Migrating the Mail App to a new Mac

[DrCC]

Hello everyone,

I am helping a friend migrating all her data from her old Mac to a new one, with the new one being linked to a new iCloud. Everything went smooth except the Mail app.

I have entered the same email accounts on the new Mac and everything appears to sync, but the number of emails on the new Mac that is reported by the mail app is way less than the number of emails on the old Mac. Both are up and running and I was expecting all the emails to be synced to the new Mac, but it appears that they don't. Does the Mail app store some of the emails locally on the HDD? I don't understand why there are more emails on the old Mac and how I can transfer them all of them to the new Mac. Can anyone provide some insight please?

 

[gilby101]

Mail app can store messages only on the Mac. There can be two reasons:
1. You have used the "On My Mac" area in Mail.
2. The mail client-sever connection is POP and not IMAP.

Who are the mail providers?

Check what the mail provider has stored - using their web interface.

On the old Mac you can export whole mailboxes (select a mailbox in the side bar and (in menubar) Mailbox > Export Mailbox. The exported mail box can be imported on the new Mac.

 

[Bigwaff]

@gilby101 has spoken. This is the way.

 

[DrCC]

Thank you for the input. I'll hopefully get a chance to go to my friend's house this weekend and get the mail issue fixed. I'll report back if it still doesn't work.

For the emails that are stored locally on the old mac, is there a way to put them back in their respective inboxes so they live online and not on the SSD ? I think the whole issue with the emails being stored locally was done by accident by my friend, she is not technically savvy.

 

[BrianBaughn]

If you have both emails in folders "On My Mac" and an active IMAP (or Exchange) account in Mail you can just copy emails from the "On My Mac" folders to folders in the active account and they'll upload to the account…making them available on any device connected to the account.

 

[Cyby-CyberDog]

Why not use Migration Assistant? This the easiest and straight foward method to migrate to a new Mac.

Another question: Why a new or second iCloud account?
This a recipe for causing different kinds of problems. An iCloud account is user/person related, not computer related!

 

[Fishrrman]

Cyby has it right in reply 6 above:
Use migration assistant THE VERY FIRST TIME you power on the new Mac.

The BEST WAY to do this is to create a cloned backup using either SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner (SuperDuper is easier to use if you've never done this before).
Both are FREE to download and use for 30 days.

Then, connect the backup to the NEW Mac BEFORE you power it up for the first time.
Then, just press the power-on button.
When setup assistant asks if you wish to migrate from another drive, YES, you want to do this.
Then, follow the instructions.

 

[DrCC]

Why not use Migration Assistant? This the easiest and straight foward method to migrate to a new Mac.

Another question: Why a new or second iCloud account?
This a recipe for causing different kinds of problems. An iCloud account is user/person related, not computer related!

My friend has divorced and the old iCloud account was shared by the family. Her ex is not a nice person and he is constantly doing "funny" things with the old shared iCloud account including tracking, monitoring, etc. That's why the new Mac will have to have a new and private iCloud account just for her.

Does the Migration Assistant work when you switch to a new iCloud account? I avoided using it and synced all the data from the old computer via DropBox and it worked. But if the Migration Assistant works with different iCloud accounts, I could use it to fully transfer only the Email app and all the emails stored in it.

 

[Cyby-CyberDog]

Migration Assistant copies data from the ‘old Mac’, Time Machine backup or a previously created boot disk clone to the new Mac.

No iCloud account involved or needed. The only thing to keep in mind that software previously installed/purchased from Apple Mac/iOS/iPadOS app store are not available in the new iCloud account. Same goes for iCloud mail accounts!

 

[KaliYoni]

My friend has divorced and the old iCloud account was shared by the family. Her ex is not a nice person and he is constantly doing "funny" things with the old shared iCloud account including tracking, monitoring, etc. That's why the new Mac will have to have a new and private iCloud account just for her.

Does the Migration Assistant work when you switch to a new iCloud account? I avoided using it and synced all the data from the old computer via DropBox and it worked. But if the Migration Assistant works with different iCloud accounts, I could use it to fully transfer only the Email app and all the emails stored in it.

Does the owner of the new Mac use an iPhone or iPad? If so, it may be possible to lock the other people out of the iCloud account, at least until the data transfers from iCloud are complete:

Reset privacy and security settings in an emergency

 

[jagolden]

Cyby has it right in reply 6 above:
Use migration assistant THE VERY FIRST TIME you power on the new Mac.

The BEST WAY to do this is to create a cloned backup using either SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner (SuperDuper is easier to use if you've never done this before).
Both are FREE to download and use for 30 days.

Then, connect the backup to the NEW Mac BEFORE you power it up for the first time.
Then, just press the power-on button.
When setup assistant asks if you wish to migrate from another drive, YES, you want to do this.
Then, follow the instructions.

You can make a perfect clone without jumping through CCC or SD hoops.
There’s a very short YouTube video explaining it.
I’ll look up and post.

 

[Fishrrman]

"You can make a perfect clone without jumping through CCC or SD hoops."

Use SuperDuper, and there are no "hoops" to jump through.
A few clicks of the mouse... and it's done.
Nothing you dig up on YouTube will be easier.

 

[jagolden]

"You can make a perfect clone without jumping through CCC or SD hoops."

Use SuperDuper, and there are no "hoops" to jump through.
A few clicks of the mouse... and it's done.
Nothing you dig up on YouTube will be easier.

Just pointing out you don’t need to spend $28 when you already have Disk Utility. I have CCC. It’s a PIA and fails more often than not. Haven’t tried SuperDuper but enjoyed doing it this way to clone my iMac drive for my M2 Max MBP.
It’s good to learn new things and explore your computer.

This says it’s for iMac but I also used it to clone the new MBP.