Importing email using Mac Mail

Re-configure your email address

To get started, you'll need to configure your email address to connect to your DreamHost email server:

1. Delete the old email account from Mac Mail that was connected to your old hosting provider.
2. Add the address back to Mac Mail using your DreamHost email credentials.
3. Confirm Mac Mail loads your DreamHost email address.

   You should see no email in this account since you have not migrated anything yet.

Import email

1. Select File > Import Mailboxes...
2. In the pop-up window, choose Files in mbox format and then click Continue.

   

3. On your computer, navigate to the location where you backed up the email. In this example, it's in a folder titled MacMail_Backup.
4. Highlight all of the mbox files in this folder and then click Choose.
5. Confirm all files are what you'd like to import, then click the Continue button.

   A message displays informing you that the emails have been imported into a folder titled Import.

6. Click the Done button.

   

7. Click the Import folder in the left pane to reveal all subfolders and emails you just imported.

   As mentioned in the Exporting email using Mac Mail article, the emails are backed up in mbox files. You'll see above that under each folder is another folder titled mbox. This is where your emails reside.

Move email into your new address

You must now drag the emails into your DreamHost address. This requires you to create folders as you go along and drag the contents of each folder individually.

Moving email into your Inbox

1. Click the mbox folder for your Inbox, where its content populates to the right.

   

2. Highlight all of the emails. You can do this quickly by pressing Command + A.
3. Drag them into your Inbox folder.
4. Click your Inbox folder, which shows all emails have been imported.

Moving email into subfolders

This step requires you to create your subfolders manually as you go along.

1. Hold down the Control button and click your Inbox.
2. Choose New Mailbox....
3. Create a new mailbox folder. The following example creates a folder titled folder1. Repeat for any subfolders.

   

4. After the subfolders are created, click the corresponding mbox folder in the Import section. In this example, the mbox folder under sub1 is clicked.
5. Highlight the emails in this folder and drag them into the new folder you just created.
6. Click the subfolder, where you can see the emails have been imported.
7. Repeat these steps for any other subfolders.