How can I copy my emails to an external drive?

QI’m thinking of buying a new laptop and want to make sure I don’t lose all the emails I’ve sent and received. I was wondering if there is any software I can use to save all my emails to an external drive? I managed to perform this very task some time ago but can’t remember how I did it. Iain Scott

AThe best software for backing up your emails is undoubtedly Mailstore Home ( www.snipca. com/40233). It’s free for personal use and offers the option you need, which is to save your message archive to an external drive or USB stick.

Install the program and click the Archive E-mail option on the start screen to import messages from your account. Enter your email address, click Start, then enter your password and click OK. Mailstore Home should automatically detect which service or software you use, and create a profile for that account. If it doesn’t, you can select a service from the list. Next, double-click your profile to archive your emails - this can take a while depending on how many messages you have.

Once the program has imported your emails, close the Progress View window and open the My Archive folder in the Archive list on the left. Right-click the folder you want to back up, or choose All Mail, and select ‘Export to’ then Directory (File System) – see screenshot. Choose ‘EML Files’ in the window that opens and click Next, then click Browse and select your external drive as the ‘Target folder’. Click OK, then Next again and Mailstore Home will back up your emails to the external drive.

When you want to restore your emails, open the backup folder on your external drive, then drag and drop the EML files into your email client.

Do you need our advice on what software to use? Just email us at letters@computeractive.co.uk