Simon S
Level 2 (150 points)
Mac OS X

Q: On My Mac Mailboxes missing from El Capitan after transfer

I have a lot of On My Mac mailboxes on an old Mac and I want to transfer the whole lot over to a new Mac.  Basically I want the Mail app on the new Mac to look identical to the old one.

Both run El Capitan.

 

I tried this:

- transferred the "Mail" and "Mail downloads" folders from the old Mac User Library folder to the equivalent location on the new Mac.

 

But when I open Mail, there is no "On My Mac" section on the left.  I can create one by creating a new mailbox, but only the new mailbox appears- no sign of my other ones. I can also see all of the blue/white mailboxes inside Library/Mail/V3/Mailboxes. So they are all visible in there but I can't get them to appear inside Mail.

 

I have already tried:

- deleting the "envelope" settings files inside the Library/Mail/V3/Maildata folder- this just rebuilds the inbox/sent- my On My Mac mailboxes do not appear.

 

Any thoughts- thanks!

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5)

Posted on Jun 30, 2016 5:56 AM

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Simon S

Q: On My Mac Mailboxes missing from El Capitan after transfer

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Ulexes138,Helpful

    Ulexes138 Ulexes138 Jul 11, 2016 3:07 AM in response to Simon S
    Community Specialists
    Jul 11, 2016 3:07 AM in response to Simon S

    Hello Simon S,

    Congrats on your new Mac! Thanks for reaching out to the Apple Support Community. There are a few ways you might be able to get those mailboxes moved over using the Migration Assistant, or by using a Time Machine backup. 

    These articles will walk you through those steps and you can determine which would be the best option for you.

    Move your content to a new Mac using Migration Assistant
    Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac​

    If you run into any trouble or have any questions, the community is here to help.
    Best regards-

  • by dianeoforegon,Helpful

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Jul 11, 2016 3:06 AM in response to Simon S
    Level 5 (5,298 points)
    Jul 11, 2016 3:06 AM in response to Simon S

    The Mail Download folder is no longer used. After Snow Leopard this folder was discontinued for Mail downloads. There have been radical changes in the way Mail stores your data.

     

    In Snow Leopard everything was loose in the Mail folder.

    Starting in Lion, Mail was stored in V2.

    In El Capitan, Mail is supposed to import from V2 to V3 folder, but for many users this fails.

    The safest option is to export all local "On My Mac" folders and Import into El Capitan Mail.

    IMAP accounts will download when you add them to Mail.

     

    Do you still have access to the old Mac? If yes, you can select to export as Apple Mailboxes.

     

    If no, then the easiest option uses a third party app that will convert all your folders to mbox so you can import directly into El Capitan Mail.

     

    Emailchemy $29.95

    http://www.weirdkid.com/products/emailchemy/