📧 Mail Archiver Documentation¶
Self-hosted email archiving — archive, search and export mail from any provider. Set it up once, keep every message, and find it again years later.
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Getting started
Install Mail Archiver with Docker Compose and connect your first mailbox.
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Find anything
Full-text search across every account, with filters, sorting and bulk actions.
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Automate it
Read your archive from scripts and AI agents — read-only, scoped API keys.
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Secure it
Two-factor authentication, SSO, access logging and retention policies.
🛠️ Installation & Maintenance¶
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Setup and parameters
Every environment variable, Kestrel HTTPS and secrets management.
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Reverse proxy
Put Mail Archiver behind nginx or Caddy with TLS termination.
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PostgreSQL upgrade
Move to a new major PostgreSQL version without losing data.
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Database maintenance
VACUUM, ANALYZE and keeping the archive responsive over time.
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Backup and restore
Back up the database and restore it — including Proxmox setups.
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Local test environment
Run a throwaway instance locally before touching production.
📥 Getting Mail In¶
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Account import
Add many accounts at once from a CSV file.
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Synchronization
Quick vs. full sync, checkpoints, and what happens when a sync fails.
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CLI local import
Import existing archives from the command line.
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Web import (EML / MBox)
Upload an MBox file or a ZIP of EML files through the browser.
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Rate limit handling
Bandwidth tracking, and how paused syncs resume on their own.
🔍 Working with the Archive¶
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Mail search
Query syntax, filters, sorting, paging and bulk actions.
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Background jobs
Watch syncs, imports, restores and exports — and cancel them safely.
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Mailbox migration
Copy mail between mailboxes while preserving the folder structure.
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Account export (EML / MBox)
Write a whole account back out as a portable EML or MBox archive.
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Attachment deduplication
How identical attachments are stored once instead of many times.
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Date-windowed offload
Move older mail to another account, window by window.
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Per-account storage
See how much space each mailbox takes up.
🔐 Administration & Security¶
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User management
Create users, grant admin rights, assign mailbox permissions and change your own password.
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Two-factor authentication
TOTP setup, backup codes, and what to do when a device is lost.
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OIDC / SSO
Sign in through Entra ID, Authelia or another identity provider.
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Access logging
Who opened, searched, exported or deleted what.
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Audit data export
Export the audit trail for compliance reviews.
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Emergency account recovery
Regain access when an account is locked out.
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Retention policies
Automatic deletion from the mail server or the local archive.
☁️ Provider Guides¶
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Azure app registration (M365)
Register an app and configure retention for Microsoft 365.
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M365 tenant mailbox import
Bulk-import every mailbox of a tenant from a single form.
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Personal Microsoft accounts
Outlook.com, Hotmail and M365 Family via device code flow.
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Gmail best practices
App passwords, labels, expunge and Gmail's rate limits.
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Yahoo mail limitations
What Yahoo's IMAP and export endpoints will not do.