Where are my Mac Mail Email Addresses?

Question

Level 1

71 points

Where are my Mac Mail Email Addresses?

Hi. Help!

Is there a file on my Mac where my email addresses are being stored? Not just my Address Book emails; I am looking for the source of the emails that my Mac Mail program remembers. (Whenever I start to type an email address, it suggests email addresses I have used before, so I know it is storing them somehow.)

Also, is there a file(s) that contains my emails that I have stored on my computer?

I have a new Mac, and I want to transfer that content to the new one.

Thanks!

G4 (old) & Intel (new), Mac OS X (10.3.x)

Posted on Sep 2, 2008 4:00 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Sep 2, 2008 6:00 PM in response to Mike Salva1

Use Migration Assistant.

Reply

Answer 2

Sep 2, 2008 7:16 PM in response to Mike Salva1

Hi Mike,

As Kappy suggested, use the migration assistant to transfer your Mail files to your new computer.

I am looking for the source of the emails that my Mac Mail program remembers

With your Mail.app open go to the Window Menu>Previous Recipients. There is also a selection there to open Address Panel which are the addresses from your Address Book.

Also, is there a file(s) that contains my emails that I have stored on my computer?

Yes, you will find your emails in ~/Library/Mail folder.

hope that helps some,

littleshoulders 🙂

Reply

Answer 3

Mike Salva1 Author

Level 1

71 points

Sep 2, 2008 7:32 PM in response to Kappy

I tried using Migration Assistant, but it didn't work. I connected both computers with a Firewire cable. I booted the old Mac and pushed the "T" key. The Firewire symbol appeared on my Old Mac screen. But on my new Mac, the Migration Assistant "Continue" button remained ghosted and it would not let me proceed.

Ever since that happened, now my Old Mac is incredibly slow.

I really want to just get my old e-mails and e-mail addresses from the old Mac, If there is a simple way to put them on a flash drive, please let me know. (Or clue me in on a solution to my Migration Assistant problem.)

Reply

Answer 4

Mike Salva1 Author

Level 1

71 points

Sep 2, 2008 7:37 PM in response to littleshoulders

Is there a way to get the Previous Recipients without opening the Mac Mail app? My old Mac has been incredibly sluggish since I tried (and failed) using Migration Assistant.

Thanks!

Reply

Answer 5

Sep 3, 2008 10:06 AM in response to Mike Salva1

Mike,

Obviously, my using 10.3.9 I have never used Migration Assistant before so I can't address your "slowdown" issue you're experiencing.

Did you look at the path for your mailboxes I posted above? I have never copied emails over to a flash drive myself but I assume it is possible. I have burned the mbox's to cd before and reimported them without issue so you may wish to give that a try or try copying them to your flash drive.

littleshoulders 🙂

tip: From Mail.app's Help:

"Backing up your mail

You can back up your mailboxes to a CD or another disk. To do this, you can either copy the Mail folder in your Library folder or create an mbox file, a common format for storing mail messages.
▪ To save the contents of all your mailboxes, hold down the Option key and drag the Mail folder to your desktop or to another disk. The Mail folder is in the Library folder in your home folder (~/Library/Mail).

Copying the Mail folder only backs up mail from POP accounts, or mail from an IMAP account that you've copied to On My Mac. When you are ready to restore the Mail folder, choose File > Import Mailboxes, select Mail for Mac OS X, and locate the Mail folder.
▪ To create an mbox copy of a mailbox, drag the mailbox from the mailbox list to your desktop.
▪ To create an mbox file with just some of your messages, select the messages, then choose File > Save As. In the Format pop-up menu, choose Raw Message Source, then enter a name and save the file.

You can copy mbox files to CDs or to other disks. When you want to restore your mail, choose File > Import Mailboxes, select "Standard mbox files," and locate the files."

Reply