WLM: How to Move "Folders" from Storage to Mail Account?

Hello,

I have Windows Live Mail under Windows 8 and I am trying to move a number of custom mail "folders" from under the "Storage" header to under the "E-Mail Account" header. Hopefully someone can tell me how to do this.

Background:

This step is the last part of a migration of my messages from Outlook Express under XP to Windows Live Mail (WLM) under Windows 8. The goal is to recreate a similar folder structure under my WLM E-Mail account header as I had previously.

I found the Outlook Express message store on the XP machine and copied the "Outlook Express" folder with all the .dbx files to an external harddrive using Windows Explorer. Next I hooked the hard drive up to the new Windows 8 machine, started up Windows Live Mail with my E-Mail Account already set up. I used the File > Import Messages > Microsoft Outlook Express 6 >etc procedure to import the messages into WLM.

Everything looks goods. The import function created an "Imported Folder" under the "Storage Folders" header located on the left side of the window. It contains a sub folder called "Local Folders" which contains all my old default folders (Inbox, Sent Items, Drafts, etc) along with my many custom folders. I drill down to the individual messages in the correct folders and view them without any problem.


Question:

I would now like to move my custom folders from the current location under the "Storage folders" header so that they become located under my E-Mail Account header. I have tried dragging, etc but nothing works. I can successfully move items at the Message level, but not at the folder level. I have a large number of folders, some three levels deep, so it would be a pain if I had to manually retype all of the folder names under the E-Mail Account header and then move groups of the actual messages manually.


Any ideas on how to do this???


Example of Current Mail Folder Column Structure:

QUICK VIEWS
- Unread e-mails
- etc

MY E-MAIL ACCOUNT
- Inbox
- Draft
- Sent items
- Junk emails
- Deleted items

OUTBOX

STORAGE FOLDERS
- Drafts
- Sent items
- Deleted
- Imported Folder
-- Local Folders
--- Businesses
---- Amazon
---- eBay
---- Newegg
---- etc
--- Deleted Items
--- Drafts
--- Friends and Family
---- Bill Gates
---- Brother
---- Elvis
---- etc
--- Inbox
--- Outbox
--- Sent Items
--- Spam Mail


Example of the Desired Mail Folder Column Structure:

QUICK VIEWS
- Unread e-mails
- etc

MY E-MAIL ACCOUNT
- Inbox
- Draft
- Sent items
- Junk emails
- Deleted items
- Businesses
-- Amazon
-- eBay
-- Newegg
-- etc
- Friends and Family
-- Bill Gates
-- Brother
-- Elvis
-- etc

OUTBOX

STORAGE FOLDERS
- Drafts
- Sent items
- Deleted


I was able to move the old default Inbox, Sent Items, etc messages from the Storage Folders to the like folders under my E-Mail account so these folders are not a problem. It is moving my custom folders at the folder level that is giving me trouble.

Thanks for taking the time to go through this. I think what I am trying to do is not unusual, yet I had zero luck in finding anything on how to do this. I must be missing something simple because it should not be that hard.

It appears you can not move/drag messages from one section to another at the folder level. I found the following posted by one of the moderators at a Microsoft Communities forum:

- Post 1: "Folders in WLMail cannot be moved between accounts or between storage folders and accounts."
- Post 2: "Only messages can be moved between accounts and Storage folders."

The above is consistent in my efforts and it is also significant to me that after almost a hundred views of this post, no one had a solution.

I did try to approach this from a couple of different angles. I tried doing a cut and paste under Explorer, but folder names were corrupted. I also tried using Windows Easy Transfer but the Outlook Express messages where not copied over. I thought about looking into the Sync function, but at this point I need to move on so I will manually define the folders and then do group moves of the individual messages. I can spread it over several days so it should be manageable. Thanks to everyone who gave this post some thought.

the only way to get it out of the storage folder is to make the same name folder in the main folder where your account is, then you can do a hightlight of all the emails and right click and click "copy" then paste them into the new folder you created

robinb9 said:

the only way to get it out of the storage folder is to make the same name folder in the main folder where your account is, then you can do a hightlight of all the emails and right click and click "copy" then paste them into the new folder you created

Click to expand...

Use Ctrl A to select all messages in a folder and select Move in the ribbon and it will let you chose the target folder. There is a option to create New Folder in this process.

Jim

Yes, Move Folders from "Storage Folder" to "Mail Account"

Hi

I have/had same issue.

Use Windows Explorer.

Locate your Personal folders something similar to below;
C:\Users\Ali Work LP2\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail\Storage Folders\Imported Folder

Copy & Paste required Folders to Below Location similar to below;
C:\Users\Ali Work LP2\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail\Korea

Close Windows Live Mail & Restart/Rerun Windows Live Mail,
Smile! WLM will read new folders & will show in "Mail Account"

Your Personal Folder will be available on both locations, its your decision if you want to delete them. You can play with them in Windows Explorer!

The Bug: From & To, will show the senders Detail only. It should not be problem generally, but It may hurt in some specific situations.

I have tried this is version WLM 2011 & WLM 2012, but this bug is true in both of WLM, Dated Dec 1, 2013

Backup: I care about my emails, I always have full backup of below, on different systems & locations;
C:\Users\Ali Work LP2\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail\

Good Luck!
/Muhammad Ali

PS: Longer Folder Names will be Shortened by WLM!!!