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Can somebody recommend an elegant email archiving solution per below?
I have a very large dormant email account I need to archive. Right now it is sitting as an unused account in my T-bird but it will need to go from there. I also have an Outlook installation I use but not actively. Here are a few requirements/desirables for archiving the mailbox:
- It is not gonna be used for downloading further messages in the future
- It will need to be browsed and searched on occasional basis
- Some emails will need to be moved to other mail accounts also on occasional basis
- It needs to be removed from either Tbird or Outlook account listing tree and stored somewhere in the filesystem
- It can be easily opened for searching from the filesystem for searching (ideally with a few clicks, and not creating a new account every time)
- One clear option is saving it as an Outlook OST file and then opening it with Outlook (which offers a straightforward way of one off mounting and then removing it from its account tree), but ideally I want to avoid Outlook completely. Unfortunately I do not see how it can be done in Tbird.
afora377
Posted 2019-01-29T23:11:34.393
Reputation: 93
What's wrong with the built-in archiving functions? If you use Outlook, save it as a PST file. Any time you need it, you just have Outlook open the file. If it's currently in Thunderbird, there are many tools available to convert it to PST (start here) or Google the options. It isn't clear what requirements you have that aren't commonplace, with readily available solutions.
– fixer1234 – 2019-01-29T23:45:00.690Thanks, as per point 4 above: "It needs to be removed from either Tbird or Outlook account listing tree and stored somewhere in the filesystem", so the tbird archiving is not going to work for this as it (i) keeps the account in the tree, (ii) archives only individual messages/folders – afora377 – 2019-01-29T23:50:23.470
Also, thank you for suggesting to move everything to OST/PST files, but as I pointed out above I'm after a solution which avoids relying on MS applications – afora377 – 2019-01-29T23:51:32.693
It's been awhile since I used Outlook, but it did not work that way. You save stuff to a PST. Once that PST is closed, it's gone from the tree, just a file where you stored it.. If you open the PST, it shows up again. re: reliance on applications: you need to store it in some format, and you want the format to preserve the folder structure. MBOX and PST are extremely popular formats, so there are lots of applications that open or convert them. – fixer1234 – 2019-01-29T23:58:32.560
Ok, excellent. Can you recommend something popular which may have interoperability with T-bird in cases where I will need to copy messages back to another active account in T-bird? – afora377 – 2019-01-30T00:03:17.267
Thunderbird uses MBOX, which is the most popular format and routinely used on Unix-like system (which includes macOS). PST has the Microsoft base behind it. Those two account for the vast majority of email storage. Decide which will be your primary platform and store it in the format used directly by that platform. If you need to open it on the other platform, run it through a converter. If you store it as PST, Thunderbird can import it directly without needing a converter. – fixer1234 – 2019-01-30T00:15:54.430