Does time machine backup keep apple mail backup

Time Machine, the built-in backup feature on Macs, can indeed back up your Apple Mail data, but it depends on how you set up your backup.

Here's what you need to know:

1. Default behavior: By default, Time Machine only backs up your Mac's system files, applications, and user data, but not your email data. This is because Apple Mail stores its data in a proprietary format, which is not easily accessible by Time Machine.
2. Mail backup: To back up your Apple Mail data, you need to enable the "Mail" backup option in Time Machine. To do this:
   • Go to System Preferences > Time Machine.
   • Click on the "Select Backup Disk" button and choose your backup disk.
   • Click on the "Options" button.
   • Select the "Mail" checkbox under "Backup Options".
3. Backup format: When you enable Mail backup, Time Machine will create a separate backup of your Apple Mail data in a format called "Mail Backup". This backup is stored in a separate folder on your backup disk, usually named "Mail Backup" or "Mail Backup [date]".
4. Restoring Mail data: If you need to restore your Apple Mail data, you can do so by using the "Restore" feature in Time Machine. When you restore your Mail data, Time Machine will restore the entire Mail Backup folder, which includes all your emails, contacts, and other Mail data.

In summary, to keep Apple Mail backups with Time Machine, you need to enable the "Mail" backup option in Time Machine and ensure that your backup disk has enough space to store the Mail Backup folder.