Migrate IMAP account between providers - client access only

Question

I have an IMAP E-Mail account with my old provider.

I have a new, empty IMAP account with the new provider.

Is there a tool or Thunderbird to migrate the E-Mail data from one account to another? I'm a bit wary about just doing a drag & drop in Thunderbird because it's quite a lot of data, and I have a deep distrust against how Thunderbird deals with IMAP data.

I'm working on Windows 7, so I would prefer a graphical Windows tool. If need be, I can work from a Linux box as well.

score 8 · Answer 1 · edited Nov 20 '11 at 13:03

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Try using imapsync, available also as a standalone imapsync.exe. Free, open but not gratis from the homepage.

edited Nov 20 '11 at 13:03

Gilles LAMIRAL

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answered Apr 01 '10 at 14:55

sntg

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Cheers sntg, but I'm on Windows with this. Sorry, should have mentioned it - adding it now. – Pekka Apr 01 '10 at 21:54
Imapsync is great - well worth spinning up a linux box if you can. – EEAA Apr 02 '10 at 02:36
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imapsync is written in Perl. Should run run in Windows as well. – Dan Andreatta Apr 02 '10 at 07:17
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Not free at 50 euros. – PaparazzoKid Apr 09 '15 at 08:23
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impaysync.exe is not free... Any alternatives? – Lucas Bustamante Jun 28 '16 at 21:58
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Imapsync now has an online version: https://imapsync.lamiral.info/X/ – Pavin Joseph Aug 22 '17 at 16:39

Marco Demaio · Answer 2 · 2016-02-03T14:40:43.040

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An excellent tool for Windows is MailStore Home (free)

You install it on your PC
then you Archive all your emails from IMAP Account1 on Server1
you simply Export all your previously archived emails to your IMAP Account2 on Server2

It works also with IMAPS (SSL), and it archives/exports all IMAP folders (or only the ones you wish).

Note: so far I've tried it only to export all messages from one mailbox account to another one. The two mailboxes were on different servers, but both servers run cPanel/WHM accounts, thus both servers' environments were pretty similar.

edited Feb 03 '16 at 14:40

answered Feb 03 '16 at 12:35

Marco Demaio

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BEST SOFTWARE EVER! SAVED MY LIFE! – Ygor Montenegro Sep 11 '19 at 16:55

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited May 12 '19 at 19:20

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I'd recommend the drag and drop, but do it in manageable chunks, e.g. 1 month at a time. You could also copy down to a local directory first, then up to the new server.

edited May 12 '19 at 19:20

chicks

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answered Apr 02 '10 at 01:32

Jed Daniels

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score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 20 '13 at 12:35

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We used Hexamail POP3 Downloader to synchronize our IMAP accounts during our server move. It runs on any version of Windows and has a GUI to help you configure it. You need to add the IMAP Push module to push email back up to IMAP Accounts.

answered Sep 20 '13 at 12:35

Lionel

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score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 02 '10 at 03:46

Be carefull when draging and dropping IMAP to check the contents of any subfolders. Different flavours of IMAP handle subfolders differently and with some thuderbird will transfer the folder but not its contents. I've found the best mail client for draging to/from Courier IMAP accounts to be Mulberry. http://www.mulberrymail.com/ - Its a bit retro but does the job.

If you end up using a syncing tool, you run the risk of ending up with duplicates. In that case there is a Thunderbird plugin that will remove them for you but it can gag on large inboxes. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/956

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 02 '10 at 07:35

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Like sntg, I'd try using imapsync first (should also run under Windows with ActivePerl).

If you can't get it to run, try imapsize which can - besides a lot of other things - migrate your mails between two IMAP accounts.

answered Apr 02 '10 at 07:35

joschi

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From recent experience migrating imap accounts using imapsize, it changes the dates on all the migrated emails to the migration date. If anyone know's how to get it to keep the original date please let me know. – Rich Aug 19 '12 at 14:52
"NOTE: Please be advised that IMAPSize is no longer under active development since 2009" – Marco Demaio Feb 03 '16 at 12:06

Migrate IMAP account between providers - client access only

6 Answers6