I'd love to sync Apple Mail's Folders including archives. Can this be done?

[MichaelQC]

I want to sync the Mail Folders including archive mail.

[Mark]

Hi MichaelQC.

Basically..... Dont. It wont end well.

In fact its really almost impossible to do because they are not designed to work like that. Mail will require exclusive access to the files/folders when its open and for Dropbox to sync so will it. You are also looking at a massive risk of data corruption if you sync between multiple machines.

Instead of syncing Mail use IMAP or Exchange email servers instead.

[MichaelQC]

Thanks Mark I already use IMAP mail and it works wonderfully well between my macs.

It's the archive of mail I have setup in the "On my Mac" section of Apple Mail that I want to share with my two MacBook Air machines. I have seen that some people have used symlinks but I am not sure that it is supported by Dropbox and I cannot find any supporting information.

[Rich · Accepted solution]

Symlinks can work in Dropbox but they are not supported, and depending on where you created them, can result in the files being synced twice, taking up twice the amount of storage.

Mark's suggestion is the correct one. Just don't do it. If something goes wrong, it won't be pretty.

[CharlieFoxtrot]

 Hi Michael,

I am using a symbolic link for Apple mail to dropbox because I wanted both my desktop & Macbook to have the same (very large) "on my mac" files when I traveled. I also have a number of IMAP accounts as well for more current emails.

I ususally only crank up my Macbook mail before I travel, and make sure it is all synced.

A coulple of things I have observed about this arrangement:

My dropbox folder is ~dropbox/Mail/V4 with both computers pointing to it via a symbilic link.

It works, but there are overheads like:

• There will be a set of unique alpha-numeric named mail folders in V4 for BOTH computers. So if I have 5 IMAP accounts + "on my mac" folder in email, there will be 6 x 2 folders in dropbox. Not a big deal if you have plenty of space and a speedy internet. I have not found a way around this 😞
• Occasionally the mail index gets out of alignment, and the mailboxes need to be rebuilt on one or the other conputers. The V4/MailData folder files keep getting overwritten by the latest mail that is open - so sometimes they will be conflicted. This is why I only have one open at a time.
• I only have one mail open at a time (usually the desktop) and make sure it is closed and fully synced to dropbox before opening the macbook and allowing it to sync.

Hope this helps.