Information covers macOS Big Sur through OS X Lion.
Migration Assistant Is an Option to Consider
You have options for performing the move.
The easiest and most often suggested method is to use theApple Migration Assistant.
It copies everything from one Mac to another.
However, you may not be interested in transferring everything to your new Mac.
All of your emails, accounts, and rules will work the way they did before the move.
Do a thorough backup and file clean-up before you make the transfer.
you’re able to use abuilt-in or third-party backup applicationfor this.
Time Machine is part of the Mac system and is easy to use.
With Keychain, Apple Mail operates without asking you to supply all your account passwords.
If you only have one or two accounts in Mail, you’re free to skip this step.
If you have many Mail accounts, transferring Keychain makes using the new Mac easier.
The method you use depends on your system version.
Instead, use theDisk Utility First Aid toolto verify and repair the startup drive that contains the Keychain files.
LaunchKeychain Access, located inApplications>Utilities.
SelectKeychain First Aidfrom the Keychain Access menu.
Enter the username and password for your user account.
SelectRepairto verify the data and repair any problems.
exit the Keychain First Aid window when the process is complete and quit Keychain Access.
Copy the Keychain Files to the New Location
macOS stores Keychain files in yourLibraryfolder.
The hiddenLibraryfolder is easy to access, and you canmake it permanently visibleif you want.
Open a Finder window by clicking theFindericon in the Dock.
Go to your Home folder and selectLibrary.
Copy theKeychainsfolder to the same location on your new Mac.
Apple Mail Cleanup
Launch AppleMailby clicking theMailicon in the Dock.
SelectJunk, and verify that all the messages in the folder are junk emails.
Each email account has its own Junk folder.
If you have several providers, empty the Junk folder for each one.
Right-click eachJunkfolder and selectErase Junk Mail, followed byErase.
This folder is hidden by default in macOS.
If you haven’t set the Library file to be visible previously, open it temporarily.
From the desktop, hold down theOptionkey and chooseGoin the menu bar.
SelectLibraryin the expanded menu.
To copy your Mail files to a new Mac or system:
QuitMailif the software is running.
In yourHomefolder, open theLibraryfolder and locate theMailfolder.
Copy theMail folderto the same location on your new Mac or in your new system.
Open a Finder window.
Go to yourHome folderand selectLibrary>Preferences.
Copycom.apple.mail.plistto the same location on your new Mac or new system.
You might see files that seem similar, such as com.apple.mail.plist.lockfile.
Don’t copy them.
The only file you should probably copy iscom.apple.mail.plist.
With all the necessary files copied to the new Mac or system, launch Apple Mail.
Your emails will be in place, your Mail rules functioning, and all Mail accounts working.
Troubleshoot Keychain Issues
Moving Keychains around can sometimes cause problems.
However, they’re easy to correct.
If you’re usingOS X Mavericksor earlier, the process is a little more involved.
LaunchKeychain Access, located inApplications>Utilitieson your new Mac or system.
Make a note of which Keychain files in the list have a check mark next to their names.
Uncheck any checked Keychain files.
Copy theKeychainfiles to your new Mac or system.
Reset the check marks in the Keychain list to the state you noted.
The error alert usually says that Mail doesn’t have permission to access a specific file.
Go to the file mentioned in the error alert.
Right-nudge the file and selectGet Info.
Your username should be listed as having read and write access, but you may seeunknown.
Click thelockicon in the lower-right corner of theGet Infowindow.
put in your administrator username and password, and selectOK.
Select theplussign(+).
Choose your account from the list of users and chooseSelect.The selected account is added to theSharing & Permissionssection.
Select thePrivilegesitem for the account you added.
That should correct the problem.
Propagating Your Privileges
Right-click theMailfolder, located in yourLibraryfolder, and selectGet Info.
Select thegearicon at the bottom of theGet Infowindow.
SelectApply to enclosed items.
exit the window and try a rebuild.
The rebuild process corrects any underlying issues with the program.
Rebuilding IMAP accounts can take quite a while; you may decide to forgo the rebuilding process for them.
Select amailboxby clicking its icon.
When the rebuilding is complete, repeat the process for any other mailboxes.
Don’t be alarmed if messages in a mailbox seem to disappear during the rebuilding process.
When the rebuilding is complete, reselecting the mailbox reveals all the stored messages.
you’re free to also tryresetting user permissionsif all else fails.
You probably have years of data stored on your Mac.
While some of it may be fluff, other information is important enough to keep on hand.
It might be easy to re-create your mail accounts on a new system.
Choose an email in your inbox and selectArchiveto archive it, or select theArchive folderto view your archived messages.
Using Bcc in Apple Mailis fairly simple, and is available through macOS Sierra 10.12 and later.
