The 5 best email backup apps for Mac (2026)
Five ways to get a copy of your mail onto your own Mac, from free exports to ongoing backups, and what Apple Mail already does for you.
The best email backup apps for Mac in 2026 are Thunderbird with ImportExportTools NG (best free all-rounder), Google Takeout (best one-off Gmail export), Mail Archiver X (best for archiving many mail sources into one place), Mailcellar (best for readable IMAP backups and safely freeing server space) and Got Your Back (best for scripted Gmail backup and restore). If you use Apple Mail and Time Machine, Mailbox › Export Mailbox plus your Time Machine backups may be enough.
Disclosure: We make Mailcellar, one of the apps on this list. We’ve tried to place it where it genuinely fits and to describe every app fairly, using each developer’s own site. Prices and features checked 28 October 2026.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Price model | Runs locally? | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderbird + ImportExportTools NG | Free all-rounder | Free, open source | Yes | Thunderbird 140+ |
| Google Takeout | One-off Gmail export | Free | No (web export) | Google account |
| Mail Archiver X | Many sources, one archive | One-time; Pro yearly | Yes | macOS 11+ |
| Mailcellar | IMAP backup to .eml, safe clean-up | One-time purchase | Yes | macOS 14+ |
| Got Your Back | Scripted Gmail backup & restore | Free, open source | Yes | Terminal |
Prices and features checked 28 October 2026 on each developer’s website. Check the official site before you buy.
1. Thunderbird + ImportExportTools NG: best free all-rounder
Thunderbird is the free, open-source mail app, funded by user donations. On its own it’s a mail client, not a backup tool, but add the ImportExportTools NG add-on and it becomes one of the most flexible ways to get mail out of any account and onto your disk.
Standout features
- Export a folder (optionally with subfolders) as mbox, or every message in it as EML, HTML, PDF, CSV or plain text, with attachments and an index.
- Import mbox files with their folder structure, plus EML and EMLX files.
- Works with whatever accounts Thunderbird itself can connect to, and you get a full mail client for reading what you’ve saved.
- The add-on is actively maintained; version 14.1.14 shipped in September 2025.
Limits
- It’s a two-part setup: configure Thunderbird for your accounts first, then run exports from the add-on.
- Exports are snapshots. You decide what to export and when, and re-export to stay current.
Who it’s for: anyone who wants a free, open-source route and doesn’t mind a little setup.
2. Google Takeout: best one-off Gmail export
Google Takeout is Google’s own export tool. Choose Mail, pick a delivery method, and Google prepares an archive. Gmail arrives as MBOX files inside a .zip or .tgz, the format most desktop mail tools can open or import.
Standout features
- Includes message content, headers and attachments; each message’s labels are kept in an X-Gmail-Labels header.
- One-time archives, or scheduled exports every two months for a year.
- Delivery by email link or straight to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or Box, split into files up to a size you choose (up to 50GB).
- Downloading doesn’t delete anything from Gmail.
Limits
- Gmail exports can’t be limited to a timeframe; you export the whole mailbox.
- Preparing an archive can take from minutes to days, and download links expire after about a week.
- You get files, not a reader. You’ll need another app to open or search them.
- Work and school admins can restrict Takeout.
Who it’s for: Gmail users who want a complete copy before closing or cleaning an account, at no cost.
3. Mail Archiver X: best for archiving many mail sources into one place
Mail Archiver X from Moth Software is a dedicated archiving app that has been around for many years and is still updated (version 8.2.5 at the time of writing). Rather than backing up a single account, it gathers mail from several places into an archive you can browse with its built-in viewer.
Standout features
- Archives from Apple Mail, Outlook, Postbox, Thunderbird, IMAP accounts (including iCloud and Gmail) and mbox files.
- Built-in email viewer and export back out to mbox.
- Universal app with official support from macOS 11 Big Sur through macOS 27.
- Three editions: Easy (Mac App Store), standard and a Pro server edition for workgroups.
Limits
- The Easy edition is limited to 10,000 emails per archive and has no scheduling or encryption.
- The Pro edition needs a yearly license to keep archiving.
- It’s a deep tool with many options, so expect to spend time with the manual.
Who it’s for: people consolidating years of mail from several apps and accounts, including small offices.
4. Mailcellar: best for readable IMAP backups and safely freeing server space
Mailcellar is our app. It signs in to your mail accounts over IMAP with an app-specific password, copies every message from the folders you pick into ordinary .eml files on your Mac, and gives you a fast reader and search on top. It never sends mail, and backups only read: folders are opened read-only and messages are fetched without being marked as read.
Standout features
- Incremental backup. Press Back Up Now, or turn on automatic backups every 1–48 hours while the app is open. Only new messages are downloaded.
- No lock-in. One .eml file per message in Documents/Mailcellar, organized by account, folder and year, which Apple Mail, Outlook or Thunderbird can open.
- Built-in setup guides for Gmail, iCloud Mail, Yahoo Mail, Fastmail and Outlook.com, plus any other IMAP server. Passwords live in your macOS Keychain and connections use TLS.
- Instant search across subjects, people and body text, with saved searches.
- Privacy and safety checks: remote images stay off and known trackers are blocked; SPF, DKIM and DMARC results are shown, with warnings for mismatched reply-to addresses and links.
- Import .eml and .mbox files, such as a Google Takeout export, into the same archive.
- Free Up Space. Pick a folder and a date. A message only counts as safe to remove when its local .eml exists, matches the size the server reports and opens as a valid email. You review a summary and type a confirmation; anything unverified stays on the server.
