Exporting mail from Mail.app?

[Cow Loon]

Mail is stuck in a loop. I think it's trying to copy email to the Trash on my imap server and it times out, then it tries again and again and again and finally crashes and I get the option to quit or relaunch or reset and relaunch. Trying all of those after it starts again, the same thing happens again. I've done it about 20 times.

The thing is I'm afraid there is email inside Mail.app that isn't on my imap server, and I don't want to loose it. Is there a way for me to somehow export all of my mail, then delete my account, create it again and import the mail that I saved?

[Gnomo]

What version of Mail are you running? I know in the older version of mail you could just drag and drop the mailbox to your desktop to back up the mbox file. I'd guess this should still work with the current versions, but not sure since Apple revamped how mail stores messages to better work with Spotlight.

[Giaguara]

Can you log in to the imap server as webmail and delete the items in trash on that side?

[Cow Loon]

Originally Posted by Giaguara

Can you log in to the imap server as webmail and delete the items in trash on that side?

Well, they have already been deleted. And, I can read email from linux. Through out the day I go back and forth reading email from linux or macos.

The problem happened at the same time that I got multiple copies of the same email, because fetchmail on linux went bonkers with one particular email, and kept reading it and then timing out everytime it went to read email from my ISP's pop account.

So, I logged into the pop account and deleted the message, so that fetchmail could go onto the next message. But, meanwhile I had been deleting the messages as they arrived in Mail and in evolution on linux.

I think Mail is still trying to finish the deletions I made during that time, and is stuck in a loop.

[Cow Loon]

Originally Posted by Gnomo

What version of Mail are you running? I know in the older version of mail you could just drag and drop the mailbox to your desktop to back up the mbox file. I'd guess this should still work with the current versions, but not sure since Apple revamped how mail stores messages to better work with Spotlight.

It's the version in leopard. I tried dragging the mailboxes from inside Mail, to my desktop, but it doesn't seem to work.

[Kees Buijs]

Originally Posted by Cow Loon

It's the version in leopard. I tried dragging the mailboxes from inside Mail, to my desktop, but it doesn't seem to work.

Try to disconnect from the internet before launching mail (unplug the UTP kabel or USB modem). Now you should be able to clean things up (offline) and afterwards you can retry to connect (after plugging in the cable) and check if it works oke afterwards.

Normally there should not be stuff on the local computer, while it is not on the imap server (as that information would not be available to other computers accessing the same imap account - which does happen for me on a regular base).


Good luck, Kees

[Cow Loon]

Originally Posted by Kees Buijs

Try to disconnect from the internet before launching mail (unplug the UTP kabel or USB modem). Now you should be able to clean things up (offline) and afterwards you can retry to connect (after plugging in the cable) and check if it works oke afterwards.

This doesn't work unfortunately, as soon as I reconnect it goes back to trying to copy a message. Most likely where it's trying to copy to is a folder on my imap server. I'm guessing it's the Trash that it's still trying to copy those messages I deleted to.

Originally Posted by Kees Buijs

Normally there should not be stuff on the local computer, while it is not on the imap server (as that information would not be available to other computers accessing the same imap account - which does happen for me on a regular base).

I would certainly like that to be true. But email stops from some date back if I look at my mail from linux, but there is some still in Mail from that period. Also, I suspect that sometimes messages don't get copied to the sent folder on my imap server when I send mail.

When I have to look for an email I sent in the past, I often look at email both on linux and the mac, in several places, to make sure I'm seeing all the mail from a certain period. I had to stop using mozilla Thunderbird, because it was rarely copying sent mail to the sent folder on my imap server. Mail seemed to be working so I started using Mail.

I might look for another email program. I can't use Thunderbird or Opera and at the moment I can't use Mail. I can install evolution through macports I guess.