I am trying to import mailbox files that I have recovered from a time machine backup.
The import process seems to run to completion and I'm prompted to look for the imported mail in "Imported" mail box. But that box does not appear to exist.
Looked everywhere including in the On My Mac section of the mailbox list.
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15
Hello Harpo747,
"To see deleted emails across all your accounts, tap Mailboxes at the top left, tap Edit at the top of the list, then select the All Trash mailbox."":
Recover a deleted email
1. Go to the account’s Trash mailbox, then open the email.
2. Tap, then select a mailbox.
You can also try retrieving your email by using the method here:
Recover files using Time Machine and Spotlight on Mac - Apple Support
Best Regards.
Thanks tbirdvet,
I've made some progress and here is what I have found. I have been using the procedure you describe to identify the desired mailbox in the TM back up, move it to a staging area and import it into Mail from there.
What I'm finding is that that box doesn't show in Mail - the "import" mailbox doesn't get created even though the import appears to run to completion. I have an idea of what the problem might be.
Is it possible that this mailbox I'm trying to bring in is actually empty? See the following:
This is the backup mail folder I've retrieved from Time Machine. I'm trying to import Cube.mbox. The backup that I've retrieved shows an entire hierarchy of mail.
I can point start the import to the top of the hierarchy and then select only Cube.mbox or I can move Cube.mbox to another location and import it from there. Both ways appear to complete with Mail indicating to look for the new Import mailbox. But it never gets created.
If I point to the top of the hierarchy and select everything to back up, I do get the "Import" mailbox created but the hierarchy underneath it looks like this:
The import only seems to have expanded the hierarchy under the first item in the list [Gmail]. And even there, not all the boxes are filled out. It never works its way further down the list.
Also - when you look at the size of the folders in the backup, most of them are too small to contain the mail I think should be there. It makes me think that it only contains pointers into some other cache of stuff. Anyway I'm confused. Clearly the TM backup doesn't contain what I think it does or I can't get it reconstructed by the mail import process.
Thanks,
Allan
Follow this process to recover your mailboxes. It will take some work:
To restore mailbox:
Open Finder
Click “GO” in top menu bar then click option key
Select library
Select mail folder
Open Vx folder (x can be any number)
Then find the folders labeled with cryptic titles (at this point you could open TM if you want to go back in time)
Look down through those folders to find a mailbox (note: there may be more than one with same label).
If it contains email you want you can copy to desktop
Go back into mail and import that folder from your desktop
Hi Trece 1,
My issue is not about deleted mail. Its about using a TM backup of my disk to retrieve mail from the past. The problem is I can't find the imported box after the import has completed. I have further progress now - I'll describe it in the reply to tbirdvet below...
Thanks
This process is always a little tricky. Before you copy any mailbox you need to be sure it has emails in it by expanding that folder first. You may be looking at another empty mailbox which will be there (could be several). You need to work down through all those folders. It is time consuming. I no longer use TM as a email backup device and now use a third party app to backup my mail.
Imported mail boxes do not appear in Mail
