Mac Mail - Manually Transfer Mailbox Folders

[PsychoCenobite]

Hi. My old iMac (Mid-2010 27" with an older OS) died a few weeks ago and I now have a new Mac Studio and I'm trying to do a clean install of everything, including my emails.

Because my old Mac died unexpectedly I wasn't able to export my mailboxes/folders using the app but I have all of the files backed up, i.e. the Library/Mail folder and the Preferences file.

I've tried replacing the current Library/Mail folder with the one from my backup but when I opened Mail it doesn't seem to have imported all of the folders/emails.

I had to enter one of my email account details to get the app to open and there are some "Import" folders but they don't contain all of my original folders/emails.

Also, Mail doesn't close properly and I have to force quit it to close it down.

I'm not sure if Mail is doing something in the background or if something has gone wrong?

I did have quite a lot of emails saved in multiple folders - about 25GB.

I've also had a migraine for two days now, which isn't helping!

Thanks.

 

[Fishrrman]

I'd "start over".

When you "replaced" the library/mail folder, did you just delete the old one?
So.. it no longer exists?

If so, what I'd do is this:
- quit Mail
- open the home/library folder
- delete the "Mail" folder (put into trash and empty trash)
- now, open Mail.app again
- I believe this should create an entirely "fresh" Mail folder
- get this working with your internet email account BEFORE proceeding further

Then...
- connect your backup (that has the previous "home/library/mail" folder)
- go to Mail's "file" menu and choose "import mailboxes". You should see this:

- it's been a while since I did anything like this, but I would try the "Apple Mail" radio button first
- click continue
- you'll now get a "file open" dialog, asking you WHERE you want to import from
- navigate to the the backup's "mail" folder.
- I'd just "go that far" and see if Mail will import everything in that folder that it finds.

Finally...
- if successful, your previous emails may end up in a NEW mailbox named something like "imported messages" (or thereabouts).
- it will be up to YOU to move and re-arrange these mailboxes and messages to where you want them.

I suggest you print out this reply for reference.
Good luck.

 

[PsychoCenobite]

I'd "start over".

When you "replaced" the library/mail folder, did you just delete the old one?
So.. it no longer exists?

If so, what I'd do is this:
- quit Mail
- open the home/library folder
- delete the "Mail" folder (put into trash and empty trash)
- now, open Mail.app again
- I believe this should create an entirely "fresh" Mail folder
- get this working with your internet email account BEFORE proceeding further

Then...
- connect your backup (that has the previous "home/library/mail" folder)
- go to Mail's "file" menu and choose "import mailboxes". You should see this:
View attachment 2126232
- it's been a while since I did anything like this, but I would try the "Apple Mail" radio button first
- click continue
- you'll now get a "file open" dialog, asking you WHERE you want to import from
- navigate to the the backup's "mail" folder.
- I'd just "go that far" and see if Mail will import everything in that folder that it finds.

Finally...
- if successful, your previous emails may end up in a NEW mailbox named something like "imported messages" (or thereabouts).
- it will be up to YOU to move and re-arrange these mailboxes and messages to where you want them.

I suggest you print out this reply for reference.
Good luck.

Thanks for the reply! 👍

This seems to be working - I'm going one mailbox folder at a time. Some are lot bigger than others and some are made up of a lot of sub-folders.

Once they are imported I then create a new mailbox folder and copy everything over, which means each imported folder isn't under a separate heading of "imported".

Once imported some of the folders wouldn't copy over but I just renamed them slightly (added "new" at the end) and that seemed to work.

Do you know how to quickly reorder the sub-folders within a mailbox folder to be in alphabetical order? Some of them have gone out of order for some reason.

Thanks again! 👍

 

[Fishrrman]

"Do you know how to quickly reorder the sub-folders within a mailbox folder to be in alphabetical order? Some of them have gone out of order for some reason."

I would just "grab n drag" them up or down to where I wanted them.
Don't know if that will be "quick enough" for you...

 

[PsychoCenobite]

"Do you know how to quickly reorder the sub-folders within a mailbox folder to be in alphabetical order? Some of them have gone out of order for some reason."

I would just "grab n drag" them up or down to where I wanted them.
Don't know if that will be "quick enough" for you...

Thanks. This is what I ended up doing.

I just opened the folder in Finder that showed them in alphabetical order and then dragged them into the matching order - there were quite a few folders and they were all over the place, so I found it easier to have the reference to match them to.

All seems to be okay now! 👍

 

[subaiku]

I'd "start over".

When you "replaced" the library/mail folder, did you just delete the old one?
So.. it no longer exists?

If so, what I'd do is this:
- quit Mail
- open the home/library folder
- delete the "Mail" folder (put into trash and empty trash)
- now, open Mail.app again
- I believe this should create an entirely "fresh" Mail folder
- get this working with your internet email account BEFORE proceeding further

Then...
- connect your backup (that has the previous "home/library/mail" folder)
- go to Mail's "file" menu and choose "import mailboxes". You should see this:
View attachment 2126232
- it's been a while since I did anything like this, but I would try the "Apple Mail" radio button first
- click continue
- you'll now get a "file open" dialog, asking you WHERE you want to import from
- navigate to the the backup's "mail" folder.
- I'd just "go that far" and see if Mail will import everything in that folder that it finds.

Finally...
- if successful, your previous emails may end up in a NEW mailbox named something like "imported messages" (or thereabouts).
- it will be up to YOU to move and re-arrange these mailboxes and messages to where you want them.

I suggest you print out this reply for reference.
Good luck.

Hi, am in a similar situation, got a question, this imports the mailboxes, but doesn't actully connect to the IMAP accounts does it?