Save MacMail to an external folder before I upgrade?

[Judy Walker]

I currently have IMac Snow Leopard 10.6.8 and because my 2011 IMac was in the batch of bum units produced in 2011, I am having to purchase a new IMac with El Capitan during the next week. In the mail program on my Snow Leopard I have 3500 important emails in a "Saved" folder. I'm worried that I may lose them during the transition. How can I save these emails in an external folder? Thanks.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

You basically have three options:
-Create a Time Machine or other backup of the entire iMac to an external hard drive (always recommended) to use with Migration Assistant with the new Mac during setup.
-In Apple Mail, click once on the Saved folder to highlight it, then from the menu bar click Mailbox > Archive Mailbox... and export a copy to your Desktop or an external hard drive or flash drive. You can then import it into the new Mac's Mail app after you have set it up.
-If you current Mac is still functioning, you can use it to migrate your entire user folder to the new Mac using Migration Assistant.

Let us know if that helps/works,

C