eclectic_guy

Q: Multiple "On My Mac" folders in Mail app

I have one me.com email address and 6 email address from other sources. My Archive box looks like this in Apple Mail.

 

screeen-shot-mail.jpg

These multiple "On My Mac" folders don't make any sense as EACH folder contains all archived emails (they are identical). When I tried to delete one they all disappeared - including the me.com box - I had to restore them to get my archived mail out of the trash.  I thought there would be a box for each email address and the respective mail would be filed in the appropriate box. Having 7 boxes with identical content doesn't seem like the Apple thing to do.

 

My question is: Is this the way the Archive box is supposed to be? If not, anyone know of a fix? Thanks in advanced.

--------

Mavericks 10.9.4

iMac 3.5GHz Intel Core i7

RAM 16GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Mail version: Version 7.3 (1878.6)

Mail, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4)

Posted on Sep 14, 2014 12:00 PM

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Q: Multiple "On My Mac" folders in Mail app

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  • Helpful answers

  • by dianeoforegon,Helpful

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Sep 14, 2014 1:09 PM in response to eclectic_guy
    Level 5 (5,559 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 14, 2014 1:09 PM in response to eclectic_guy

    If you look in the User's Library > Mail folder you will see there is actually only one Archive folder for On My Mac.

     

    I've seen the same behavior. I'm assuming that Apple knows about this bug. I suggest you send feedback to add your voice to this bug.

     

    http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 14, 2014 1:45 PM in response to eclectic_guy
    Level 10 (207,990 points)
    Applications
    Sep 14, 2014 1:45 PM in response to eclectic_guy

    Quit Mail. Force quit if necessary.

    Back up all data before proceeding.

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

    ~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData

    Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select

              Go Go to Folder

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

    A folder window will open. Inside it there should be files with names as follows:

              Envelope Index

              ExternalUpdates.storedata

    Move those files to the Desktop, leaving the window open. Other files in the folder may have longer names that begin as above. Move those files, if any, to the Trash.

    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. ClickOK. Typically, the process takes a few minutes, but it may take hours if you have gigantic mailboxes. In that case, you may be able to speed things up by temporarily adding your home folder to the Privacy list in the Spotlight preference pane. Remove it when Mail has finished importing.

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

  • by eclectic_guy,

    eclectic_guy eclectic_guy Sep 16, 2014 7:46 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 16, 2014 7:46 AM in response to Linc Davis

    First, I appreciate your responding to this curious problem. I tried those steps twice to no avail. It's really a minor problem and is only a matter of aesthetics, but still.... I explored a bit in the area you directed me to (I didn't change anything), and when I looked at ~/Library/Mail/V2/Mailboxes/Archive.mbox I found one folder with the archived emails - so the multiple "On My Mac: boxes are acting as alias for this single folder.

     

    As a side note, I just started using Mail again a few weeks ago - I was using Thunderbird - but I didn't import settings or email from Thunderbird when I set Mail up.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 16, 2014 7:49 AM in response to eclectic_guy
    Level 10 (207,990 points)
    Applications
    Sep 16, 2014 7:49 AM in response to eclectic_guy

    Export the mailbox, then delete all copies of it and reimport.

  • by eclectic_guy,

    eclectic_guy eclectic_guy Sep 16, 2014 7:53 AM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 16, 2014 7:53 AM in response to dianeoforegon

    Thanks for the advice - I followed your link and report this as a bug in Mail.

  • by eclectic_guy,

    eclectic_guy eclectic_guy Sep 16, 2014 8:09 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 16, 2014 8:09 AM in response to Linc Davis

    I exported the Archive mailbox, deleted the subfolders then imported the mail back. It created a single duplicate Archive folder. I archived a single email and all 7 "On My Mac" folders reappeared (with the single email in each), and the Archive folder I just imported disappeared but was replaced by a folder named Import which contained all the previously exported emails.

     

    I repeated the process, making sure the Archive box was complete empty and got the same results.

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Sep 16, 2014 8:20 AM in response to eclectic_guy
    Level 5 (5,559 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 16, 2014 8:20 AM in response to eclectic_guy

    As far as bugs go, it's not a show stopper but it is confusing. I keep my Archive folder toggled closed so I don't have to see the extra folders.

  • by siamless,

    siamless siamless Apr 13, 2015 9:18 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    iPad
    Apr 13, 2015 9:18 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Unfortunately deleting/reimporting does not eliminate the 6 duplicate "On My Mac" folders. The moment I archive a mail 6 omM folders are created. I assume that Apple´s Mail is creating one omM folder for each Mail account. Although iCloud and Google accounts have their own, named archive 6 folders (presumably of my other (POP) mail accounts) are created although they all have the same server address and are named "On My Mac".

    I am leaving the Archive closed (it still shows all the relevant mails).

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Apr 13, 2015 9:47 PM in response to siamless
    Level 5 (5,559 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 13, 2015 9:47 PM in response to siamless

    This is fixed for me in OS X 10.10.3.

  • by pws442,

    pws442 pws442 May 16, 2016 3:12 AM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 16, 2016 3:12 AM in response to dianeoforegon

    This still exists in 10.11.4