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Moving to a new laptop and changing over to IMAP

I finally had to get a new MacBook Pro and am currently moving stuff over from my dead 17" (OSX 13.6) to my new 16" (OSX 11.2) MacBook Pro.


Email and IMAP give me a bit of a headache.

I have a German Webhoster hosting my domains email. ( all-inch.com )

I have a huge amount of mail in the old Mail app and I quite like to have it all handy. However I'm finally moving from POP to IMAP and have a few issues.


I usually sort my emails (with rules) into various folders and subfolders. project and then various subfolders for each project.


IMAP doesn't seem to allow subfolders - correct ? - is there any workaround ?


Also I'm still a bit confused as to where I would store my email. In order to have it available on the iPad iPhone and the Mac I would need to have the messages in a folder on the IMAP server - right ?


I could move older stuff to a "local folder" but then its out of reach for my iPad / iPhone. - right ? That sounds like aa lot of stuff to do by hand...


thx for any insight


Jo




Posted on Feb 7, 2021 6:24 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 7, 2021 8:05 AM

greeny62 wrote:


BobTheFisherman wrote:

greeny62 wrote:

I finally had to get a new MacBook Pro and am currently moving stuff over from my dead 17" (OSX 13.6) to my new 16" (OSX 11.2) MacBook Pro.
Cool.
Email and IMAP give me a bit of a headache.
I have a German Webhoster hosting my domains email. ( all-inch.com )
I have a huge amount of mail in the old Mail app and I quite like to have it all handy. However I'm finally moving from POP to IMAP and have a few issues.
Good choice, IMAP is a newer and better protocol.
I usually sort my emails (with rules) into various folders and subfolders. project and then various subfolders for each project.

IMAP doesn't seem to allow subfolders - correct ? - is there any workaround ?
Incorrect. Yes you can have sub-folders.

Hi Bob thx for your time !!

I can't do it on my Mac, I can do it one the webmail Interface of my provider, once I have created one subfolder there I can create more subfolders on the Mac.

Correct, if you are going to create new IMAP folders/sub-folders you need to do so on your IMAP server. Log into your email provider's web page and create the folders there. They will automatically be created on your Mac from the email server. Of course, your email provider has to include the ability to configure IMAP folders.

nother not so fun feature, I cannot move folders into each other (drag and drop a folder into another folder.
Also if I drag 84 messages from a top-level folder to a newly created subfolder on my Mac, Mail.App crashes..

Don't know why this happens.

so I'm still a bit confused as to where I would store my email. In order to have it available on the iPad iPhone and the Mac I would need to have the messages in a folder on the IMAP server - right ?
You don't store it anywhere. IMAP email stays on the IMAP server and on your computer so that it is accessible from all devices configured with the same IMAP account.
yes and no, it must be stored locally on the Mac as well, otherwise when if I'm "offline" I can't access the mails anymore. I'm in Germany and occasionally mobile Internet ***** here, also the MacBook Pro still has no SIM-card slot... so there is at least a local copy, though as soon as online they sync to IMAP happens. - right ?

IMAP emails are stored locally in your email folders as well as on your email server.

egarding the "always all on the server" I'm just wondering, my current Mail Folder on my Mac is a whopping 88GB in size... it goes back to pre 2000ish :-). That wasn't an issue so far, but I guess I need to manage the old stuff somehow.

You will have to check with your email provider. They likely have a limit on storage so they will automatically archive email older than xxxx. 88GB of email is not useable. Why would anyone need to store that much email. If the emails have attachments then store the attachments locally in a directory structure.

hx for your help

Jo



Similar questions

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 7, 2021 8:05 AM in response to greeny62

greeny62 wrote:


BobTheFisherman wrote:

greeny62 wrote:

I finally had to get a new MacBook Pro and am currently moving stuff over from my dead 17" (OSX 13.6) to my new 16" (OSX 11.2) MacBook Pro.
Cool.
Email and IMAP give me a bit of a headache.
I have a German Webhoster hosting my domains email. ( all-inch.com )
I have a huge amount of mail in the old Mail app and I quite like to have it all handy. However I'm finally moving from POP to IMAP and have a few issues.
Good choice, IMAP is a newer and better protocol.
I usually sort my emails (with rules) into various folders and subfolders. project and then various subfolders for each project.

IMAP doesn't seem to allow subfolders - correct ? - is there any workaround ?
Incorrect. Yes you can have sub-folders.

Hi Bob thx for your time !!

I can't do it on my Mac, I can do it one the webmail Interface of my provider, once I have created one subfolder there I can create more subfolders on the Mac.

Correct, if you are going to create new IMAP folders/sub-folders you need to do so on your IMAP server. Log into your email provider's web page and create the folders there. They will automatically be created on your Mac from the email server. Of course, your email provider has to include the ability to configure IMAP folders.

nother not so fun feature, I cannot move folders into each other (drag and drop a folder into another folder.
Also if I drag 84 messages from a top-level folder to a newly created subfolder on my Mac, Mail.App crashes..

