and checked again to make certain. As above, I get a brief progress bar - then an empty, meaningless, nihilistic folder. Insert pseudo-intellectual 'staring into the abyss' line here.
I do have another thing I'm planning on trying. I was told I might be able to get better results if I booted the eMac into 'Firewire' mode so the Mini would just see it as a hard drive. I'll let you know if I get any results from that.
Thanks for your suggestions. Hopefully, this info will provide enough clues for you to facepalm and say "Of course! The obvious answer is..." And then fill in the ellipse, of course.
Those will work, or they won't. Either way, though, I appreciate your taking the time to think about this.

Transferring contacts and Mail folders

I just bought a new iMac to replace my 8 year old MacPro and was advised here to install all apps with a clean install rather than migrate 8 years of content over to the new machine. I am about to do this but have another question: How do I transfer over my Contacts, Mail folders and Safari bookmarks? Thank you very much! Don

Peruse Pondini's Setup New Mac guide and seriously consider, as rkaufmann87 notes, migrating using the Setup Assistant on first boot. That ensures that your new machine mimics your old and retains eight years worth of settings.
27" i7 iMac (Mid 2011) refurb, OS X Yo (10.10.1), Mavs, ML & SL, G4 450 MP w/10.5 & 9.2.2

Mail folders in Library are a Mess!

1) I have a G5 and a G4 laptop both with the same Mail POP accounts set up in Mac Mail of each computer. The only way I have found to sync the two is manually (I do have .mac I don't use it as I have never figured out the syncing) - I go through the same manual process with regular folders as well as with mailboxes in the Library folder under Mail.
2) I literally transfer the .emix messages from one computer to another and checking the dates they were created helps me to identify which ones I move.
3) I keep track of all of this in my head and it has basically all worked up until recently when it seems to be getting the better of me. When I rebuild my mailboxes on the laptop they no longer seem to contain all the messages I need or they appear but say "download from server"
4) Also, when I push the Sent Mail airplane icon on the G5, it takes about 3 minutes for my messages to appear and I have 29, 714. What I don't understand is where they are stored. The ones which appear in the mail Application I cannot find as .emix messages. And in the Mail folder(in Library) in SENT in Messages it says there are 118, 398. So why can't I see all these in the Mail app.
5) My question is - what do I do now and how do I sync in the future. Would Smart Mailboxes help me - I can't figure out how?
6) And last - I have 4 duplicates of each message - so how do I get rid of these (maybe this why I have 118,000) . I have Duplicate annihilator and it doesn't work - I think it would take 3 weeks for it to go through them all..
Any help would be much appreciated...

