In & Out : Archiving Email

Quick links:

Import or Archive
Problems Importing or Moving Emails
Replying and Sending

PRO

Archiving Email

Email is an important item in many situations, both professional and personal. DEVONthink allows you to import email messages directly from supported email applications. It also allows you to import UNIX mailboxes (.mbox files) that can be exported from some other email clients.

The imported email messages are saved in their original file format (.eml) and are displayed using QuickLook or as an alternative text view. Read more... Additionally, metadata, e.g., from MailTags may also be preserved. In addition, the "read" and "flagged" status of email messages are transferred from Microsoft Entourage and Microsoft Outlook independently from your settings in Settings > Files > Emails.

The Import sidebar: One method for importing your emails into DEVONthink is to use its View > Import sidebar. In the Emails mailboxes from these email applications can be accessed: Apple Mail, Microsoft Entourage, or Microsoft Outlook. You can read more about the controls and functions of this view in the Sidebar: Email section of this document.

Apple Mail plugin: If you are using macOS 11 Big Sur through 13 Ventura, there is a plugin for Apple Mail that creates a direct link between Mail and DEVONthink. It adds an Add to DEVONthink 3 command to the Mailbox and Message menus of Apple Mail. If the plugin is not automatically installed click here or select DEVONthink > Install Add-Ons to install it. The go into Mail's Settings > General > Manage Plug-Ins and enable it. Unfortunately, Apple deprecated Apple Mail plugins in macOS 14 Sonoma and later.

Importing UNIX Mailboxes: UNIX mailboxes (.mbox files) exported from some email applications, e.g., Thunderbird or Postbox, can be imported into your database. There is no mailbox structure in these exported files so multiple mailboxes have to be exported and imported separately. They can be imported into DEVONthink in one of two ways:

File > Import: Use File > Import > UNIX Mailboxes, then select the .mbox file in the Open dialog and press Open. This will import the messages into a group in the current location.
Drag and Drop: Drag and drop the .mbox file onto DEVONthink's dock icon to import the messages into your database.

Other options: If you're running a more modern version of macOS or not using Apple Mail, there are some other ways for you to get emails into DEVONthink. Bear in mind, the possibilities depend on the what your email application supports, e.g., scripting. Here are some potential options:

Drag and drop: Drag to the Finder then into DEVONthink, into the Sorter, into the Global Inbox, or directly into a database.
Mail Scripts: Run AppleScripts from the global Scripts menu in the menubar when in scriptable email clients, e.g., Apple Mail. Read more...
Mail Rule Scripts: Apple Mail rules support running AppleScripts in their mail rules. We have provided a few for you to use or modify. Read more...

Import or Archive

When it comes to archiving email, the question arises: "Do I use import or archive?" Here's the simple way to understand it:

Import Email: While Import can be used on a mailbox, it is generally used on selected, individual emails. This is especially useful when using a filtered view, e.g., filtering by a date range or recipient. You'd select those files and use the Import option.
Archive Mailbox: As the name implies, this command can only be used on selected mailboxes. The mailbox will be imported into a special Emails group. DEVONthink will attempt to preserve the mailbox structure shown in the email application. This is very useful for archiving a mailbox and keeping it up to date. Since previously imported emails are excluded from the mailbox view, subsequent visits to the Import sidebar will only show newly received emails. Using the Archive Mailbox option will import only those new emails into the existing Emails group in the database.

Depending on the settings in Settings > Files > Emails > Conversations, DEVONthink can attempt to import complete conversations and optionally group them.

Note: Email threading is not an exact process. There has also been no standard defining relationships between messages for a very long time. DEVONthink will attempt to thread the conversations, but cannot guarantee all related emails will be detected.

Problems Importing or Moving Emails

Briefly discussed in the Appendix, the UUID is a value given to each item in DEVONthink. It is unique to each item and more than one item can't have the same UUID. When email messages are imported, they are given such an identifier based on metadata from the actual email. This means you can't import the same message into a database more than once, as that would result in more than one file having the same UUID. This will be shown in DEVONthink's Window > Log. It can also cause issues when moving messages between databases. If you already imported messages into a database and forgot you did, trying to move the same email into it will fail.

In Settings > Email you can enable Previously imported will become replicants to import the messages into the same database as replicants. However, this still will not allow moving messages into databases already containing those emails.

Replying and Sending

To reply to an archived email message, Control-click it in the item list and choose Send Reply. A draft message will be composed in your default email application.

Choose Send by Email to email a selected document from the item list.

Note: The inter-application communication capabilities of the email client you are using determine how well these two commands work. If the commands aren't producing the expected results, check with the developer about what kind of interactions they allow between applications.