Mac Mail Questions

[BassTek]

I'm about to switch all my mail accounts over to Mac mail, but I have a few questions first. Does it have an easy export option, so if I want to move my mail to another mac I can just export it to a file (like a .pst in Outlook)? Also how well does it handle multiple accounts?

Also if I have a time machine backup, can I just import the mail while restoring or does it have to restore the whole image? Like say I buy a new macbook down the line, will I be able to just import my mail easily while leaving the rest of the OS as a fresh install?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Terpfen]

I'm about to switch all my mail accounts over to Mac mail, but I have a few questions first. Does it have an easy export option, so if I want to move my mail to another mac I can just export it to a file (like a .pst in Outlook)? Also how well does it handle multiple accounts?

You can use Migration Assistant (Applications -> Utilities folder) to move your Mail database and settings to a new Mac.

Mail handles multiple accounts just fine. You can add as many as you want. The default inbox view is a unified inbox that shows all of your incoming email from all of your accounts, and it keeps track of which email is associated with which address. For example, if you reply to an email from the unified inbox, it'll automatically use the correct account to send the reply. (You can change the account in the new message window if you really want.)

If you don't like the unified inbox, you can still look at each account in its own individual inbox.

Also if I have a time machine backup, can I just import the mail while restoring or does it have to restore the whole image? Like say I buy a new macbook down the line, will I be able to just import my mail easily while leaving the rest of the OS as a fresh install?

Just use Migration Assistant. No need to bother with Time Machine, which really isn't meant for what you want to do anyway.