Deleting email A/C without deleting emails

Mac
#1

Please confirm I have understood the instructions for saving emails before deleting an email account. I’ve found a lot of references on-line but most are old and I want to know the information is still current.

Virgin Broadband no longer supports email and I want to remove the associated accounts from my computer without losing all existing emails. I have already one-by-one manually moved dozens of emails I want to save to a folder called ’Archive’ on my Mac.

Before I continue this tedious task I’d like to know if I can, instead, save emails to other ‘named’ folders On My Mac so they can be accessed more easily. I’ve found conflicting advice about this.

Thank you.

#2

Hope this helps… mail accounts when configured may use pop3 or imap (or variations of those that puts a layer of encryption over those protocols). Differences are… pop3 downloads the mail as its found on mail server (will usually delete upon download - but can be configured to retain for a period before doing so). Where as imap doesn’t download, it’s a representation of the email as it is on the mail server at the time. You need to move this off to a folder like you said and when you do, it should remove it from the mail server too. Of course, as long as you keep the folders where pop3 downloads too, or you move your imap mail too. You will retain those even if the mail accounts are deleted from the machine.

#3

Thanks, purana, for the detailed response. It’s wireless b’band…don’t know if that makes any difference but regularly the on-line mailboxes have to be emptied so they will continue to accept new emails, so nothing stays on the server for long. That is, I can’t go back several months later and find an old email.

I take it that is a ‘Yes’, I can simply move mail I want to keep to various folders ‘On my Mac’ then safely, permanently, delete the account.

Thanks again.

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