How to retrieve archived mail on mac

Retrieving archived mail on a Mac can be a bit tricky, but I'm here to guide you through the process. Here are the steps:

Method 1: Using Mail.app

  1. Open Mail.app on your Mac.
  2. Click on "Mail" in the top menu bar and select "Preferences" (or press Cmd +,).
  3. In the Preferences window, click on the "Accounts" tab.
  4. Select the account that has the archived mail you want to retrieve.
  5. Click on the "Advanced" tab.
  6. Scroll down to the "Archived Mail" section.
  7. Click on the "Show" button next to "Archived Mail".
  8. A new window will open showing all your archived mail. You can search for specific emails using the search bar at the top.
  9. Select the email you want to retrieve and click "Move to Inbox" to move it back to your inbox.

Method 2: Using Spotlight Search

  1. Press Cmd + Space to open Spotlight Search.
  2. Type "archived mail" in the search bar and press Enter.
  3. Spotlight will search for archived mail on your Mac. If it finds any, it will display a list of results.
  4. Select the email you want to retrieve and click "Open" to open it in Mail.app.

Method 3: Using the Terminal

  1. Open the Terminal app on your Mac (you can find it in Applications/Utilities or use Spotlight Search).
  2. Type the following command and press Enter: mdfind "kMDItemContentType == 'com.apple.mail-message'"
  3. This command will search for all archived mail on your Mac. The output will be a list of file paths.
  4. Look for the file path that corresponds to the email you want to retrieve.
  5. Use the mv command to move the email back to your inbox. For example: mv /path/to/email.eml ~/Library/Mail/V2/Mailboxes/Inbox

Note: The mdfind command is a metadata search command that searches for files based on their metadata, such as file type and content. The kMDItemContentType key specifies that we're looking for files with a content type of "com.apple.mail-message", which is the type of file used by Mail.app for archived emails.

I hope these methods help you retrieve your archived mail on your Mac!