Is an import process required?

A key question is whether you need to manually import anything at all. Please note the following:

• If your account is using IMAP, then you do not need to import your messages since Postbox will download your folders and messages from your email server.
• If your account is using POP or POP3, then Postbox can download messages from your Inbox. Messages in other folders will need to be manually imported.
• Any messages stored on your local machine will need to be manually imported.

Read and Unread Status

Messages that are manually imported into Postbox will be marked as "unread" by default. If preserving the read/unread status is important to you, then you'll want to break up your export process by messages that are read vs. unread. More detailed instructions are outlined below in the section titled "Preserving Read/Unread Status".

Back up your mail first!

Before you do anything, make a backup of your Apple Mail folder! This will be located at: [your home folder]/Library/Mail/.

Import email from Apple Mail to Postbox

1. Quit Postbox if it is currently running.
2. In Apple Mail, select the folder you would like to import into Postbox, then choose Select All from the Edit menu.
3. Select Save As from the File menu, choose a name for your mailbox, then save these messages in Raw Message Source format into the following directory: [your home folder]/Library/Application Support/Postbox/Profiles/[your profile]/Mail/Local Folders/.
4. Start Postbox. Your mail will now be found in the Local Folders account, within a folder that has the same name as your saved file.

Preserving Read/Unread Status

1. Quit Postbox if it is currently running.
2. In Apple Mail, select the folder you would like to import.
3. Sort your messages by read and unread status by clicking on the "dot" in the column header.
4. Select your unread messages first, choose Save As from the File menu, choose a name for your mailbox that will help identify these messages such as "Unread Inbox," then save these messages in Raw Message Source format into the following directory: [your home folder]/Library/Application Support/Postbox/Profiles/[your profile]/Mail/Local Folders/.
5. Next, select your read messages, choose Save As from the File menu, choose a name for your mailbox that will help identify these messages such as "Read Inbox," then save these messages in Raw Message Source format into the following directory: [your home folder]/Library/Application Support/Postbox/Profiles/[your profile]/Mail/Local Folders/.
6. Start Postbox. Select the folder that contains your read messages, then choose Select and then All from the Edit menu. From the Message menu, select Mark and then As Read.
7. You can now combine the contents of the read/unread messages into a single folder. You can also rename the folder by selecting it, then choosing Rename Folder from the File menu.