Help Transfer Email from Blackberry

February 12, 2009 10:11 PM

Is there any way for me to transfer/sync/copy/move email from a Blackberry (8310) to a Mac, or Gmail? It could be any method, from bluetooth to USB to wireless, I'm just interested in retrieving the messages (or the entire mailboxes) from the Blackberry.
posted by scamper to computers & internet (4 comments total)

By the way, this would only have to be a one-time transfer. I don't need to set up any kind of permanent connection.
posted by scamper at 10:16 PM on February 12

Configure Gmail IMAP access for your BlackBerry by following these instructions on Gmail Help. Then copy your BlackBerry emails into your Gmail IMAP folders. I used this technique with Outlook to copy old (pre-Gmail emails) from my hard drive into the Gmail archive. You might want to do it in small batches, however, as I found the process occassionally stalled. When I repeated it, I had therefore created duplicate copies of the emails in Gmail.
posted by domeheid at 2:12 AM on February 13

PocketMac for Blackberry . It's free.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 6:45 AM on February 13

Sorry for the late response -- Ask.MF didn't notify me that anyone had responded!

I had actually tried PocketMac, but there were three things I had to do before even that would work. For the record:

1) Use the fully-powered USB connector on the Mac, not the low-powered connector on a secondary piece of equipment
2) Set the email to transfer to EntourageMac, not EntourageMac2008... even if you're using Entourage 2008 for Mac! Very non-intuitive.
3) Be sure to download the latest PocketMac drivers (available on their site) if you have a late-model Blackberry.

I did so much fiddling and futzing that I may be forgetting a detail or two, but that's generally what did the trick.

And with that done, I can delete MS Office, and the Blackberry for good! (It's good to be back in Apple's capable hands.)
posted by scamper at 11:45 PM on February 27