Searchin99

Q: How to Copy Mail from 2008 computer to 2012 computer?

On the 2012 (newer) computer, they only want to be under the ISP account (which I didn’t ask for) and consequently can be neither in the Inbox or Sent.

One computer has it set up the way I want (2008) it but I can’t get the new-to-me computer (2012) to have it set up that same way.


 

Also, as an aside, for what it is worth, the sidebar background on the older computer is a very light tan color while on the newer computer it is a light blue color and I find this somewhat weird.


 

I’m trying to Copy the Mail information from the 2008 computer over to the 2012 computer without having to migrate everything over. Why Copy instead of migrate? I don’t want to do a wholesale migration because I don’t want all the garbage that has accumulated over the years to come across.


 

Note: The Finder file structure *in the user House* is slightly different between the two machines:

2008: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Library, Movies, Music, Pictures, and Public

2012: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Movies, Music, Pictures, and Public

Note that there is no “Library” in the 2012 computer; however, there is a Library in “Macintosh HD” but since it is in a different path I don’t want to copy the ’08 Mail folder into it. Or do I?

Posted on Sep 22, 2016 11:04 AM

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Q: How to Copy Mail from 2008 computer to 2012 computer?

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  • by Searchin99,

    Searchin99 Searchin99 Sep 22, 2016 11:21 AM in response to Searchin99
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    Sep 22, 2016 11:21 AM in response to Searchin99

    Edit: For clarification with regard to the first sentence, the "they" I'm talking about are the different email addresses. For example, address1@povider1.com, address2@provider1.com, address3@provider2.com, etc. There aren't very many, ~ 5 or so.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 22, 2016 11:22 AM in response to Searchin99
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    Sep 22, 2016 11:22 AM in response to Searchin99

    What type of email account is it (IMAP or POP)

  • by Searchin99,

    Searchin99 Searchin99 Sep 22, 2016 11:34 AM in response to Csound1
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    Sep 22, 2016 11:34 AM in response to Csound1

    The accounts are all IMAP but there really should be one or two POP so as to not clutter up another computer.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 22, 2016 11:44 AM in response to Searchin99
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    Sep 22, 2016 11:44 AM in response to Searchin99

    You don't have to do anything for the IMAP accounts other than connecting to them, they keep email on the server (unless you changed their defaults) POP will need more work and it has been so long since I used that technology I have no suggestions for your POP accounts, (if any)

     

    So all you have to do is connect the accounts to the client (Mail) all mail will re-appear

  • by Searchin99,

    Searchin99 Searchin99 Sep 22, 2016 12:56 PM in response to Csound1
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    Sep 22, 2016 12:56 PM in response to Csound1

    IMAP and POP, they can be a lot of work.

    With regard to my problem, (1) I'm trying to get the Mail sidebar to look the same on both computers, and, (2) Copy all the email that are on the '08 computer over to the '12 computer.

     

    For item (2), Maybe unfortunately, I don't know for sure yet, but the '12 computer has accessed the ISPs (two of them) and downloaded all the mail there that hasn't been deleted yet. One thing that is unfortunate, though, is some of the graphics on the email have been converted to 'code jibberish' (if you know what I mean), where as the original email actually had some graphics one could see. The '08 computer has a LOT more email on it than the '12. I have been trying to delete, delete, delete, ... but it's hard to keep up.

     

    With regard to (1), the '08 Mail page has the "Inbox" with the various mail accounts under it, and then it has the same thing under "Sent" with the accounts under. In the case. The '12 Mail page has just the ISP listed at the "same level" as Mailboxes, Smart Mailboxes, and for the moment, On My Mac. The font is slightly different under Smart Mailboxes so perhaps the ISP name level is one under it, it's very hard to tell what the organization is there due to the font and formatting.  However, under the ISP level there are several folders including one for each of the accounts and a "Sent Messages" folder and under that is a series of folders for each of the accounts.

     

    I'm sure that Apple knows what they're doing with Mail but for me it is hard to figure this out, especially with no resources within a day drive from here. Helps to be close to a university city I guess.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 22, 2016 3:16 PM in response to Searchin99
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    Sep 22, 2016 3:16 PM in response to Searchin99

    What are you going on about, IMAP and POP are entirely different things, and 2 of the only 3 types of account that exist.

     

    Good luck with your problem

  • by Searchin99,

    Searchin99 Searchin99 Sep 22, 2016 4:53 PM in response to Csound1
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    Sep 22, 2016 4:53 PM in response to Csound1

    This is under the heading "A picture is worth a thousand words". Attached is an annotated screen shot of both email pages and one can see there is a huge difference between them in how they look. I like the '08 one, I hate the '12 one!

    The email accounts are exactly the same in both cases although not all have been activated yet on the '12 computer so I don't think the type of account would matter (yet).

    Oh, it might be worth mentioning, I can highlight "Mailboxes" in the '08 [left picture] but not in the '12 [right picture]

    Screen Shot Mail 08.pngScreen Shot Mail 12.png

  • by Csound1,Helpful

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 23, 2016 10:43 AM in response to Searchin99
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    Sep 23, 2016 10:43 AM in response to Searchin99

    Show me the settings pages

  • by Searchin99,

    Searchin99 Searchin99 Sep 23, 2016 10:58 AM in response to Csound1
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    Sep 23, 2016 10:58 AM in response to Csound1

    I'm really out of time to troubleshoot this issue right now; however, with the request to "Show the settings" caused me to find what 'settings' were available. Not sure which ones you wanted to see but I don't want to divulge too much to the world here. Had done this several, naaa, numerous, times before (have more mac computrs and was comparing the Mail app in each of them), but this time I took a chance and deleted the only account (which happened to be the main ISP account) in the Preferences > Accounts left pane. Hadn't done this before because "it can't be undone."

     

    Note: There are only a few times when one comes across the "can't be undone" note. Wish Apple code writers would give a warning like this more often.

     

    Anyway, got all the accounts in IMAP and got the two main accounts under the Inbox where I want all of them, so a huge step in the right direction. Unfortunately, the dog-gone main ISP account shows up again. Tried deleting it again and again but it keeps coming back the same way and I can't get the other accounts with that ISP to be separate like the first two. There are a couple other mail accounts that are not part of that ISP account and they're a different situation.

     

    Anyway, there was some progress made and your support effort on this was appreciated.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 23, 2016 11:29 AM in response to Searchin99
    Level 9 (50,506 points)
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    Sep 23, 2016 11:29 AM in response to Searchin99

    The mail server addresses of your accounts are public record, but if you do not want to disclose them I am unable to help. Good luck