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can't find time machine restored mailbox

I changed one of my imap gmail accounts to a group account and create myself a new one to receive forwards from group. I went to mail settings and changed the settings of the account and now i realized that actualy I deleted the old one (with over 1000 mails) and setup a new one. I went to time machine, found the old account and restored it. I find the email on the search but can't find where they are. I can see they are in INBOX-3. I would like to upload all these old mails to the account/server. I could even manage to copy the folder com.apple.Mail.Backup.mbox where the INBOX folders are to my desktop but still can't import them to my new account. How do I do it ?


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MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Sep 28, 2013 8:13 AM

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11 replies

Sep 30, 2013 6:38 AM in response to Linc Davis

Hello Davis,

Thank you for you prompt reply. I just did what you said and time machine showed a windows "Restorion 1421 Messages". When done I still can find a folder with them. Now, if I do the same "copy to: trick" to see the time machine folder, I have a new one - Mensagens Recuperadas (messagens recovered), under the INBOX-3 but still unreachable. I guess now I have othe copies os the same emails recovered before.

I enclose you also another picture of my On My Mac folder list where there are 2 recovered messages folder I don't remenber how they get there but are not the ones I need.


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User uploaded file

Sep 30, 2013 7:08 AM in response to jclaudio73

Sorry I mispelled some words changing the whole meaning. Here is the right one. Sorry for that.


Hello Davis,

Thank you for you prompt reply. I just did what you said and time machine showed a windows in Mail "Restoring 1421 Messages". When it was done I still COULD NOT find a folder with them. Now, if I do the same "copy to: trick" with the mouse, to see the hidden time machine folders, I have a new one - Mensagens Recuperadas (Recovered Messages), right under the INBOX-3 folder from before, but still unreachable. I guess now I have some copies of the same emails recovered before to: INBOX, INBOX-1, INBOX-2, INBOX-3 and Mensagens Recuperadas.

I enclose you also another picture of my On My Mac folder list where there are 2 recovered messages folders I don't remenber how they got there but are not the ones I need.

Thank you so much.

Sep 30, 2013 7:47 AM in response to jclaudio73

The "Recovered Messages" folders contain the messages restored from TM. If they appear to be empty, please do as follows.


Quit Mail. Force quit if necessary.


Back up all data. That means you know you can restore the Mail database, no matter what happens.


Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData/Envelope Index


Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C). In the Finder, select


Go Go to Folder


from the menu bar. Paste into the box that opens (command-V), then press return.


A Finder window will open with a file selected. Move the selected file to the Desktop, leaving the window open. Other files in the folder may have names that begin with "Envelope Index". Move those files, if any, to the Trash.

Log out and log back in. Relaunch Mail. It should prompt you to re-import your messages. You may get a warning that the index is damaged and that Mail has to quit. Click OK.


Test. If Mail now works as expected, you can delete the file you moved to the Desktop. Otherwise, post your results.

Sep 30, 2013 12:23 PM in response to Linc Davis

Unfortunately seems that everything remain just the same. I imported 325000 emails messages and now still running a cache directory update with an account that has nothing to do with the one I need (pedido@millevini.com.br). I guess is syncing still for a long time.

I still have the hidden TM folder with 5 other folders underneath it unreachable.



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Sep 30, 2013 7:33 PM in response to Linc Davis

The cache directory updates ended 30min after I sent you my message. The search is working fine as before. I do noticed about a month ago the search became slower but I think it happened the same time I started importing mailboxes and migrate to gmail. I even tried to create folders on my mac for the past years with the intention to move messages out of the inbox. If you know a tutorial o tip to deal with this amount of mails please help me so but my business is based on emails and mainly checking the old ones to do the new ones.

Everything is working fine and smooth ( I think ) but still can't find the folder where the emails were recovered. Search keep finding them but how can I move them all to the mailbox I need ?

I wish I had a genius bar here in Brasil to help me out trim some of out of place stuff but not yet - I really need help from people like you. thanks again.

Oct 1, 2013 8:27 AM in response to jclaudio73

Although you can restore messages from a Time Machine snapshot within the Mail application, it generally won't work with messages that were saved by an older version of Mail. In that case, you have to use an alternative method.

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

~/Library/Mail/V2


Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select

Services ▹ Reveal

from the contextual menu.* A Finder window should open with a folder selected. Inside that folder are subfolders representing your Mail accounts. The names refer to the email addresses you use. Decide which ones you want to restore messages from.

Enter Time Machine and scroll back to the snapshot you want. Select the account folders you want and then select Restore ... to... from the action menu (gear icon) in the toolbar of the snapshot window. Restore the folders to the Desktop, not to their original location.

From the Mail menu bar, select

File ▹ Import Mailboxes...

Import from the mailboxes in the folders you restored to the Desktop. The imported messages will appear in a new mailbox. Move the ones you want to keep wherever you like and delete the rest. Then delete the folders on the Desktop.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C). In the Finder, select

Go Go to Folder...

from the menu bar, paste into the box that opens (command-V). You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

can't find time machine restored mailbox

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