Rename mailbox

imac OS 10.6.8

I misnamed a mailbox. All the sites I have consulted for advice give instructions that do not apply.

I follow the steps but when it comes to choose 'rename' in the mailbox drop-down, it is greyed out.

Why, oh why, do everybody else's instructions not apply to my problem? Oh my!

A minor thing amongst a long hard day and night, but I'm senile and stubborn, just before daybreak!

Rusty Rover

Misnamed in what way?

When you added an existing account to the mail app, or when you created a new email adress?

Which name is wrong?

Thanks for the reply.

Misnamed when I assigned a name upon setting up the account. The mac mail account is functional but has the same name as a different account. All I have to do is drop one non-essential word in the name

Please forgive my newbieness; this is all new to me.

Thanks again.

Rusty Rover
Canada

Mac OS X Version 10.6.8 Snow Leopard
email Version 4.5 (1084)

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac11,2
Processor Name: Intel Core i3
Processor Speed: 3.06 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Processor Interconnect Speed: 5.86 GT/s
Boot ROM Version: IM112.0057.B00
SMC Version (system): 1.64f5
Serial Number (system): QP1080M8DNM
Hardware UUID: B66D4EFB-53D5-5D39-AA6B-D7BE0E09AE61

Maybe you can share a print screen of the mail environment you want to change.

Cheers ... McBie

Yes, I am confused. Your post says you want to rename a mailbox, but then you talk like what you really want to do is rename a mail ACCOUNT. Which is it?

I do not understand your question.
We can now close this thread because I have abandoned the account, deleted it, end of story

screech49 said:

I do not understand your question.
We can now close this thread because I have abandoned the account, deleted it, end of story

Click to expand...

We don't typically close threads unless there is some violation of the forum rules in the discussion.

I think the confusion comes in to play with your terminology. There is a difference between a "mailbox" and an "account". An account can certainly deliver mail to a mailbox, but the two items are separate and distinct.

You originally asked about renaming a mailbox, an action that is easily done. However, it appears as though you were looking to change an account name - and in that case, the process can vary depending on the mail server you're connecting to.

If you still need help with this, please clarify exactly what you'd like to do and we'll see if we can help.

Thanks.

Dear CWA

Okay. I have no opinion on closing the thread.
I simply fail to understand your comments.
I had the account set up.
In the Mac Mail pane, sidebar, upper left, was my regular long-standing account in "inbox". ([email protected]) Works just wonderful.
For business reasons I was trying to have a business inbox, so when I opened the email page, I could check the personal mail in one (box? account?); then proceed to the business inbox, or vice versa.
The new business account was titled "R..R @ ...ca.
Two lines appeared in the sidebar under the MAILBOXES category, one under' inbox' and one under 'sent'

Both had the same 'title' (R...R incoming). Okay fine for inbox, but confusing when it has been attached to the outbox.

So, I was simply trying to straighten that out.

Oh, as I am about to carry on with my life, having abandoned that whole system and have gone to webmail for my business account, what are Smart Mailboxes? They just seem to clutter and increase the tidying process. It seems so many of the help files can't reduce themselves to the level of the common guy who uses the product.

Are you looking to change the names of your accounts as they appear in the toolbar on the left-hand side?

If so, choose Mail> Preferences > Accounts. Highlight the account that you would like to rename and type the new name of the account in the "description" field.

Rename Mailbox

Rusty Rover...I had the same issue, but after reading the replies to your query, I was afraid to post!
Thanks to iancmy1, our problem was solved.

Smart Mailboxes are ... well, misnamed if you'll pardon the joke.

They aren't mailboxes actually, they are "saved searches." In other words, a Smart Mailbox is telling Mail to show you, in a single view, all mail that meets the criteria of the search -- but it is just a view, the mail has not actually moved anywhere and all mail in other mailboxes that meets the criteria is seen.

So, for example, if I have a Smart Mailbox with the critera "all unread mail from the last seven days," then the contents of it routinely change each day, and if I should read one of them then that no longer meets the criteria and "disappears" from the Smart Mailbox after I've read it (but remains in whatever regular mailbox it was originally in.

I hope that makes it clear. Smart Mailboxes are incredibly useful but the key is understanding that they're not "real" mailboxes.

PS. Greetings from a fellow Canadian!