Help exporting from Mail to Gmail!?

[james*b]

Hi

What is the simplest way of copying files stored on a Mac in "Mail" to a Gmail account?

I have a lot of files and a lot of folders, and would like to be able to do this without having to right click "Copy to" 50-plus times! Is there a more efficient solution - and hopefully one that will retain my folder structure as well?

Many thanks,

James

 

[MacTribe]

How many emails do you have to transfer roughly in total including sent, deleted, inbox etc?

Are you using google apps or just a standard @gmail.com account?

 

[james*b]

There are maybe 8,000 emails in total.

I need to transfer them to a standard @gmail.com account.

Thanks..

 

[MacTribe]

Try this:

http://code.google.com/p/google-email-uploader-mac/

 

[james*b]

Thanks but this only seems to work ith Google Apps mail - is that right?

I would rather use gmail.com if there is a way..

 

[MacTribe]

Google apps would be the easiest solution, but I've done some googling for you:

Here is one solution

Here is another maybe easier solution

NB! Make sure you have a recent, working backup before you begin! The potential for a nightmare when moving email is HUGE!

Good luck and may the force be with you. Let us know how you get on, this thread may help millions of future gmail movers.

 

[james*b]

Thanks - that has filled me with confidence

So what is the best way of backing up the emails before I start experimenting - should I just run time machine or is there a way of exporting settings and data etc from within Mail?

 

[MooneyFlyer]

Thanks - that has filled me with confidence

So what is the best way of backing up the emails before I start experimenting - should I just run time machine or is there a way of exporting settings and data etc from within Mail?

TM will do what you want or you can copy ~/Library/Mail to a safe place.

Another idea for your export. What if you added your gmail account to Mail as a second account and copied everything you wanted into the gmail inbox. This would, I believe, sync everything to the gmail inbox.

I just did a simple test in Mail from my work account to my personal gmail account and it worked. All I did is copy one email from Inbox1 to Inbox2, sync'd, and then made sure it was on gmail.com. To copy instead of move I used a keyboard modifier -- I believe it was command but my command is remapped to control (so it maybe control. you will see a +)

 

[MacTribe]

TM will do what you want or you can copy ~/Library/Mail to a safe place.

Another idea for your export. What if you added your gmail account to Mail as a second account and copied everything you wanted into the gmail inbox. This would, I believe, sync everything to the gmail inbox.

I just did a simple test in Mail from my work account to my personal gmail account and it worked. All I did is copy one email from Inbox1 to Inbox2, sync'd, and then made sure it was on gmail.com. To copy instead of move I used a keyboard modifier -- I believe it was command but my command is remapped to control (so it maybe control. you will see a +)

I've tried this before, the only issue is the 8000 emails. Apple Mail fails when it comes to pushing a lot up the pipe.. 1 mail at a time works fine..

 

[MooneyFlyer]

^ I don't doubt it. I don't have a reasonable connection today so I cannot give the various limits a try to see what would fly.