I want to change my Apple MAIL app to have the messages automatically download to an EXTERNAL hard drive and not the internal one currently as the default.

Is there a way to do this so that my mail downloads directly to the EXHD and does not download at all on the internal hard drive on my iMAC?

(Just to be clear: I am not looking at simply transferring or backing up my mail.)

Thanks for any help you can provide.

As far as I can tell, Apple Mail messages are stored in a dizzying nest of folders (labeled V2, V6, etc.) in the Mail folder in your User's Library. Unless you are willing to move everything in your User's Library to an external drive, I don't think you can do what you want; that is, selectively move one application's folder out of your User's Library.

The easiest thing to do is move your entire home folder to another drive.

you could also alias or symlink just your mail folder to another drive

I thought of that, but it sounds like MG2009 doesn't want hir inbox visible on hir Mac, which would NOT be the case under those circumstances.

well the thing is, the attachments are saved inside the hierarchy of the email itself. Attachments are not decoded out of the message when it's received - they're kept as-is in their uuencoded format inline with the message.

As such, there IS no attachment to save elsewhere. There is no "store my email here and my attachments there". They're both one thing.

So if you're having problems with the space the attachments are taking up, (like if you receive a lot of large PDF files at work, or your kids keep sending you huge photodumps of the grandkids) then you are going to have to move at LEAST the entire mail folder somewhere else. Or constantly save attachments out to somewhere else and delete the originals (with the message!)

I think making that move was the original question, and the above discussion seems to indicate that is not easily possible. That is, to move only the mail folder. Are you suggesting otherwise?

Sorry . . . I thought I had already replied.

Thanks, JOEMIKEB. The link was exactly what I wanted to do AND it works.