Tidy your email.
Privately, on your Mac.
Pigeonhole finds duplicate messages, sorts out messy folders and copies mail between accounts. It runs entirely on your Mac, so your mail never passes through anyone else's server.
Download for Mac Is it safe to trust?Free for personal use · macOS 12 or later · Apple silicon and Intel · signed and notarised by Apple
What it is for
Years of mail collect copies, look-alike folders and forgotten attachments. Pigeonhole's job is to give every message one tidy place, without risking any of it.
Keep the mail, lose the clutter
Find the same message saved twice, folders that mean the same thing ("Sent Items" and "Sent Messages"), and the big attachments using your storage.
Safe by design
Nothing is permanently deleted. Removed mail goes to Trash, every change is recorded, and most can be undone in one click.
Private by design
No account, no cloud service, no tracking. Your Mac talks only to your own mail provider.
Simple to use
Three tabs and a card for each job. You see what it found and why before anything changes.
Features
Works with iCloud Mail and Google (Gmail) over IMAP, and can look through the mail already stored on your Mac.
Duplicate messages
- Matches by Message-ID, and by date, sender, subject and exact size when there is no ID
- Shows why each pair matched
- Compare the copies: see exactly what differs (text, attachments, extra header lines)
- Choose which copy to keep; unsure matches are left alone until you decide
- One-click hide for the groups you left alone
Merge folders
- Combine look-alike folders in a few clicks, with searchable pickers
- Your real Sent, Drafts, Trash and Junk folders are marked real, and the leftovers leftover
- Mail moves into the real folder
Archive by year
Sort a crowded folder into tidy yearly folders.
Large messages
See what is using your space. Save attachments to your Mac, or strip them from the message.
Empty folders & Live growth
Clear out folders you no longer use, and watch folder counts and sizes change as mail arrives.
Between accounts
- Copy mail from one account to another, for example iCloud to Gmail
- A plan first: folders, counts, sizes and time
- Keeps dates and read/flagged state; safe to run again
- Checks the result afterwards, with undo
- Never deletes from the source on its own
Mail on this Mac
Look through the mail Apple Mail keeps on your Mac. Read-only: Pigeonhole never changes those files.
Undo
Every change is recorded. Undo most of them with one click, or restore from Trash.
Opens in Mail
Jump from a result straight to the message in the Mail app.
New: Move mail is the newest part of Pigeonhole. Try it on a small folder first, and keep a backup of anything you cannot afford to lose.
How it works
Three steps. Nothing changes until you say so.
- ConnectSign in with an app-specific password for iCloud or Google. You can have it remembered in the Mac keychain, or not.
- ScanPigeonhole reads message headers only. It does not change or mark anything as read. You watch progress folder by folder.
- Review and applyYou see what it found and why, choose what to keep, and apply. Each move is checked against the server first, and the counts are re-read afterwards.
Safety and privacy
Pigeonhole asks for an app password, so here is plainly what it does with it. The trust page explains how to check each claim yourself.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Does my mail leave my Mac? | Only to your own mail provider (and the second account if you use Move mail). There is no Pigeonhole server. |
| Where is my password kept? | In the macOS Keychain, and only if you tick Remember. Never in a file or log. |
| Is anything sent for analytics or crash reports? | No. |
| Can it permanently delete mail? | No. Removed messages go to Trash, and it never empties your Trash. |
| Can I undo? | Yes. History lists every change, and most can be undone with one click. |
| Is the app trustworthy to install? | It is signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarised by Apple, with the hardened runtime on. |
Questions
What do I need?
A Mac with macOS 12 (Monterey) or later, on Apple silicon or Intel, and an iCloud or Gmail account. Nothing else needs installing: Python is included.
What is an app-specific password?
A separate password that lets one app use your mail without your main password. You create it in your Apple or Google account and can revoke it at any time. Step-by-step guide.
Is it open source?
No. Pigeonhole is free for personal use but closed source. The documentation is public so you can read what it does, and the trust page shows how to verify its behaviour with a network monitor and Apple's notarisation check.
Does it work with Outlook or other providers?
Not yet. Today it supports iCloud Mail and Google (Gmail), and reads Apple Mail's local files.
Something went wrong. Where do I look?
See troubleshooting, or open an issue on GitHub. Please do not post passwords or mail contents.