Hi DUZ Image,
Welcome to the Support Communities! The information below will explain how to selectively restore just the items you want from your Time Machine backup. You may also choose to just copy specific files or folders to an external drive using Finder, and then copy them back to your cleaned up hard drive. I'll also include information about archiving, exporting and importing specific email mailboxes.
Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427
With Time Machine, you can go "back in time" to restore files, versions of files, or your entire system. Make sure your backup drive is connected and mounted. If it is not, Time Machine alerts you that "Your Time Machine backup disk can't be found."
Restoring specific files or folders
Choose Enter Time Machine from the Time Machine menu. The restore interface appears. You can literally see your windows as they appeared "back in time."
You can use the timeline on the right side of the window to reach a certain point back in time. The timeline shows the times of all backups on your backup drive. If you don’t know exactly when you deleted or changed a file, you can use the back arrow to let Time Machine automatically travel through time to show you when that folder last changed.
Note: Dates in pink indicate the data resides on your Time Machine backup device. Dates in white indicate the data resides on your Mac. In OS X Lion v10.7 and later, portable Macs include local snapshots.
You can also perform a Spotlight search from the Finder. Simply enter a search term in the Spotlight search field, and use the back arrow to have Time Machine search through your backups to find what you are looking for.
Before you restore a file, you can also use Quick Look to preview a file to make sure its the one you want. Highlight the file and press the Space Bar to bring up a quick look.
To restore, select the file/folder and click the "Restore" button. The file will automatically be copied to the desktop or appropriate folder. If the file you are restoring has another file in the same location with the same name, you will be prompted to choose which file to keep or keep both.
Mail (Mavericks): Archive messages
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14894
Mail (Mavericks): Export mailboxes
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14884
Export a mailbox to create a backup copy of it.
- Select one or more mailboxes, then choose Mailbox > Export Mailbox.
- Choose a folder or create a new folder, then click Choose.Mail exports the mailboxes as .mbox packages. If you previously exported a mailbox, Mail doesn’t overwrite the existing .mbox file; it creates a new .mbox file, such as My Mailbox 3.mbox.
Mail (Mavericks): Import mailboxes
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14911
Mail can import messages from other email apps or from mailboxes that you exported using Mail.
- Choose File > Import Mailboxes.
- Select the email app you want to import messages from.If you’re importing a mailbox exported from Mail, or a folder (such as POP-eharrold@mail.example.com) from the ~/Library/Mail/V2 folder on another Mac, choose Apple Mail.
- Follow the instructions that appear.
- Make sure the app you’re importing from is active, because some of the options require this.
- If you’re importing messages from a Windows or UNIX computer, select “Files in mbox format,” then locate the folder containing the files.
- If the email app you’re switching from isn’t listed, click Cancel. Consult the documentation for the other app to learn how to export messages in mbox format (most email apps can). Then import the mbox files.
- Review and reorganize the imported messages.The messages are located in a new mailbox called “Import” in the sidebar. To reorganize the messages, create new mailboxes and drag folders and messages from the Import mailbox to other mailboxes. When you’re done, you can delete the Import mailbox.
I hope this information helps ....
- Judy