As the nerds we are, we have a natural affinity for Google and its many benefits. However, on the other hand, as nerds we also like to have our own custom way of doing things. This is especially true when it comes to email. Google has a lot to offer us with Gmail, but most of use enjoy having our own domain to tack on the end of our name, [email protected] for example (please do not email frank, he is not affiliated with SOTC). But what happens if you decide to move your domain management over to google apps and have 10,000 emails to move? This is what I am going to show you today, how to transfer you beloved emails to your shiny new Gmail account.
Now google itself has a very limited support for uploading your old emails into your Gmail account. This is understandable considering Gmail is designated more for a “from the beginning” approach of email management. However, there are a few ways you can get emails from an old account into your new Gmail account.
Quick Steps
1. Try the desktop uploaders.
2. If the desktop software failed to upload your email, setup your Gmail for IMAP access
3. Add your Gmail account to a desktop Email client, such as Outlook, along with your old email account.
4. Using the desktop client, move your Email from your old account to your new Gmail account.
The Details
The first way you can transfer mail to Gmail is to use the “official” email uploaders. However, if you are on windows, you might find it a bit more difficult to get the uploader to work for you. I know I had quite a bit of trouble getting the Outlook uploader to work. If you use Outlook though, you might have more luck than I did, so its worth a try. The Mac versions seems to be a bit more flexible, so if you do happen to use a mac for your email, I would try to use that before trying anything else.
If the uploaders don’t work out too well (as they did for me), then your second option is what I like to call a “hard transfer.” This involves using an email client, such as Outlook or Thunderbird, to transfer the Email manually from one inbox to the other. This takes a bit more time than the automatic uploaders, but it gets the job done.
The first step is to turn on IMAP access to your Gmail account, only temporarily. To do this, you have to go to Settings in Gmail, then to Forwarding and POP/IMAP, and finally enable IMAP Access. Here is a screenshot to help you out:
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Once that is done, all you have to do is setup the IMAP account in the desktop client you will be using, which you can find out how to do for most clients here. Using Gmail labels, you can even set up folders to move specific mail into, that is if you use folders and filtering. The simplest way I found to do the job is to just move all your mail in the Inbox, then transfer it to your Gmail inbox. But, you can transfer your Emails from any folder to any folder, so you can organize the transfer any way you want. All you have to do is move your Emails from one account to another. In most clients you can simply click-and-drag emails across accounts.
And that’s it. It is as simple as loading up two accounts and dragging mail from one to another. I hope if you ever need to transfer mail to Gmail this helps you get the job done. Just remember, when you need tech help, all your have to do is Switch On The Code.