Getting old downloaded Mail files from account that has been closed

[jclin10]

There's an email that I used to use and I downloaded everything to Apple Mail. That account has been closed (I'm no longer associated with that organization), but I'd like to see if those emails are still on my computer. Is there a way that I can still do that if I no longer have access to the organization's email server? In other words, if they were downloaded to my computer, how do I access them?

 

[headlessmike]

There's an email that I used to use and I downloaded everything to Apple Mail. That account has been closed (I'm no longer associated with that organization), but I'd like to see if those emails are still on my computer. Is there a way that I can still do that if I no longer have access to the organization's email server? In other words, if they were downloaded to my computer, how do I access them?

They would usually just be in your Mail app (or other application used for email) if that's where you used to access them unless you exported them somehow.

 

[jclin10]

Thanks

Is there any way that I can export the entire Mailbox file from a given account? The issue is that I moved computers and I'm trying to get the emails from the old account from one computer to the other computer. It's not an option for me to log in to the old account from the new computer

 

[headlessmike]

Thanks

Is there any way that I can export the entire Mailbox file from a given account? The issue is that I moved computers and I'm trying to get the emails from the old account from one computer to the other computer. It's not an option for me to log in to the old account from the new computer

Yes! You can export a mailbox with the Mail app and import it on another computer. The imported mailbox will show up in the sidebar with its original structure intact. Instructions for how to do so are here:

Import or export mailboxes in Mail on Mac

Use Mail on your Mac to import emails and mailboxes in Apple Mail or mbox format and to export mailboxes in mbox format.

support.apple.com

 

[jclin10]

Cool!

I tried it but it seemed to produce a very small mbox file (like 79.2MB for 15 years of emails, attachments, etc). Does that sound correct? It seems super small to me. I'm basically looking for everything from that particular account - sent mail, inbox, archive, etc.

 

[headlessmike]

Cool!

I tried it but it seemed to produce a very small mbox file (like 79.2MB for 15 years of emails, attachments, etc). Does that sound correct? It seems super small to me. I'm basically looking for everything from that particular account - sent mail, inbox, archive, etc.

It sounds small. But if the attachments weren’t saved offline then that might be it. It should archive everything that’s present, attachments and all.

 

[jclin10]

I tried doubleclicking it and it seemed to be a text file with a bunch of data about the emails, but not the emails themselves. Is there another way to do this? Or am I doing it incorrectly?

 

[Bigwaff]

Open Mail... menu File > Import Mailboxes

 

[jclin10]

I'll give that a try, thanks!