How to Export/ Import MBOX into Mac Mail App Mailboxes: A Free Manual Guide

  author
Rollins Duke   
Published: April 27th, 2022 • 6 Min Read

 

My employer declared that they would close down this office team. The proposal to keep our Mail laptops has been brought up but before that, they need all data to be wiped from Apple Mail. With nearly everybody working from a distance in this lockdown, what may be the simplest method to export MBOX to Apple Mail to ensure a safe backup is taken before cleaning it.

-David, California

Assuming you recently began utilizing the Mail application on your Mac, you may need to import mailboxes to Mac Mail from another application. This will help you to track and respond to all email messages during the migration. Simultaneously, you intend to export MBOX to Apple Mail application for use somewhere else. Possibly you’re evaluating another email service and need to utilize your current messages as it is.

To achieve any of these functions that are for “Apple Mail export mailbox with attachments” or to “import MBOX into Mac Mail”, there is an instant approach to do this transition.

Which File Format does Apple Mac Mail is Compatible with?

You can export all Apple Mail emails as a generic MBOX file which is supported by so many email services like Gmail, Thunderbird, Eudora. Say, for example, if you have created and sent some emails then it will be stored in Sent.mbox whereas if you have received some emails in the Inbox folder then it will be in Inbox .mbox format. All of the exported Apple Mail emails with attachments in the form of MBOX format are in transferrable format and can be efficiently imported these files in other email apps and OS.

Export MBOX from Apple Mail with these Steps

For Apple Mail export all emails processes, please follow these guidelines-

Do remember- These instructions are to export all emails from Apple Mail. But if you want to save each Mac Mail email as a PDF, then there is a different process.
  • Firstly, open Mac Mail by choosing its icon in the Mac Dock

open-mail-app

  • Hit the folder or mailbox you wish to export into MBOX files
  • Choose Mailbox>> Export Mailbox from Menu bar

export-mbox-from-apple-mail

  • Browse a saving location and click on Choose to store the MBOX file

saving-location

On completing these steps, you will see that the Apple Mail export mailbox with attachments on the respective location.

How to Import Mailboxes to Mac Mail?

Follow the steps to import MBOX to Apple Mail:

  • Open Mac Mail and go to File>> Import Mailboxes

  • Either enable Apple Mail or Files in MBOX format & tap on Choose

  • Select MBOX files from your PC and click on Continue

  • Navigate to the saving location and hit on Choose
  • In the left-hand sidebar, go to On My Mac where you can see a new mailbox named Import

import-mbox-to-mac-mail

Want to Convert macOS Mail Messages into some other File Formats?

There are many instances in which you already have an export mailbox from Apple Mail but want to use these emails in other file formats. For example,

query

Other reasons can be…

  1. Microsoft Outlook is incompatible with the .mbox file extension so to import Apple Mail MBOX files to Outlook, you need to first convert MBOX format to PST.
  2. Often for legal, forensics, or communication purposes, you need to have all Apple Mail export emails with attachments in PDF file format.
  3. Numerous scenarios wherein you want to export mailbox from Mac Mail into other transferrable file formats like DOC, DOCX, TXT, or even EML which is used in email clients like Mozilla Thunderbird, Entourage, etc.

Therefore, whatsoever, be your reasons to export MBOX from Apple Mail, you can choose the BitRecover MBOX Converter solution. It gives a smooth and hassle-free functionality for exporting all Apple Mail emails with attachments into file formats like PST, MSG, EML, EMLX, TXT, CSV, PDF, etc.

The software provides the best features including the advanced settings for selective email conversion.

Download for Windows     Download for Mac
Final thoughts

There is nothing simpler than to export MBOX from Apple Mail or to import MBOX into Mac Mail. We hope that you can see yourself using the Import/Export feature of Mail without any trouble.

Frequently Asked Queries

Ques 1- Some of my old email messages on my Apple Mail app are eating up a lot of storage space. Many of these messages are such that I never use them. So I would like to export Apple Mail mailbox as a backup file and then erase them. What’s the most proficient way for Apple Mail to export mailbox with attachments. So that I can still access them if ever in need?

Ans – We have explained the native approach to exporting mailboxes from Mac Mail to your computer. You can follow it and within 4-5 steps you can export Apple Mail emails with attachments.

Ques 2- I will not have any access to my Mac Mail account anymore. But, I would like to keep all emails and attachments as an archive. So, eagerly want to know how to export MBOX from Apple Mail. Also, I want to understand if there is any method to export Apple Mail emails to Windows or other platforms if possible!!

Ans – You can use the steps given in this article to export mailboxes from Mac Mail. Moreover, with the help of the Apple Mail email extraction tool you can transfer all Apple Mail exported data to Windows.

Ques 3- With the help of the Google Takeout feature, I already exported emails from Gmail into MBOX file format so that I can import mailboxes to Mac Mail. This MBOX file size is about 40GB in size and the Mac Mail application is utilizing all available memory and resultantly crashing my system. Do you know any alternative other than the obvious File>>Import option?

Ans – You can, first of all, collect all Gmail exported emails and thereafter split MBOX files into smaller files. Thereafter, you can use the above method to import mailboxes to Mac Mail. Hope it helps you.

Ques 4-  Three months ago, one of my employees retired. Though his G Suite account got deleted from it, I have some .mbox formatted MBOX files. Now, I am asked to share these MBOX mailboxes with another employee’s email. How can I import MBOX files to Mac Mail?

Ans – The manual method of the Mail app allows to import MBOX to Mac Mail client. Please proceed towards the steps described above to import mailboxes to Mac Mail.