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How to get .mbox files into Mail?

D

djcream

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 19, 2008
33
0
Hoping someone can help with this:

-Many emails were deleted from my inbox, sent, and drafts folders.
-Used Data Rescue II to recover them.
-Data Rescue II gave me a bunch of .mbox files (1.88 gigs)
-When I import the mbox files into Mail - Mail crashes, and what does end up getting into Mail is illegible - encrypted or something.
-I tried importing fewer at a time but Mail still crashes.

Can anyone tell me how I might be able to get these mbox files into Mail properly?
:confused:
 
Maybe I didn't explain the situation well -

I already tried (several times) importing the mbox files into Mail using the Import Mailboxes feature, but Mail crashes during this import.

It also leaves some imported files in Mail that are unreadable.

Anyone know how to get these mbox files in Mail without using Import Mailbox feature?

I'm on 10.5.8 & Mail 3.6 btw.
 
I'd give Mail some time. I mean a lot of time. Try doing it overnight and having the computer someplace where fan spin up won't bother you.
 
Eidorian said:
I'd give Mail some time. I mean a lot of time. Try doing it overnight and having the computer someplace where fan spin up won't bother you.
Click to expand...

I don't understand - time to do what? It crashes after 30 seconds..
 
The mbox files look like this -

Mail-00001.mbox

From 00001 - 00057 - and they're all different sizes.

So I really need to know how to get them into Mail..?
 
Mail can be quite tempermental but if it is crashing and quitting, it might be worth checking if your mbox files are corrupt.
For your sake, I hope this is not the case, but the sooner you find out the
better.

A quick test:
Download the evaluation copy of mailsteward, and import the mbox files directly to a new database (this is a copy, completely non-destructive.)
www.mailsteward.com

If everything works, it will build a searchable sql database of your mail with attachments (if you set in preferences). You may find it worth buying like I did, I am not affiliated with them in any way.

If everything checks out, you may want to disable all your mail accounts (especially IMAP) since Mail may be freaking out over message duplications, etc.

Mail will sometimes take a *long* time and be unresponsive when it is working correctly to synchronize a large mailbox. 1.8GB qualifies.

By the way, can you open the files with textedit?

Good luck.
 
Mebsat said:
Mail can be quite tempermental but if it is crashing and quitting, it might be worth checking if your mbox files are corrupt.
For your sake, I hope this is not the case, but the sooner you find out the
better.

A quick test:
Download the evaluation copy of mailsteward, and import the mbox files directly to a new database (this is a copy, completely non-destructive.)
www.mailsteward.com

If everything works, it will build a searchable sql database of your mail with attachments (if you set in preferences). You may find it worth buying like I did, I am not affiliated with them in any way.

If everything checks out, you may want to disable all your mail accounts (especially IMAP) since Mail may be freaking out over message duplications, etc.

Mail will sometimes take a *long* time and be unresponsive when it is working correctly to synchronize a large mailbox. 1.8GB qualifies.

By the way, can you open the files with textedit?

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Thanks,

Got mailsteward - it's importing the files now.. looks slow so I'll report back.

How would I disable my Mail accounts? I don't know how to do that. Should I do that now or after the database is built?

Yes I can open the .mbox files with text edit but it's unreadable - just a jumble of codes and headers and stuff.
 
djcream said:
Thanks,

Got mailsteward - it's importing the files now.. looks slow so I'll report back.

How would I disable my Mail accounts? I don't know how to do that. Should I do that now or after the database is built?

Yes I can open the .mbox files with text edit but it's unreadable - just a jumble of codes and headers and stuff.
Click to expand...

To disable, go into preferences, accounts tab and under advanced for each account uncheck enable this account. This is just to settle down any server related Mail hangups. Check out the activity window (under the Window menu), see if its got a bunch of stop signs and stalled progress bars. Might be worth turning off Airport/internet to settle things down.

Mail can be very persistent when trying to rebuild mailboxes and will become unresponsive.

Is this only one account? IMAP or POP?

When you say the .mbox is unreadable, does it have an occasional readable email address, subject line, message text, etc?

If so, you are probably just seeing the attachments inline as text and you should be OK. If you can't identify anything at all, you might have a problem.

MailSteward will work pretty fast without attachments, how many messages are we talking about?

You have 57 separate .mbox files?

Also, just to be obvious, any TimeMachine backup?
 
can't import large mbox file back into Mail

Hi,

I think I might have the same problem, although Mail is not crashing, but the import window just doesn't show the file I want to import.

I archived my "sent messages" folder two months ago, and it became a mbox file of 5GB.
Now I am trying to import it back to mail, but it doesn't work.
I went to "Import Mailboxes", and selected "mbox files" in the Import window. Then I clicked "continue",
and chose the "sent messages" mbox file (user library > Mail > Archive mail).
Smaller mbox file appear in the next window, but this large one doesn't.

Does anyone know if there is a way to get access to this data?
I would be very grateful to get some hints...

I am working on a MacBook Pro, OS 10.5.8

Thanks.
 
appleli said:
Hi,

I think I might have the same problem, although Mail is not crashing, but the import window just doesn't show the file I want to import.

I archived my "sent messages" folder two months ago, and it became a mbox file of 5GB.
Now I am trying to import it back to mail, but it doesn't work.
I went to "Import Mailboxes", and selected "mbox files" in the Import window. Then I clicked "continue",
and chose the "sent messages" mbox file (user library > Mail > Archive mail).
Smaller mbox file appear in the next window, but this large one doesn't.

Does anyone know if there is a way to get access to this data?
I would be very grateful to get some hints...

I am working on a MacBook Pro, OS 10.5.8

Thanks.
Click to expand...

From my Message #10 above: Give Eudora Mailbox Cleaner 4.9 a try. Yes, it's called Eudora Mailbox Cleaner, but it will also work with other mail program files. The web page has a lot of info on different ways it can be used.
 
The answer

I had the same problem: My Mail crashed on me out of the blue and would crash everything it booted. I talked with Apply for a while and they helped me get my main Mail file: Home--> Library--> Mail (drag it to Desktop) and then launched Mail again. It loaded a clean, blank version.

After that he told me to just do what some have already suggested: File--> Import Mailboxes--> Choose your mailbox to import. Do not try to import the mbox files with the Import mbox option. It does not work- or at least not for me.

The thing that took me a little figuring out was how to import my Sent mails. It's simple, really. Just do the same thing: File--> Import Mailboxes--> Choose your mailbox to import. And choose the mailbox that says Sent. It will import it to a new Import folder, but just go to the emails in the browser and select all, and then drag to the sent folder, or subfolder that you want.

Huge Relief!
 
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