email restore on imac

[cbeal]

Email crashed last week that I need to restore. When I rebooted I was prompted to set up my email.
I use mail 3.6 on my IMac running 10.5.8.
I back up weekly with time machine.
I've read instructions on how to restore a file but don't know where or what files to choose.
Any advice would be helpful.
Thanks, Craig

 

[oldscribe]

Hi,

This is a little long winded, but if you have not already got your mail back this is how.

Connect the TM disk and like OS X you will find that the Library folder is hidden, so you must show it to recover the missing .mbox files first.

Next, open the Time Machine drive in the Finder and navigate to Time Machine > Backups.backupdb > Computer Name > Latest > Macintosh HD > Users > Your User > Library > Mail > V2 > POP-name of account. 

Here, you will see a few .mbox files. We had a Deleted Messages.mbox, Drafts.mbox, and an INBOX.mbox. Make a copy of the mailbox files you wish to import back into Mail on the Desktop for temporary storage.

Note: If the latest backup doesn’t contain the needed account mailboxes, try opening another date/time Time Machine folder.


Be sure to select the .mbox import format this is important.
You can then import these .mbox files by opening Mail and navigating to File > Import Mailboxes. Follow the on-screen instructions to continue importing.
Hope this helps.