What it doesn’t do
- No OAuth sign-in yet. If your provider no longer accepts app passwords for IMAP (Microsoft is phasing them out for Outlook.com), Mailcellar can’t connect.
- IMAP only: no POP accounts, and it doesn’t read Apple Mail’s local “On My Mac” folders.
- It can’t restore or upload messages back to a mail server.
- Automatic backups run only while Mailcellar is open; there’s no background service.
- It isn’t a mail client: no sending or replying. Gmail labels appear as folders, so back up “[Gmail]/All Mail” to avoid duplicates.
Who it’s for: people who want an ongoing, readable copy of their mail on their own Mac, and anyone whose mailbox is full and wants to clear old mail without losing it.
5. Got Your Back: best for scripted Gmail backup and restore
Got Your Back (GYB) is a command-line tool for backing up Gmail to your computer, maintained under the GAM-team project on GitHub. It signs in with OAuth, so no app password is needed, and it can put mail back into a Gmail account later.
gyb --email [email protected] --action backup
gyb --email [email protected] --action restore --local-folder [email protected]Standout features
- Back up everything, or narrow it with Gmail search syntax using
--search;--fast-incrementalspeeds up repeat runs. - Restore to Gmail; the docs say restoring to the same account won’t create duplicates.
restore-mboxuploads .mbox and .eml files, including Takeout and Vault exports.estimateandcountactions size up a mailbox before you start; Workspace admins can use a service account.
Limits
- Gmail and Google Workspace only.
- No graphical interface or built-in reader; you work in Terminal.
Who it’s for: technical users and Workspace admins who want scheduled, scriptable Gmail backups with a restore path.
The built-in option: Apple Mail export and Time Machine
If you use Apple Mail, macOS already gives you two ways to back up mail.
Export a mailbox. In Mail, select one or more mailboxes, choose Mailbox › Export Mailbox, then pick a folder and click Choose. Mail saves each one as an .mbox package; exporting again creates a new numbered copy instead of overwriting. To bring it back, choose File › Import Mailboxes and pick Apple Mail as the source. Imported messages appear in a new mailbox called Import.
Time Machine. Mail keeps its data in your user Library under ~/Library/Mail, which Time Machine backs up with the rest of your home folder unless you’ve excluded it. You can check from Terminal:
tmutil isexcluded ~/Library/Mail
tmutil startbackupThe first command prints [Included] or [Excluded]; the second starts a backup if one isn’t already running.
When built-in is enough: if Apple Mail already downloads all your mail and you run Time Machine, you have a copy. The catch is that it’s a copy of Mail’s internal library, which you restore through Mail or Time Machine rather than open file by file, and it only contains what Mail has downloaded. A dedicated tool helps when you want readable files, a backup straight from the server, search outside Mail, or to clear space on the server safely.
How we picked
- Gets mail onto your Mac. Every pick produces a copy you hold, in an open format (mbox or EML) or with an export to one.
- Current and Mac-compatible. Each tool has a recent release or an official page that lists current macOS support.
- Different jobs. One-off exports, ongoing backups, multi-source archiving and scripted restore.
- Facts from official sources. Developer sites, GitHub and Google’s help pages. We left out MailSteward because we couldn’t confirm its current macOS support or latest version from its site.
We make Mailcellar. We placed it fourth, as the pick for readable IMAP backups and safe server clean-up, not as the right tool for every mailbox.
FAQ
How do I back up my email on a Mac?
In Apple Mail, select a mailbox and choose Mailbox › Export Mailbox to save it as an .mbox file, and keep Time Machine on, since it backs up ~/Library/Mail. For a copy taken straight from the server, use an IMAP backup app such as Mailcellar, Thunderbird with ImportExportTools NG, or Mail Archiver X.
What is the best email backup app for Mac?
It depends on your mail. Thunderbird with ImportExportTools NG is the best free option, Mail Archiver X is best for combining many sources, Mailcellar is best for ongoing IMAP backups to plain .eml files with safe server clean-up, and Got Your Back is best for scripted Gmail backup and restore.
How do I back up Gmail to my Mac?
Use Google Takeout for a free one-off export of your whole mailbox as MBOX files. For ongoing backups, use an IMAP app such as Mailcellar or Thunderbird with an app password, or the free command-line tool Got Your Back, which signs in with OAuth and can restore to Gmail.
Does Time Machine back up Apple Mail?
Yes. Apple Mail stores its data in ~/Library/Mail inside your home folder, which Time Machine backs up unless you exclude it. Run tmutil isexcluded ~/Library/Mail in Terminal to check. It only includes mail that Apple Mail has downloaded.
Can I delete old emails from the server after backing them up?
Yes, but check the copy first. Mailcellar’s Free Up Space only removes a message from the server after confirming that its local .eml file exists, matches the size the server reports and opens as a valid email, and it asks you to type a confirmation first.
What format should I back up email in?
Choose an open format. EML stores one message per file, and mbox stores a whole folder in one file. Both can be opened or imported by Apple Mail, Thunderbird and many other apps, so your backup isn’t tied to one tool.
Key takeaways
- Back up to an open format (EML or mbox) so any mail app can read your copy later.
- Thunderbird with ImportExportTools NG is the best free route; Google Takeout is the simplest one-off Gmail export.
- Mail Archiver X is built for consolidating mail from many apps; Got Your Back is the scriptable Gmail option with restore.
- Mailcellar keeps an ongoing, searchable .eml backup of any IMAP account and only deletes server mail it has verified locally.
- Apple Mail’s Mailbox › Export Mailbox and Time Machine (which covers ~/Library/Mail) are a solid free baseline.