[MlMt] How to archive mail to save server space, but keep local copies?

[Benny Kjær Nielsen]

On 27 Jul 2025, at 7:07, Sean McBride wrote:

> If I want/need to save server space, I'll need to delete old messages; 
> but surely I can keep a local copy of those old messages on my Mac, 
> but how?
>
> I see there is an 'archive' folder, but the docs say "There is also a 
> mailbox named 'Archive' which is intended for archiving messages in a 
> separate IMAP mailbox." So that still sounds like IMAP, not local.

Yes, this archive is just another IMAP mailbox to keep your INBOX clean 
(if you like that). There's no support in MailMate itself to have 
local/“On My Mac” emails without resorting to using a dummy offline 
IMAP account -- which is harder than it sounds because MailMate cannot 
never complete a move from an online account to and offline account.

But the “File > Export Data...” menu does allow you to export emails 
into a hierarchy of disk folders using the standard `.eml` format. These 
email files can still be viewed by macOS. (It's also possible to do this 
using a rule action if you want some kind of automation.)

Play around with the export options on a small number of messages until 
you have something which works well for you.

Finally, make sure you have some kind of backup of wherever you save 
these emails.

-- 
Benny
(Note: On vacation until August 4th.)
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