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Click here to return to the 'Remove MS Exchange Public Folders from Mail.App' hint
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Remove MS Exchange Public Folders from Mail.App
Authored by: makern on Oct 11, '05 08:44:15AM

I accomplished the same thing by entering the root folder name of my account name in the IMAP Path Prefix field found on the Advanced tab of Account Preferences for my Exchange account. I logged into my Exchange account via webmail and copied the Account name (ours happens to be in the form Lastname comma Firstname). Then I pasted this into the IMAP Path Prefix field of Mail.app. I quit Mail.app then relaunched. All the Public folders no longer appear.
This will prevent access to your original folder list such as Sent & Deleted items but new folders will be created once you send and delete a single message. To move your old mail to this new structure, you will have to create these new new folders, remove the IMAP Path Prefix entry then quit & relaunch Mail.app to revert back to the original folder structure. Manually move all your Sent Items and other special folders from the original structure to the newly created subdirectory. Finally re-enter the IMAP Path Prefix and one last quit & relaunch.
This worked for me. Hope it works for others.



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Remove MS Exchange Public Folders from Mail.App
Authored by: innate on Oct 11, '05 09:12:42AM
What do you mean when you say you copied the account name? Was it something like DOMAIN\Smith, Jason? An example would help.

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Remove MS Exchange Public Folders from Mail.App
Authored by: PancakeMan on Oct 11, '05 12:32:08PM
Okay, first of all, to makern... thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you for helping me accomplish what I've been trying to do for months!!!

To innate: I found the prefix that worked for me by:
  • firing up Entourage (which was set up for an Exchange acct)
  • go to account settings
  • select the mail account and hit "edit"
  • in the first tab ("Account Settings"), copy what appears in the "Account name" box (for me, it was my username in all caps)

    That is what I put in the IMAP prefix box in Mail.app preferences. Good luck!

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  • Remove MS Exchange Public Folders from Mail.App
    Authored by: wackazong on Oct 12, '05 12:26:49AM

    On http://www.larseggert.de/software.html you will find a very nice (and working) perl script which installs an IMAP proxy, with the ability to filter the public folders according to your preferences. Works like a charm, also under Tiger. For launching it under Tiger you should use launchd, and you have to install some perl libraries via Fink, but that is nothing an experienced macosxhints reader should be afraid of :-) I have been using it for about three months now and it works perfectly.



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    Remove MS Exchange Public Folders from Mail.App
    Authored by: makern on Oct 17, '05 07:49:10PM

    You're welcome



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    Remove MS Exchange Public Folders from Mail.App
    Authored by: makern on Oct 17, '05 07:47:42PM

    I have very little experience with Exchange Server as an admin. My account name, as set up by our mail admins, is, using you example, SMITH, JASON (no domain). Yours might be set up differently.
    If you log into your Outlook Web Access server (ie WebMail) using your browser, you will be shown your Inbox. Below the Exchange buttons at the top of the page but above your email list you should see: Account Name: Inbox (ex Smith, Jason: Inbox). This is the account name you should enter in the IMAP Prefix field.



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    The hint that keeps on giving
    Authored by: SuperCrisp on Aug 18, '07 01:36:55PM

    Thanks for this hint. I just used it to make Mail.app usable at a university that insists on putting all its public mail in one domain so that Mail was trying to chew through 80,000 messages when I cranked it up. Argh. Now I can once again check for e-mail from students while swilling coffee off-campus.



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