Member Avatar for ishiiboy

I have two Macs running OS 10.2.8. I would like to move the email complete with folder structure and rules if possible from one computer to the other. Does anybody know how to do this? :?:

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As suggested, copying Mail’s data folder and Mail preferences is the correct, low-level approach for moving mailboxes, folders and rules between accounts. A few practical precautions and extra steps will reduce surprises when the destination Mac boots Mail for the first time.

Make a full backup of both accounts first (manual copy or a time-machine style backup). Quit Mail on both machines. Copy the Mail data and the Mail preferences from the source user account to the matching locations in the destination account (preserve folder structure). If the destination account has a different short name or user ID, fix ownership and permissions after the copy so the destination user owns the files.

Example (replace paths with the actual source/destination paths):

# with Mail closed on both Macs; source mounted at /Volumes/Source
cp -a /path/to/source-mail-folder /path/to/destination/
sudo chown -R destinationuser:staff /path/to/destination/source-mail-folder

Notes and troubleshooting:

  • IMAP accounts typically resync from the server, so moving local mail is usually only necessary for POP or archived mail.
  • Mail rules and account settings are stored in Mail’s preferences; copying them usually brings rules across, but rules can break when moving between major Mail versions—be prepared to re-create complex rules.
  • Passwords live in the Keychain. Either migrate the Keychain entries or be ready to re-enter passwords on the destination.
  • If mailboxes don’t appear or seem empty after the transfer, remove Mail’s index files so Mail can rebuild them (this is safe if a backup exists) and then relaunch Mail and allow the rebuild to finish.

For a simpler, safer transfer—especially across different OS releases—use Apple’s Migration Assistant (it preserves ownership, Keychain and settings). For ’s scenario, the manual route works well if backups and ownership fixes are handled first.

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Member Avatar for yellow

If you're using Mail.app, everything is stored in ~/Library/Mail/ and ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist. Move those from point A to Point B and put them in the same spot as you got them from.

Member Avatar for ishiiboy

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

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