How to migrate email from one provider to another without losing folders or contacts
Migrating email between providers can feel risky, but with a plan you can preserve folders, labels, and contacts while minimizing downtime. This guide walks you through a careful, step-by-step transfer you can complete in a few hours to a couple days depending on mailbox size. Follow the checklist and you’ll keep structure and address data intact.
Step 1: Inventory accounts and data
List both source and destination account details including email addresses, storage quotas, IMAP/POP server names and ports, and admin credentials if available. Export a quick size estimate: note total mailbox size in GB and number of folders so you can plan time and storage (for example, 5 GB and 120 folders).
[Illustration: screenshot-style image of a checklist with account settings, sizes, and folder counts]
Step 2: Back up contacts and calendars
Export contacts and calendars from the source as standard files: contacts as CSV and vCard (VCF), calendars as ICS. Save at least two copies in separate folders and name them with date stamps (e.g., contacts-2026-05-03.csv). This preserves address data even if a direct sync fails.
[Illustration: visual of exported files named contacts-YYYY-MM-DD.csv and calendar.ics on a desktop]
Step 3: Enable IMAP and prepare authentication
Turn on IMAP (not POP) in the source account settings and enable app passwords or OAuth if two-factor authentication is enabled. Verify you can connect from a mail client; attempt a simple sync of a small folder to confirm credentials and server ports (typically IMAP port 993 with SSL).
[Illustration: diagram of IMAP toggle and app password dialog with checkmark]
Step 4: Create matching folder structure
In the destination account or client, recreate high-level folder/label names that you want preserved, matching the source exactly (case and punctuation can matter for some systems). Create folders first if you have hundreds: make them in batches of 20–50 to avoid UI timeouts.
[Illustration: visual of email client sidebar with new folders being created in batches]
Step 5: Migrate mail via IMAP copy
Use an IMAP-capable mail client (like Thunderbird, Outlook, or a server-side migration tool) to connect to both accounts and drag or copy folders from source to destination. Move one folder at a time for large mailboxes, monitor transfer rates (expect 1–10 MB/s depending on connection), and verify folder sizes match after copying.
[Illustration: two-pane mail client showing drag-and-drop of a folder from source to destination with progress bar]
Step 6: Import contacts and calendars into destination
Upload your exported CSV/VCF and ICS files into the destination provider’s import tool. Match CSV columns during import (email, first name, last name) and verify a sample of 20–50 contacts to ensure fields mapped correctly. Re-run import if you find missing fields.
[Illustration: import dialog mapping CSV columns to contact fields with sample records shown]
Step 7: Test, update DNS and finalize
Verify mail delivery by sending and receiving 50–100 test emails, checking that new messages land in the right folders or inbox. When ready, update MX records or update forwarding rules to point to the new provider; DNS changes typically propagate in 5–60 minutes but allow up to 48 hours. After 7 days of monitoring, decommission the old account or set it to forward and archive it for 30 days.
[Illustration: diagram of DNS MX record update with clocks showing propagation times]
- Work during low-traffic hours and plan 1–3 hours for each 5 GB of mail to copy over a typical home connection.
- If you have very large attachments, consider running a one-time export of attachments-only to reduce transfer time.
- Keep a log document with dates, actions performed, and any errors encountered; this helps with troubleshooting and rollback.
- Use filters on the destination to auto-organize incoming mail into recreated folders to reduce manual sorting.
- If using a client to migrate, increase IMAP timeout settings to at least 120 seconds to avoid interruptions on slow networks.
- For large businesses, consider a staged migration: move high-priority users first and scale using server-side migration tools that support parallel transfers.
- Do not delete the source account until you have verified all folders, emails, and contacts for at least 7 days to avoid accidental data loss.
- Avoid using POP for migration because it flattens folder structure and can leave messages on the source or download duplicates.
- Be careful changing MX records during business hours because some email may be delivered to the old provider while DNS propagates.
- Do not share passwords insecurely; use encrypted channels or temporary admin tokens and revoke them after the migration is complete.
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