1) In my desktop Mail app I have 3 pop accounts set up and including my .mac account which is set up as a POP - does this make any sense? I want all 3 of these accounts synced - is this possible?
You cannot sync POP account mailboxes with the server. Received messages with a POP account are downloaded from the server by the email client used to access the account. The account settings in Mail and with other email clients such as the Mail.app provide for removing received messages from the server when downloaded but the account's Inbox mailbox in Mail or with any email client is not and cannot be synchronized with the server. Synchronization with the server is available with a .Mac type or IMAP account with Mail or as an IMAP account with other email clients.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PostOfficeProtocol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMAP
To utilize the IMAP account sync function with the server requires accessing your .Mac account as either a .Mac type account or as an IMAP account with Mail. To change the account type for the account will require deleting and then recreating the account in Mail selecting .Mac or IMAP as the account type when recreating the account.
Before deleting the account, create an "On My Mac" location mailbox in Mail - one to be used for the account's Inbox messages and one for the account's Sent messages. At the menu bar go to Mailbox and select New Mailbox. Since you are accessing POP accounts only with Mail at the present time, "On My Mac" will be the only location choice available. Enter a name for the mailbox and select OK. Repeat for the additional mailbox or mailboxes.
Transfer/move messages from your .Mac account's Inbox mailbox to the user created mailbox designated for the account's Inbox messages and do the same for the account's Sent messages.
When deleting an account with Mail, the account's mailboxes in Mail are also deleted at the time.
2) When I turn on the Sync with mac options - it works for my address book but not for my mail accounts?
Don't confuse the two sync functions - really 3 different sync functions available with a .Mac account.
1) .Mac or IMAP account access with Mail and/or with IMAP account access with other email clients such as Mail on your Mac or on a different computer.
2) Syncing Bookmarks, Calendars, Contacts, Keychains, Mail Accounts (Mail account information only) and Mail rules, signatures and smart mailboxes. This provides for keeping the same information available and kept synchronized with multiple Macs. I also have an old TiBook G4 and all this information is kept synchronized for me on both Macs.
3) Keeping iDisk storage information synchronized.
All 3 are different and separate functions.
3) And what I don't understand is that nowhere does it say it will sync my folders/mailboxes - simply my account settings, rules etc...
True because what is says is all that it does. You cannot keep the mailboxes for different email accounts or user created "On My Mac" location mailboxes in Mail (which are stored locally on the hard drive) kept synchronized with the .Mac account server. You can keep .Mac account server stored mailboxes synchronized with the server only.
4) I bought SyncTogether which is a syncing software only to realize that it wouldn't sync my MAIL FOLDERS/MAILBOXES ( like SENT MAIL and the dozen or other folders I have) - it does the same as .mac sync and syncs simply the settings and accounts and smart mailboxes which I don't understand how to use...
Sounds like you wasted money on software for features included with a .Mac account.
5) I separate all my incoming mail into folders/mailboxes and then either have rules sort it or sort it myself..I need my mailboxes and I need to be able to access them from both my macs...I never use the online .mac mail - I just use it from my desktop -
When accessing a .Mac account as a .Mac type or IMAP account with Mail, you can also create server stored mailboxes for the account with Mail. When creating a new mailbox with Mail, you will also have the account name to choose from as a location choice (in addition to "On My Mac") when creating a mailbox. You can choose .Mac account location (server stored) mailboxes for your rule criteria.
You can also move/transfer existing "On My Mac" location mailboxes to the server.
After deleting and then recreating your .Mac account as a .Mac or IMAP account with Mail, you will also have a .Mac account icon in the mailboxes drawer. This is for server stored mailboxes with the exception of the account's server stored Inbox mailbox which will be located and remains under Inbox in the mailboxes drawer.
When creating a server stored mailbox for your .Mac account, it will be created and located under your .Mac account named icon in the mailboxes drawer. You can select/drag an existing user created "On My Mac" location mailbox under your .Mac account named icon in the mailboxes drawer which will copy the mailbox and contents within to the server.
All account mailboxes under your .Mac account icon in the mailboxes drawer in addition to the account's Inbox mailbox under Inbox in the mailboxes drawer will be available and kept synchronized automatically with Mail on both Macs and when accessing the account as an IMAP account with another email client on your Mac or on a different computer.
I access my .Mac account as a .Mac type account with Mail on my Mac and as an IMAP account with Outlook Express on my PC notebook running Windows XP at work. All server stored account mailboxes including any user created server stored mailboxes created with Mail or with OE are available and kept synchronized automatically with both email clients and all server stored mailboxes are also available when accessing the account via webmail using a browser. Any server stored mailboxes created via webmail access will also be available with Mail.
5A) Should I be creating Smartmailboxes instead of Mailboxes? From what I could understand, this won't really help me as it just virtual.
Smart Mailboxes will not help in this regard. Smart Mailboxes are virtual mailboxes only but any new Smart Mailbox created with Mail on one Mac will also be available with Mail on the other Mac automatically as part of the .Mac sync function for Mail Rules, Signatures and Smart Mailboxes.
6) and last - how do I upload to my .mac account? Is syncing through .mac different than Idisk - where does Idisk come in?
First part of this question already answered - select and drag an existing "On My Mac" location mailbox to/under your .Mac account named icon in the mailboxes drawer which will copy the mailbox and messages within to the server.
Think of iDisk as a separate server stored hard drive which includes .Mac account server stored mailboxes and messages which go against your total available iDisk storage space. Check .Mac account Help on the server when logged in to your .Mac account via webmail access using a browser or search the Help function locally on your hard drive.
7) Thought I was finished but - one more question - .mac sync only has a certain amount of storage on it - is the only way I can have all my stuff in sync to spend lots of money on more storage space...I have thousands of messages in my mailboxes...so what do I have to archive those somewhere? And how do I do it?
A .Mac email account has a default amount of server storage space allocated which you can change/adjust. You have 1 GB total iDisk server storage space available to you as part of a .Mac account which includes email account storage.
I have 120 MB of storage space allocated to my .Mac account but I can allocate more or less as I need and see fit but this goes against your total 1 GB of total iDisk storage space available.
Since I have 120 MB allocated to my .Mac account, this leaves me 880 MB of iDisk storage space available for other such as for Apple's Backup software to keep backup data stored on the server, iWeb for iWeb created websites and for your .Mac account Public folder which you can use to place large files, etc. for others to access and download which are too large to send via email.
You probably don't need to store every single message that you received and sent not deleted on the server so at some point you may need to decide which messages need to remain on the server and if you want to keep all messages on the server, you will need to purchase additional .Mac server storage space when you exceed 1 GB total for everything stored on your iDisk combined.
When I reach my allocated 120 MB, I transfer received messages that I want to keep but no longer need on the server from the account's Inbox mailbox to a user created "On My Mac" location mailbox. This process stores the transferred messages locally on the hard drive AND also removes the messages from the server at the same time.
Log in to your .Mac account via Safari and check your .Mac account preferences there. I believe it is under the same area as your billing information, etc. where you can adjust your total 1 GB iDisk storage space between email and iDisk up or down.

