How can I use Mail on new SSD, but keep files on old HD?

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Level 1

114 points

How can I use Mail on new SSD, but keep files on old HD?

I just upgraded my MacBook Pro (5,5) with a solid state drive (SSD) and want to keep it free from data such as my email data. I installed it in a Data Doubler from Other World Computing so I still have my 500 GB hard drive in the laptop. I want to do the same thing as I do with my music, which I keep on the hard drive.

The new solid state drive is the boot drive, 10.11.6 OS, Mail 9.3.

Is there a way I can set up mail so all my files reside on the hard drive? I used migration assistant, but did not move data files as the 120 GB SSD is too small. The hard drive holds 500 GB. I have not started using Mail on the SSD for fear of losing the old messages. Several of my accounts are POP..

Any help you can offer is appreciated.

Thanks.

OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), SE, 605, 9500, PTP/G3 board,

Posted on Sep 14, 2016 8:22 AM

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Answer 1

Stuart423

Level 6

9,264 points

Sep 14, 2016 8:33 AM in response to Scott Ebright

Just dashing past the computer, so I only have a minute to respond. This will not make your arriving mail go directly to the 500 gb drive, but for now, you can store your old messages on the bigger drive this way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jIv-36Wmo0

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Answer 2

Scott Ebright Author

Level 1

114 points

Sep 14, 2016 9:53 AM in response to Stuart423

Thanks, but I need to save and use the old Mail files for five accounts not create the accounts as new.

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Answer 3

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,108 points

Sep 14, 2016 10:06 AM in response to Scott Ebright

Assuming you did the HDD in the data doubler as it was. Startup while holding the Alt(option) key: choose the "old" HDD and then startup.

When fully startup, ARCHIVE all your emails.

Then restart on the SSD: from here the archive should be readable in Mail.

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Answer 4

Scott Ebright Author

Level 1

114 points

Sep 14, 2016 10:06 PM in response to Lexiepex

Thanks. Yes, the new drive's mail could read the archives, but I lost 10 GB of space on the SSD (the reason I want to keep all the email on my hard drive). And the new email is a mess with the imported files in a different area than the new email files.

Anyone else with an idea on how to read, receive, store and sent email through Mail while all the email files are on a hard drive AND have ALL my old messages look and operate as they did on my old hard drive?

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Answer 5

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,108 points

Sep 15, 2016 12:05 AM in response to Scott Ebright

The "easiest" way would be to change the location of the complete Mail folder for the Mail app. But that would mean to bring your Home folder partly or completely to the HD, which I advise strongly against, if possible at all for Mail.

Maybe that is possible in another mail app, like Postbox, Thunderbird, Airmail, and what have you.

Lex

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Answer 6

Scott Ebright Author

Level 1

114 points

Sep 15, 2016 7:10 AM in response to Lexiepex

Lexipex--Can you tell me how to retrieve the one email account I archived at your suggestion so I can use some recent emails for a project?

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Answer 7

Sep 18, 2016 1:42 PM in response to Scott Ebright

Check out EagleFiler to archive your messages. You can store the EF database on the larger drive. You can read, reply, search in EF. Has a demo.

EagleFiler

http://c-command.com/eaglefiler/

You'll want to export all your local "On My Mac" folders before doing the upgrade from a previous version of OS X.

Note: In OS X El Capitan, Mail dropped full support for POP3 mail retrieval. In the process of upgrading to the new V3 mailbox structure, all local email folders associated with the previous POP3 inbox and sent mail are deleted, sometimes causing losses of thousands of emails depending on how the email library had been configured prior to the upgrade. POP3 can still be configured for certain mail services but only by making use of workarounds such as initially providing invalid login credentials to unlock the full configuration options.

See these two article on moving your Home folders to your external drive. I moved all my Home folders except my User's Library to an external drive and was use a small SSD drive easily.

Setup Move special OS X user folders to external drive

https://thomashunter.name/blog/move-special-os-x-user-folders-to-external-drive/

Using OS X with an SSD plus HDD setup - Matt Gemmell

http://mattgemmell.com/using-os-x-with-an-ssd-plus-hdd-setup/

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