Offline Mail Message Browser?

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Level 4

1,316 points

Offline Mail Message Browser?

Let's say I have an e-mail account that I do not use anymore and will lose online access to it in a few months. I know I can Export all the messages and subfolders in mbox format from OS X Mail.app, and I can peruse through the messages through the Finder. I also know I could simply open a free Outl##k or Gm##l account and Import the messages back online. But is there a way to search and read through them in a mail client type interface without re-importing them back online?

Or, is there a way to create a Smart Folder or Smart Search to contain activities to within a virtual mailbox directory?

Posted on Jan 15, 2020 5:18 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,836 points

Jan 15, 2020 6:27 PM in response to Celia Wessen

Create a local mailbox in the On My Mac section and move the messages to those mailboxes.

If you need them online, accessible from other devices, you would need to move them to another email server.

You need to move them before the account is closed.

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Answer 2

Celia Wessen Author

Level 4

1,316 points

Jan 15, 2020 6:50 PM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks Barney,

That might work for a small mail account.

One of the problems with the On My Mac subfolders is that Mail will not search recursively through nested subfolders.

On My Mac
|- One
  |- Two
  |- Three

In this structure, if folder One is selected, messages in subfolder Two and Three will not be searched - unless you search through ALL folders ONLINE and OFFLINE. I can Shift-select all three folders and do a search of course... but I do have 50+ subfolders.

I have a significant branched subfolder tree grown for this user and would like to ONLY search through this user's messages. I could use a Smart Search and siphon the "To:" field, but that would mean going through hundreds and thousands of other messages. Or I could create a Smart Search that lists ALL the subfolders? I guess that's a possibility since the tree structure should never change for a defunct mail account.

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