# M1 Mac - possible to have Mail reside on an external drive instead of internal?



## TiltAgain (Jun 27, 2016)

Theis post is related to and is born out of this other post: 2013 27" iMac with Fusion drive failing -...

I have heard that having the Home folder on an external can lead to trouble.

However, is it possible (like for the photo and music libraries) to have the Mail system (not the entire Home, but just Mail) on an external drive? I use POP3 and not IMAP (yes I am a luddite).

I see no option in the Mail preferences or anywhere else for that matter to point to a different Mail "library".

The reason behind this question is that it is Mail, Music, Videos and Photos that are the largest space-hogs on my machine; and Mail is the only one that does not seem to want to reside outside.

Also, why I specified M1 Mac in the title is because apparently M1s seem to behave differently from non M1 Macs when it comes to external storage in general.

Thanks and cheers


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

TiltAgain said:


> I use POP3 and not IMAP (yes I am a luddite).


I would just like to make a note, that just because you use POP3 for your email does not make you a Luddite, just like it doesn't make me and many others one. 

It just happens to probably be the best method for many of us to use regardless of what some IMAP fan users advocate. 


- Patrick
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## TiltAgain (Jun 27, 2016)

So, nobody knows if this can be done?

Cheers


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

TiltAgain said:


> So, nobody knows if this can be done?


If I read the Apple article correctly it seems that it should be possible:
*Connect and use other storage devices with Mac*


> After you connect your storage device, you can move files from your Mac to the storage device or from your storage device to your Mac.







__





Connect and use other storage devices with Mac


Learn how to connect and use external hard drives, thumb drives, and other storage devices with your Mac.



support.apple.com





If for any reason it does not work with your Mail, then move it back and reboot.

Just out of curiosity, why do you want it on an external drive???

- Patrick
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## TiltAgain (Jun 27, 2016)

pm-r said:


> If I read the Apple article correctly it seems that it should be possible:
> *Connect and use other storage devices with Mac*
> 
> 
> ...


Thank you Patrick.

Yes I to read all the articles and anything I could find on the Internet, but none of them speaks about Mail - they all talk about the music and photo libraries only. That's why I asked here 

Cheers


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