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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Applications > Mail: possible to move IMAP messages to local storage on my Mac?

Mail: possible to move IMAP messages to local storage on my Mac?
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chasg
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Nov 7, 2017, 09:35 PM
 
Hi All,

I've been using Mail with an IMAP email service for over a decade now, and my ISP is having problems with the many tens of thousands of emails and attachments I've got stored on their server (seems this large number of emails is causing some sort of indexing problems that I don't understand).

Is there a way for me to move the bulk of those messages to local storage on my Mac? (I'd leave the last year or so's worth online, so that I can still access them from multiple devices).

There are a lot of precious bits of communication in there, so I definitely don't want to lose them. I'd also like them to remain as emails in Mail, instead of converting them to plaintext (so that I can search them in Mail, and also reply/forward them as emails).

Thanks in advance for any help!

Chas
     
OreoCookie
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Nov 8, 2017, 10:40 AM
 
Yes, drag and drop.

(1) Create a local folder in Mail. To do that, move your mouse cursor over On My Mac in Mail's side bar, and a + will appear to the right. Click in the + and create a folder.
(2) Select the mails in your, say, IMAP inbox and drag and drop.

That's it.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
chasg  (op)
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Nov 8, 2017, 03:41 PM
 
@OreoCookie: Thanks! (woah, way simpler than I'd anticipated :-))
     
OreoCookie
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Nov 8, 2017, 06:50 PM
 
Well, it's still a Mac. The process may take a while, though, and sometimes there are (server-side?) hick ups. Don't forget to move your Sent messages as well.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
chasg  (op)
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Nov 8, 2017, 10:21 PM
 
Gotta love MacOS (I'm burdened with a Windows 10 machine as well, drive me crazy sometimes!).

It's not taking too long, I'm moving a year's worth at a time (instead of all 40,000 emails at once). And Sent mail, I almost didn't do that, thanks again!

Cheers!

Chas
     
OreoCookie
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Nov 9, 2017, 01:53 AM
 
Yeah, that's how I moved my stuff, too. There is less to go wrong. And sometimes if the server hangs, Mail hangs.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
chasg  (op)
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Nov 9, 2017, 12:57 PM
 
Well, all messages have been moved successfully. Thanks again for the info, I really appreciate it :-)
     
OreoCookie
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Nov 10, 2017, 02:26 AM
 
Great to hear things went smoothly. Sometimes it is nice to see that a Mac is still a Mac.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
chasg  (op)
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Dec 7, 2017, 03:18 PM
 
Indeed :-)
     
   
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