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Where Mac OS X Mail Stores Mail

By , About.com Guide

Usually, it's comforting enough for me to know that Mac OS X Mail knows where all my emails are.

But sometimes (when I want to copy my mailboxes to a different computer or want to back them up, for example) it's good to have an idea where those messages are on the hard disk.

Where Mac OS X Mail Stores Mail

To open the folder where Mac OS X Mail keeps your messages:

  • Open a Finder window.
  • Select Go | Go to Folder… from the menu.
  • Type "~/Library/Mail/V2".
    • You can have Finder auto-complete the folder names by pressing Tab.

Mac OS X Mail stores the mailboxes in sub-folders to the Mail directory, one sub-folder per account. POP accounts start with POP-, IMAP accounts with IMAP-.

Where Mac OS X Mail 1-4 Store Mail

To locate the folder where Mac OS X Mail 1-4 stores mail:

  • Open a new Finder window.
  • Go to your home directory.
    • You can use the Home toolbar button or
    • select Go | Home from the menu to go home.
  • Open the Library/Mail directory.

(Updated July 2011)

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