Trouble syncing Mail folders/subfolders

Hi to anyone who reads this.
Not sure where to turn for help right now. Apple Tech Support says this is a .Mac problem; .Mac says it's an Apple Tech Support issue. I'm in the inferno.
Like a lot of people, I download a lot of e-mails from the server and put them into folders and subfolders (and sometimes sub-subfolders). Some folders are important; others are not. It is critical that I have access to these important folders over the holidays when I'm not at my iMac. I have a .Mac account, so I should be able to do that. But when I try to sync, the folders don't show up (or...worse...only a few of them show up). For those of you who want to read on, please do.
I initially tried this sync with my folders about two months ago. It didn't work -- it wasn't critical to me then, so I didn't pursue it. What happened then was that I dragged the main folder(s) with several subfolders (and lots of e-mails) from where they sat in my mail program to below the globe icon for my .Mac account. The colorful ball whirled for quite a while. Then I went to the .Mac site, opened my mail and found only a few of the folders and subfolders had transferred. I was frustrated, but I stopped worrying about it.
Fast forward to today. I have a very strong need to have access to those e-mails while I'm away. I have tried to sync many times in the last day. Most recently, I have manually sync'd everything, so I know the sync works for my iCal and address book (although strangely, the automatic one looked like it worked, but it didn't). Nevertheless, the calendar and address books are completely up-to-date. I double-checked that the memory wasn't a problem. It's not. I even increased the storage allotment for mail to 700.
Trying everything I could think of, I went to the .Mac site, opened my folders, deleted the old (incompletely transferred and NEVER effectively synchronized despite autosyncing) folders from a few months ago and started over. (By the way, not that it matters, but the main folders under the globe icon are white, not blue, and the subs are blue...not sure what that means.) I have tried in many ways to get the folders I created in my Mail program to transfer to .Mac by placing them under the globe icon and then pressing the sync button. Nothing seems to work.
Help. Do you know what is wrong? Do you know what department at Mac should be helping me? What else do you need to know to help answer this one? I really need those e-mails -- far, far too many to resend to myself to put on the server over the holidays. Hundreds!! All very important for a conference I am planning.
Thanks so much!!! By the way, I'm a 10.4.3 user. I wish I could tell you whether this happened before or after the upgrade this fall, but honestly, I just don't remember.