Don't know why this happens.

so I'm still a bit confused as to where I would store my email. In order to have it available on the iPad iPhone and the Mac I would need to have the messages in a folder on the IMAP server - right ?
You don't store it anywhere. IMAP email stays on the IMAP server and on your computer so that it is accessible from all devices configured with the same IMAP account.
yes and no, it must be stored locally on the Mac as well, otherwise when if I'm "offline" I can't access the mails anymore. I'm in Germany and occasionally mobile Internet ***** here, also the MacBook Pro still has no SIM-card slot... so there is at least a local copy, though as soon as online they sync to IMAP happens. - right ?

IMAP emails are stored locally in your email folders as well as on your email server.

egarding the "always all on the server" I'm just wondering, my current Mail Folder on my Mac is a whopping 88GB in size... it goes back to pre 2000ish :-). That wasn't an issue so far, but I guess I need to manage the old stuff somehow.

You will have to check with your email provider. They likely have a limit on storage so they will automatically archive email older than xxxx. 88GB of email is not useable. Why would anyone need to store that much email. If the emails have attachments then store the attachments locally in a directory structure.

hx for your help

Jo



Feb 7, 2021 7:00 AM in response to greeny62

greeny62 wrote:

I finally had to get a new MacBook Pro and am currently moving stuff over from my dead 17" (OSX 13.6) to my new 16" (OSX 11.2) MacBook Pro.

Cool.

Email and IMAP give me a bit of a headache.
I have a German Webhoster hosting my domains email. ( all-inch.com )
I have a huge amount of mail in the old Mail app and I quite like to have it all handy. However I'm finally moving from POP to IMAP and have a few issues.

Good choice, IMAP is a newer and better protocol.

I usually sort my emails (with rules) into various folders and subfolders. project and then various subfolders for each project.

IMAP doesn't seem to allow subfolders - correct ? - is there any workaround ?

Incorrect. Yes you can have sub-folders.

Also I'm still a bit confused as to where I would store my email. In order to have it available on the iPad iPhone and the Mac I would need to have the messages in a folder on the IMAP server - right ?

You don't store it anywhere. IMAP email stays on the IMAP server and on your computer so that it is accessible from all devices configured with the same IMAP account.

I could move older stuff to a "local folder" but then its out of reach for my iPad / iPhone. - right ? That sounds like aa lot of stuff to do by hand...

If you want to store "stuff" locally then you would have to move it to a folder on your Mac. If it is moved to a local folder and no longer synchronized using IMAP it will not be available to other devices using the IMAP account. But why would you want to do this? The "stuff" in your IMAP account is also available on your computer/device.

thx for any insight

Jo




Feb 7, 2021 7:57 AM in response to BobTheFisherman

BobTheFisherman wrote:

greeny62 wrote:

I finally had to get a new MacBook Pro and am currently moving stuff over from my dead 17" (OSX 13.6) to my new 16" (OSX 11.2) MacBook Pro.
Cool.
Email and IMAP give me a bit of a headache.
I have a German Webhoster hosting my domains email. ( all-inch.com )
I have a huge amount of mail in the old Mail app and I quite like to have it all handy. However I'm finally moving from POP to IMAP and have a few issues.
Good choice, IMAP is a newer and better protocol.
I usually sort my emails (with rules) into various folders and subfolders. project and then various subfolders for each project.

IMAP doesn't seem to allow subfolders - correct ? - is there any workaround ?
Incorrect. Yes you can have sub-folders.


Hi Bob thx for your time !!


I can't do it on my Mac, I can do it one the webmail Interface of my provider, once I have created one subfolder there I can create more subfolders on the Mac.


Another not so fun feature, I cannot move folders into each other (drag and drop a folder into another folder.

Also if I drag 84 messages from a top-level folder to a newly created subfolder on my Mac, Mail.App crashes..


lso I'm still a bit confused as to where I would store my email. In order to have it available on the iPad iPhone and the Mac I would need to have the messages in a folder on the IMAP server - right ?
You don't store it anywhere. IMAP email stays on the IMAP server and on your computer so that it is accessible from all devices configured with the same IMAP account.

yes and no, it must be stored locally on the Mac as well, otherwise when if I'm "offline" I can't access the mails anymore. I'm in Germany and occasionally mobile Internet ***** here, also the MacBook Pro still has no SIM-card slot... so there is at least a local copy, though as soon as online they sync to IMAP happens. - right ?


Regarding the "always all on the server" I'm just wondering, my current Mail Folder on my Mac is a whopping 88GB in size... it goes back to pre 2000ish :-). That wasn't an issue so far, but I guess I need to manage the old stuff somehow.


thx for your help


Jo



Feb 7, 2021 8:14 AM in response to BobTheFisherman

BobTheFisherman wrote:

regarding the "always all on the server" I'm just wondering, my current Mail Folder on my Mac is a whopping 88GB in size... it goes back to pre 2000ish :-). That wasn't an issue so far, but I guess I need to manage the old stuff somehow.

You will have to check with your email provider. They likely have a limit on storage so they will automatically archive email older than xxxx. 88GB of email is not useable. Why would anyone need to store that much email. If the emails have attachments then store the attachments locally in a directory structure.


Again thx for your help, reassuring some of the "assumed facts" is very helpful !

and yeah 88GB is a lot but wasn't an issue so far (POP3) I just need to find a practical way to archive the old stuff.


thx Jo


Moving to a new laptop and changing over to IMAP

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