Please help: Importing individual messages into Entourage.

Hi all. I did a search but I couldn't find any answers. A bit of a long story:

I have switched recently from PC. I was using a proprietary e-mail program that required a roundabout import/export method. I saved each individual e-mail as a .eml file on my pc and then moved them on disc to my MacBookPro.

I would like to import each message into Entourage and then import those into Mac Mail. This worked for me originally. The .eml files read as individual Entourage e-mail files on my Mac. Importing into Entourage worked for a group of e-mails when I tested the method so I went through the rather laborious process of saving all of my archive messages on my pc and moved them over.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to import into Entourage anymore. The e-mails are still recognized and readable as Entourage e-mails (when I click on them directly), but when I try to import them they are "grey" and not "chooseable" (is that a word?) in the import window.

Can anybody supply some way of importing individual e-mail files from a folder to my Entourage mail boxes. They are individual files, not mailbox files. I've done it before, so I know it is possible, but it doesn't seem to work anymore. Importing directly into Mac Mail doesn't seem to be an option. I don't mind going through Entourage to import into Mac Mail. But Entourage doesn't seem to recognize the files for import anymore.

To put it simply, I'd like to import separate, individual Entourage e-mail files into my Entourage mailbox.

Any help would be really appreciated.

Thanks.

It LOOKS like you are just using Entourage as a format translator, and that your real goal is to move from the PC email client you were using to Mac Mail? Can you confirm? BTW, what is the name of that PC email program?

Mac Mail will import MBX format. Can you get your current PC program to write that? If not, you can (and I have) manually created MBX format from individually saved messages with a text editor. It is painful, but MBX is a simple text format, so it can be done.

Let me know if I have understood your problem. Hopefully I can help. I have imported/exported emails between a LOT of email clients over the years.

Thanks for your reply. Yes, you are correct. I am using Entourage as a translator. From Earthlink Total Access to Mac Mail.

The most frustrating thing is that I know it has worked before because I have done it. It just doesn't seem to want to work now. SOMETHING changed. I just don't know what.

I know about Mbox format. My pc program does not write to Mbox format. That solution is not very viable for me. Changing each individual message into mbox format is not very good for me either because I know there is an easier solution. Hopefully it won't come down to mbx conversion.

The messages are right there. I just need to move them into the Entourage program.

Thanks again. Do you have any advice?

OK, I hate to ask the obvious, but I have never used Earthlink Total Access. What formats can Earthlink Total Access write out your emails in? I am wondering if you could use another program on our PC (say Outlook Express or Eudora) to read these things in and spit them out in a more standardized format that Mac Mail could import.

Mac Mail *will* import from Outlook Express and Eudora, or so it says when you ask it to Import, so if you could work something out with the tools available on your PC, that might do the trick.

This kind of two stage mail import is frequently needed when moving platforms and clients. Don't dispair yet - it just may take a while to find the right path.

This, by the way, is why I have settled on Thunderbird as my long term email client. It uses industry standard MBX format AND it runs on all of Mac, PC and Linux. Pretty much any email client out there can import its emails, and it can deal with anybody else's MBX.

Mac Mail, as you may know, no longer uses MBX. It has gone to a more proprietary format to allow Spotlight to search individual messages more quickly. As a result, much as I like Mac Mail, I am reluctant to use it. You may wish to consider whether you really want to use Mac Mail, or whether you would prefer to use a more standard format based client. Thunderbird is one such client, but there are many others out there.

Thanks mac57. Your help in this matter is greatly appreciated. Total Access uses microsoft database file (mdb) format for its mail boxes. I will try to export these to outlook and then import to mac mail.

I am also looking at the microsoft support center. I took a lot of steps to get the PC -> Mac -> Entourage -> Mac Mail route. And I was so close (like I said, I did it with some sample files). I'm close now. I just can't seem to get Entourage to cooperate.

But I am willing to explore other options. I will also try to import via Thunderbird.

Thanks again!

Great, good luck triodejohn. If you end up stuck again, post again or drop me a private message on this forum.

Solved:

I found a solution to this problem, just in case anyone is interested or doing a search. Any messages that are in .eml format can be moved into Entourage mailboxes by simply dragging and dropping them. This is a much, much simpler method than file-> import messages, which doesn't even seem to work.

So, in the end, moving my messages from my PC Earthlink TotalAccess e-mail client (a terrible client, one that I warn everyone about, one that does not even allow exporting messages to Outlook) to my Mac went like this:

"Save as" any messages you want to keep as individual .eml files. You can "Save as" any name you like. I used numbers. Move those on a disc to your Mac. Open Entourage. Create the new folders (or subfolders) in your Entourage mail box (subfolder in the inbox, or new folders below the inbox) where you want your saved e-mail archive to go. Drag and drop the individual messages into your Entourage folders (up to 100 at a time). All of the To, From, Subject, and Date information will be retained. Then you can export your messages wherever you want!