An MBOX viewer? (read that as view MBOX files without importing them into an email client?)

[Robert M]

An MBOX viewer? Read that as view MBOX files without importing them into an email client?

Hi everyone,

I started archiving mail from Apple Mail in MBOX format so I can reduce how much space I’m using on my email provider’s IMAP server. So far, so good. However, I’d like to be able to view the mboxes without importing them into an email client. Some of the mbox files are huge - we’re talking nearly a gig in some cases - so viewing them in a text editor is cumbersome to the extreme.

Anyone know of a package that will allow me to view the contents of the MBOX as if it’s an email client but without having to actually import them? No need to be able to send or receive email. Just view the contents of the files. At this point, the only idea I’ve come up with is to use a different email program, create an account in it (leaving all of the mail server and such settings blank) and then import the contents of the files as locallly stored folders.

The 3rd party mail program method will likely work and provide easy access to the files along with solid searching and such. I just wanted to avoid importing them into a mail program and/or putting the files into a proprietary mail database.

Is there such a thing as a MBOX viewer that allows you to view/read/search the contents of MBOXes? If not, I’ll go with the 3rd party email program method.

Suggestions will be much appreciated.

Robert

[MEG]

A friend uses and recommends mail steward pro for email archiving. Takes the mbox file and imports it into a mysql db keeping the attachments and all the meta data. Looking at the site it apparently comes in a Lite, regular and Pro version.

http://www.mailsteward.com

EDIT - Looks like there's a free version that will let you archive up to 15,000 emails to test it.

[btfc]

TextEdit

[Robert M]

Hi Meg and btfc,

Thanks for the suggestions. Mailseward sounds nifty but I don't think it's going to do the job. If I'm going to import the data into a database, I may as well just import the files into alternate mail client. I'm trying to avoid that. I'd like to view them in their original file format without importing them into anything. Just open the app, open the file, view it as if the mail is in a email client, quite when done. A text editor will access the files but it's cumbersome at best and many don't like dealing with mboxes that are nearly a gig in size. That's why I'm looking for a different solution.

Thanks,

Robert

[Paul F.]

Not having used IMAP for very long, I'm not clear on the problem...
Could you not copy the messages to a mailbox "on my mac", and delete the copies on the IMAP server?
Keeping a copy in your Mail, but having it removed from the server?

[MEG]

Paul F. wrote:
Not having used IMAP for very long, I'm not clear on the problem...
Could you not copy the messages to a mailbox "on my mac", and delete the copies on the IMAP server?
Keeping a copy in your Mail, but having it removed from the server?

Doh! Yeah, what he said.

[Robert M]

Paul,

The reason I don't want to do that is because we're talking tens of thousands of emails. It makes Apple Mail crawl. So, I figured I'd remove them from Mail (and the mail server) and leave them as files and access them on an as necessary basis. I still haven't found any app that'll do what I'm looking to do. So, I'll likely just import them into a different mail client. That way, I'll have the mboxes and access to the mail in the mail program, too.

Thanks to all for the suggestions!

Robert

[Paul F.]

OK.. that makes sense.

My personal way to deal with it would be to delete some mail...

[Speedy]

Robert M wrote: It makes Apple Mail crawl

Or Mail on a fast Mac with an SSD.

[Chakravartin]

If the MBOX "files" (folders) have been saved to a directory that Spotlight indexes, you can probably search through them conveniently via Spotlight in a saved Finder sidebar search.

I just tried it.

Works great!

Easy to browse and easy to view via QuickLook.