SWITCH TO A NEW EMAIL SERVICE
If your current email program no longer suits your needs, or you simply want to move messages from one email client to another, switching isn’t difficult, but you do have to go through a few steps.
You can’t drag your messages from one email program to another, but you can use Gmail as a go-between (moving your messages to Gmail, then from Gmail to your new email program - or just sticking with Gmail, if that’s what you want to do). Start by signing up for a new Gmail account at www.snipca.com/35236.
Next, open your current email program (the one you want to switch from) and add the Gmail account to it. The process for doing this varies between programs, but is relatively simple thanks to Gmail providing the necessary server settings to your email client - you just need to enter your Gmail address and password.
If you’re switching from Outlook, for example, add the Gmail account by clicking File, then Account Settings twice. This opens the Account Settings box with the Email tab already selected. Click ‘New…’, then enter your Gmail account address and click Connect. Click Next on the following screen, enter your password then click ‘Sign in’.
To add the Gmail account to Thunderbird, press Alt+t, click Account Settings, then click the Account Actions button at the bottom of the sidebar. Click ‘Add mail account’, then enter your name, email address and password (see screenshot below). Click Continue and, when Thunderbird has retrieved the necessary settings, click Done.
Now, in your old email, open your inbox. Click any email, select them all by pressing Ctrl+a, then drag them to the inbox on your newly created Gmail account. Repeat this process for any other folders you want to copy across (such as your Drafts and Sent folder), in each case dragging the existing emails into the corresponding folder within the Gmail account. Wait for your emails to finish copying across (this may take a while).
Next, open your new email service and add your email account to it. Because you need to copy your emails from your temporary Gmail account, you’ll need to add that too (in the same way you did with your old email). Finally, reverse the copying process so that you move all emails from Gmail back to your normal email account.