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How to Backup Email on Apple Mail?

I am new to this Mac world and on the first day of my new job my boss gave me a tedious task to Backup Emails on Apple Mail. Basically, there are 3 email ids, and these are our support email database. So there are tons of emails stacked in the inbox. I have to backup all the emails, contact list, and even the address book. I had a look online for manual procedures and found out that Apple Mail Export and Time Machine Backup are best suited for these backup issues. I did try them, but the problem is they are taking too long. I need a quick solution to Backup emails on Apple Mail.

Are there other alternatives to Backup emails on Apple Mail that are quick, safe and easy to operate? Do let me know asap. Thanks

MacBook Pro with Retina display, iOS 10.3.2

Posted on Aug 4, 2017 7:35 PM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Aug 11, 2017 10:57 PM

Your Apple Mail Data is automatically stored on your system. If you want to backup the data, you just need to make a copy of that database. Here's how you can Backup email on Apple Mail:

  1. Go to Finder
  2. Press and hold the option key while you click on the Go menu
  3. Select Library
  4. You can let go of the option key now
  5. Within the Library folder you'll see a folder called Mail
  6. Copy this folder (just right-click on the folder and select Copy "Mail", or press command+C)
  7. Navigate to where you want to save your backup (obviously another drive!)
  8. Now you can paste a copy (e.g. by pressing command+V)

There you have it, you've made a copy of all your Mail data.

However, this only makes a copy of the Database on that moment, and not of the further emails to arrive. This is where Time Machine and some other applications come in handy:

  1. Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac.
  2. How to Backup Email on Apple Mail
4 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Aug 11, 2017 10:57 PM in response to DeanJohnstone

Your Apple Mail Data is automatically stored on your system. If you want to backup the data, you just need to make a copy of that database. Here's how you can Backup email on Apple Mail:

  1. Go to Finder
  2. Press and hold the option key while you click on the Go menu
  3. Select Library
  4. You can let go of the option key now
  5. Within the Library folder you'll see a folder called Mail
  6. Copy this folder (just right-click on the folder and select Copy "Mail", or press command+C)
  7. Navigate to where you want to save your backup (obviously another drive!)
  8. Now you can paste a copy (e.g. by pressing command+V)

There you have it, you've made a copy of all your Mail data.

However, this only makes a copy of the Database on that moment, and not of the further emails to arrive. This is where Time Machine and some other applications come in handy:

  1. Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac.
  2. How to Backup Email on Apple Mail

Aug 11, 2017 10:57 PM in response to DeanJohnstone

You just need to locate the Apple Mail Backup Location, as all your emails are stored automatically on your hard drive. From there you can just make the copy of the apple mail database and your backup will be stored securely. Here's how you can locate your apple mail backup location:

Find and Open the Folder Where OS X Mail Stores Mail


To go to the folder that holds your OS X Mail messages:

  1. Open a new window in OS X Finder.
  2. Select Go | Go to Folder… from the menu.
    - You can also press Command-Shift-G.
  3. Type "~/Library/Mail/V3".
  4. Press Enter.


You can find your folders and messages in sub-folders to the V3 folder:

  • Local mailboxes are in the Mailboxes sub-folder.
  • POP email accounts can be found in sub-folders with POP- in their name.
  • IMAP accounts' mailboxes are in sub-folder that have IMAP- in their name.

The messages are stored in .mbox folders, one per OS X Mail email folder. Open and explore these folders to discover (and open or copy) the emails saved as .emlx files.



Find and Open the Folder Where Mac OS X Mail 5–8 Store Mail


To open the folder where Mac OS X Mail keeps your messages:

  1. Open a Finder window.
  2. Select Go | Go to Folder… from the menu.
  3. Type "~/Library/Mail/V2".
    - You can have Finder auto-complete the folder names by pressing Tab.
  4. Click OK.


Mac OS X Mail stores the mailboxes in sub-folders to the Mail directory, one sub-folder per account. POP accounts start with POP-, IMAP accounts with IMAP-.



Find and Open the Folder Where Mac OS X Mail 1-4 Store Mail


To locate the folder where Mac OS X Mail 1-4 stores mail:

  1. Open a new Finder window.
  2. Go to your home directory.
    - You can use the Home toolbar button
    - or select Go | Home from the menu to go home.
  3. Open the Library/Mail directory..


Some alternative to Backup Email on Apple Mail are:

https://applemailarchiver.blogspot.com/2017/06/backup-multiple-apple-mail-accoun ts.html

How to Backup Email on Apple Mail?

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