Import existing Outlook email into IMAP server

Question

A client of mine had several issues with their previous host. I offered them hosting for both their website and email, unfortunately all the backups of the website have been removed by the old host.

The client has several emails which really have to be kept available from multiple computers, but the original email server is no longer available. All the emails are currently in their Outlook client and I am trying to find a way to import these files into their new IMAP server (One I host).

I am not sure if the emails downloaded locally have been retrieved using POP3 or IMAP, but is there a 'simple' way for me to import their emails into the new IMAP server from an existing Outlook file?

Answer 1

You should be able to copy your messages from outlook data file to IMAP server. I've done it many times, but mostly data file -> Exchange Server.

First of all think about do you really need to transfer old email to a new server. You can delete your old account and simply open the data file in Outlook to have an archive of the old emails. If you need them to sync to another device, then keep reading.

First you need to locate the data file that contains your old messages. You can do so by going into account setup and there will be a tab called data files. In there you can figure out which data file is the one that holds old mail. There should be a button to open file location.

Next copy it in a safe place so you can open it in case you mess something up (you have to close Outlook first).

Then you can delete the old account so it stops bugging you while you keep working form account settings. Your old mail should remain open after you delete the account, but if it goes away you can do File -> Open outlook data file (or File -> Import for older versions and follow the wizard).

If your IMAP account is not setup, do so now.

You should now have two email accounts and you can drag and drop mail between them.

Some advice:

1. Backup your IMAP mail before you begin.
2. I suggest you create a folder for your old mail on the IMAP server, something like "archive", you can move it to Inbox later if you wish
3. Do not under any circumstances copy all of your messages at once! It will crash and burn!
4. Locate your oldest message in old mail and create search folder to filter messages starting from the oldest date for the next week or month, depending on how many messages you have. Never go more than 500 at a time with 6GB RAM, but if you have attachments bigger than 5MB, go even less - say 300
5. Write down how many emails there are in the search folder
6. Copy messages from the search folder to your IMAP folder
7. When it's done check how many messages are there in your IMAP folder and see if it matches what you have in the search folder
8. Modify the search folder for the next date range (say if it was 1.Jan 2013 - 15.Jan 2013 move it to 16. Jan 2013 - 1. Feb 2013.)
9. Take a note how many emails are in your new date range
10. Copy them to IMAP server and check how many are there, it should be the SUM of numbers you have written down
11. If it matches repeat, if not you can create search folder for your IMAP account to narrow down where the problem was. Some messages are stubborn and will have to be copied individually

That is about everything I can think of right now, but if you run into a problem let me know, and I'll see what can I do to help.

You will probably have some problems, this never ever, ever goes smoothly but it's the simplest way to get it done.