This document assumes you are using the Mac OS X Mail e-mail client. It is also assumed that Mail has been configured to use the IMAP protocol.

1) Cleanup

The first step in reducing your disk space usage should be cleaning up your current email. Delete any emails that are no longer needed, especially emails with attachments.

2) Moving email off the server and on to your computer.

The Mail window is composed of three frames. The frame on the left displays your mail folders, both local and online. This is the frame we will be most concerned about for saving your email messages.

The image above is an example of the Mail window. Notice that in frame 1, on the left, there is a list of all the email folders, including two folders with drop down arrows. The folder called "Inbox" is where all your mail on the email server is found. The folder labeled SUNY OSWEGO represents your IMAP account and is where all your email folders online are found. *Note, the name of the folders on your Mac may be different, depending on how you configured your Mail application.

3) Create new local folder

Create a new local folder where you will store the email you no longer need to have on the server. To create a new local folder, go to the Mailbox menu and click New Mailbox. See image below. 

Next, Give the folder a name. In the figure below we have called the folder name "Moved Email."  You should call it something that is meaningful to you. In the Location menu box, be sure to choose "On My Mac". Then click on the OK button. See figure below.

4) Move email to new folder

Now, select the email you wish to move from the email server and have saved in your local folder. Simply drag the emails that are to be saved into the new local folder that was created in the previous step. In the image below, the email messages from the Inbox were selected and moved into the new local folder named "Moved Email".

5) Verify email has been saved

To verify that the email has been saved to your local hard disk, click on the new folder you created ("Moved Email"). The saved email should be displayed in the frame on the right. See figure below.

Unlike other email clients, Mail does not require you to purge the emails from the server after saving them to a local folder. This is done automatically by the program.