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Email Inbox did not transfer to new Macbook

I recently upgraded to a 2020 Macbook Pro from a 2017 Macbook Air. I am running OS Monterey 12.0.1. I was running OS Big Sur on the Macbook Air. I used Migration Assistant on 30 October 2021 to transfer files and data from the old to the new laptop. It all seemed to work perfectly. I waited about 4 days to see if I could find anything that was missed in the transfer, observed nothing, then reformatted/reset the old laptop so I could donate it.


Today (8 November 2021), I discovered almost all of the emails in my inbox that were dated prior to 1 November 2021 are missing. All other emails that were saved in my folders appear to have transferred.


My Time Machine has not worked correctly in a while so that is not an option.


I do have an iMac that has been running for 5+ years, with the same email accounts, on my home network.


Is there a way to recover the "lost" emails?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.0

Posted on Nov 7, 2021 1:15 PM

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Posted on Nov 7, 2021 2:29 PM

Yes, I mean the iMac. The import feature requires importing either from either Apple Mail or mailboxes in mbox format. It appears you can immorts each mailx like in my example [Gmail].mbox and other mbox inboxes. However, if you import as Apple Mail you may be able to just import the entire Mail folder, which would be easier. If I start the import for either Apple Mail or mbox it sends me to Finder window with no extension(s) listed as acceptable.

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Nov 7, 2021 2:29 PM in response to Wolborsk

Yes, I mean the iMac. The import feature requires importing either from either Apple Mail or mailboxes in mbox format. It appears you can immorts each mailx like in my example [Gmail].mbox and other mbox inboxes. However, if you import as Apple Mail you may be able to just import the entire Mail folder, which would be easier. If I start the import for either Apple Mail or mbox it sends me to Finder window with no extension(s) listed as acceptable.

Nov 7, 2021 1:35 PM in response to Wolborsk

From the old Mac you can just forward them to an account on the new Mac.

One a Mac email are stored deep within. Here is where my Gmail inbox is on Monterey.


For older macOS version it may be a little different like an earlier V number. Mine ws V9 and there were two lesser V numbers available to me.. If you just copy the individual messages they may not be indexed correctly on the new Mac

Nov 7, 2021 1:44 PM in response to lllaass

First, thank you for the quick response.


When you say, "From the old Mac you can just forward them to an account on the new Mac" are you referring to the iMac when you say "old Mac" because the old Macbook Air is reformatted and already given away?


If referring to the iMac, how would I forward that folder from one machine to another? Export and import?

Email Inbox did not transfer to new Macbook

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