Richard Eitel wrote:
I have an iMac with many mail folders containing many emails. I just purchased a MacBook. Is there a way to transfer the mail folders and all the existing emails onto the MacBook
the easiest is to use Migration Adssistant (it's in Applications/Utilities). It lets you transfer all your user settings, not just Mail. If you are interested in Mail ONLY, copy the entire folder /users/username/library/mail and the file /users/username/library/preferences/com.apple.mail.plist. when you start Mail after that it will look just as it did on the old computer.
and once that is accomplished is there a way I can keep both mail accounts in sync?
if you use an IMAP email account, this is automatic. if you use POP, it's impossible.
I would like to be able to file or delete an email on one computer and have the same action take place on the other computer.

Transfer mail folders from OE 4.5

I need to transfer mail folders and contacts from an old iMac (OS 8.5) using Outlook Express 4.5 to a brand new Intel iMac (OS X 10.4) using Mail. I found lots of suggestions on the internet for transferring from a PC to Mail, but not an old iMac.
I also exported the contacts from OE but when I imported them into Address Book, it only brought the names across and no other information, like e-mail addresses.
Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Alternatively, for each user, copy the /Users/username/Library/Mail folder from the Lion machine to the MBP. Launch Mail on the new machine and Mail will uodate the folder. Note that you can't go the other way. I do this routinely copying Mail from my primary SL volume to the Mtn Lion and Mavs volumes.

How do I transfer mail folders

I used migration assistant to transfer from my old iMac to my new iMac 27 2012. Everything transferred over except my mail folders (personal folders) and old email. How do i transfer them?

It should have worked, but if everything else transferred successfully then just drag your Mail folder from the old iMac. Its location is ~/Library/Mail/
Quit Mail on the new Mac. Then drag the entire folder from the old Mac to the same location on your new one.
Copy Mail's Preferences file also. Its location is ~/Library/Mail/com.apple.mail.plist
Drag it to the corresponding location on the new Mac.
In each case, overwrite the existing location's contents.
This will probably be easier than running Migration Assistant all over again, which as I say should have worked seamlessly.
The first time you launch Mail it will need to import your Mail messages, which will take an amount of time proportional to the number of Mail messages in the folder.

Transferring mail

Hi, I wish to transfer some old mail messages from an old Mac to a new Mac.
I have transferred the folders users/me/Library/Mail/Mailboxes/mailbox.mbox to the same location on my new Mac. And I have copied the com.apple.Mail.plist file in Preferences. The old mailboxes appear under "ON MY MAC" in Mac Mail but the emails don't appear when they are clicked on.
Anyone got any ideas?

Ahh, thank you, actually moving the mailboxes there didn't work but File > Import Mailboxes does the trick

Yahoo mail folders

how to get the mail folders created in Yahoo to show up on iphone4 like it did on previous generations of iphones.... can't seem to figure it out since push date became effective

Since a Yahoo email account can be accessed as a POP type account only with the Mail.app and other email clients, messages available in the account's Inbox mailbox at the server are the only messages downloaded by an email clients with a POP type account.
You can't export the mail folders that you created at the server so in order to have messages available in these folders downloaded by the Mail.app will require transferring those messages to the account's Inbox mailbox at the server.

Creating individual mail folders for each mailbox

I have switched to mac from pc and cant figure out how to make individual folders within my 2 email accounts. With Outlook I had 2 email accounts and lots of individual folders within those accounts to help seperate my different emails. With mac I cant figure out how. I tried smart mailboxes but it wont let me put emails from 2 different senders into 1 smart mailbox. Also, how can I transfer my old emails from my pc to my mac.
Thanks for the help!

