Transferring your emails
Q: What is the easiest way for me to transfer emails from one computer to another?
A: If you are using web-based email like Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail, you don’t really have to worry about this, as your mail is likely on the email server and will be available to you from any computer via the web interface.
But if you are using Outlook, Windows Mail or some other dedicated email application, you will need to find where your application saves your email and arrange to transfer it to the new computer and then import it to the new application.
Transferring from one computer to another is easiest if you are going to use the same email application on both computers, but the process gets a little tricky when moving from one mail program to another.
Keep in mind that the method for this transfer is going to be different for each application. You can usually find step-by-step instructions on the web if you search using terms that include the name of your email application combined with search terms like “move to new computer.”
If transferring to an entirely new email program, you will need to take that into consideration when performing your search.
Something that might make this a little simpler would be to use an application like PC Mover from pcmoverfree.azurewebsites.net.
Using this tool, you can move not only your email but also your applications as well as other files you don’t want to leave behind.
I moved to a Gmail account years ago, and it has made my email situation extremely manageable as I move from one computer to another.
I am quite happy accessing from the web, but if you prefer using a dedicated email client, I suggest paying for a fully featured email program like Outlook or using a robust, free application like Mozilla Thunderbird.
These applications make it easy to manage email you want to keep from computer to computer, and there are versions of these applications for Windows and for the Mac.