In Apple Mail, accounts are sometimes referred to as Locations. Folders are called Mailboxes. If you have multiple accounts configured and you create a mailbox it will ask you which location it belongs to. That's how you create a folder within an account.
Smart mailboxes are not real mailboxes, but are automatic searches. They don't belong to any one account.
Transferring mail depends on the other application you were using. Mail's Import Mailboxes feature will help you through the process. It does not support importing from Outlook though.

Merging Mail Folders from 2 machines

I have a MacBook Pro and a G5 iMac. When traveling, I use the MacBook Pro primarily. Whan at home, the G5 primarily.
My problem has to do with mail folders (mailboxes)
I have folders mirrored on both machines.
However, there are some messages stored on the MacBook Pro folder that don't exist on the G5, and vice versa.
I am in the process of selling the G5, and want all pertinent messages to be transferred to the MacBook Pro.
Is there a way of merging two mail folders (that have the same name, but on different machines) so that all messages are contained in one folder.
Can I merely copy the contents of one mail folder into the other, and re-import?
Thanks, in advance

that's why I only use IMAP accounts. no issues with syncing.
you can't merge different mail folders and there is no easy way to do what you want. the best you can do i the following. on G5 put the messages that are missing from the MBP into one mailbox (make a new mailbox if you have to) and export this mailbox using mailbox menu->archive mailbox. This step can be unpleasant If you are not sure which exactly messages you need. then move the archive to the MBP and import it to mail there using File menu->import mailboxes. it will import it to a local mailbox in "on my mac" section. you can move the messages from there where you want to.

I clicked to open one of my mail folders and when it opened, it immediately deleted all of the items in it! Why and can I get them back???

In my email app, I clicked to open one of my mail folders. When it opened, it immediately deleted all of the emails inside that folder. This happened with all the others too. How can I stop this and is it possible to get that mail back.

Did you try to open teh fle by double-clicking its icon? If the file was made with an older version of Office, you may get that message. Try opeing PP and, from its "File" menu, see if you can open the ppt. I've foundthat often gets around that message and then yo ucan save the file from the newer version.
If that doesn't work, consider asking in the Microsoft Office: Mac forums here:
Office for Mac forums
PowerPoint is not an Apple product and it seems a lot of people around here avoid Office.

Lost profile and all mail folders after mac crash

disaster! my mac crashed. when i restarted and opened thunderbird, i was prompted to create an account. ii spent a lot of time on mozilla support--determined that my address book was in tact and tried several things according to other posts including moving the profile. nothing worked. i finally set up a new account, hoping to import the old folders. but now its a mess. i cannot find anything that resembles the old folders, i dont have a back up (i know), and im in over my head.
does anyone have suggestions of how untangle this. or know of support available in nyc. the folders contain years of business emails--i would happily hire someone at this point.

If you are being asked to create a new account you have lost your profile not just the mail folders. Read this article on how to attempt to recover it.
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Recovering_a_profile_that_suddenly_disappeared

Just installed new OS (mavericks) and lost mail folders. any advice?

I had set up several mail folders. When I installed the new Mavericks OS they all disappeared. Left with Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Trash and Junk. Is there a way of recovering the lost folders? Some very important info in them.

I had set up several mail folders. When I installed the new Mavericks OS they all disappeared. Left with Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Trash and Junk. Is there a way of recovering the lost folders? Some very important info in them.

I have an edit button in my e mail account but when I press it I don't get the ''get new mailbox' button. How can I create e mail folders? Thanks.

I want to create e mail folders for my goole account. I go to the account and as suggested in the forum i tap on edit. Then instead of getting at the botton a button that says 'new mailbox' i get 2 boxes one red that says delete and one blue that says move. This is on an ipad 2. I have also an ipad 3 and there it does work. I have checked the settings in both ipads and they seem identical to me.
How can I create the foldesr then on teh ipad 2?
Thanks a lot!

You need to be in the mailbox list for the account when you tap edit.
Sounds like you might be trying to do it from insider you Inbox.
Matt

Transferring Mail Folders

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