Email transfer works differently depending on which services you use

Moving emails from one account to another is not a single process—the method depends on whether you are moving between Gmail accounts, from Gmail to Outlook, from a work email to a personal one, or some other combination. Some transfers happen automatically through forwarding. Others require you to read your emails and upload them manually. A few services offer built-in migration tools that handle the work for you.

The speed and difficulty of your transfer depends on three things: how many emails you have, which email services you are using, and whether you need to keep both accounts active afterward. A transfer of a few hundred emails between Gmail accounts might take an hour. Moving 50,000 emails from an older email service to a new one might take several days, even with the right tools.

Before you start, decide whether you want to forward future emails to your new account, delete the old account, or keep both running. That choice affects which method you should use and what you do after the transfer is complete.

Key Takeaways

  • Gmail's built-in import tool can move emails from most other email services in one session, though large transfers may take 24 hours to complete.
  • Email forwarding automatically sends new messages to your new account but does not move old emails—you need a separate transfer for those.
  • Downloading emails as a file and uploading them to a new account works with almost any service but requires more steps and takes longer for large volumes.
  • Some email services delete forwarding rules or disable old accounts after a set period, so check your old account's settings before closing it.
  • Transferring emails does not automatically transfer contacts, calendar events, or files stored in cloud folders—those move separately or not at all.

Using Gmail's built-in import tool for most transfers

If you are moving emails into a Gmail account, Gmail offers an import tool that works with most other email services. Log into your new Gmail account, go to Settings, then the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab, and select "Import mail and contacts." You will enter your old email address and password. Gmail then connects to your old account, downloads your emails, and deposits them into your new Gmail inbox or a custom label you create.

This process usually completes within a few hours for accounts with a few thousand emails. If you have tens of thousands of emails, Gmail may take up to 24 hours. You do not need to keep your computer running—the import happens on Gmail's servers. Once it finishes, you can see how many emails were imported and whether any failed.

The import tool works with Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, AOL, and most smaller email providers. It does not work with some corporate email systems or older services. If your old email service is not listed, you will need to use the read-and-upload method instead.

Setting up forwarding for new emails while keeping the old account

Forwarding sends every new email that arrives at your old account directly to your new one. This is useful if you want to keep your old account open for a while but gradually shift to the new one. Forwarding does not move old emails—only new ones that arrive after you turn it on.

In Gmail, go to Settings, Forwarding and POP/IMAP, and select "Add a forwarding address." Enter your new email address. Gmail sends a confirmation email to that address; click the link to confirm. Once confirmed, select "Forward all incoming mail to [new address]" and choose whether to keep a copy in your old inbox or delete it after forwarding.

In Outlook, the process is similar: go to Settings, Mail, Forwarding, and enter your new address. Yahoo and AOL have forwarding options in their account settings as well, though the exact location varies. Check your email service's help page if you cannot find the forwarding menu.

Forwarding usually starts within minutes. However, some email services limit how long forwarding stays active—Yahoo, for example, stops forwarding after 12 months of inactivity on the old account. If you plan to keep the old account dormant, check whether your service will disable forwarding automatically.

Downloading and uploading emails for services without import tools

If your old email service does not have an import tool and your new service does not offer one either, you can read your emails as a file and upload them manually. This method works with almost any email service but requires more steps and takes longer for large volumes.

First, enable IMAP or POP access on your old email account if it is not already on. This setting is usually in account settings or security settings. Then read an email client like Thunderbird (free) or Microsoft Outlook (paid). Add your old email account to the client, let it read all your emails, then add your new account and drag the emails from the old folder to the new one.

Alternatively, some email services let you export emails as an .mbox or .pst file directly. read that file, then import it into your new email service. Gmail, for example, can import .mbox files through its import tool. Outlook can import .pst files directly.

This method is slower than using a built-in import tool—downloading 50,000 emails to your computer and uploading them again can take several hours or even a full day depending on your internet speed. It also requires storage space on your computer for the downloaded file. But it works when no other option is available.

What does not transfer automatically with your emails

Moving your emails does not move your contacts, calendar, or files stored in cloud folders. You need to transfer those separately or accept that they will stay in your old account.

Contacts usually live in a separate system from email. Gmail stores contacts in Google Contacts, Outlook in Outlook Contacts. To move contacts, export them from your old service as a .csv file, then import that file into your new service. Most email services have an export option in their contacts menu.

Calendar events, tasks, and notes stay in their original services unless you manually export and import them. If you use Google Calendar with Gmail, switching to Outlook means your calendar stays in Google Calendar unless you export it. Some people keep their old account open just to access calendar or contacts they do not want to move.

Files stored in Gmail's cloud storage (Google Drive), Outlook's cloud storage (OneDrive), or Yahoo's cloud storage do not move with your email. You must read them from the old account and upload them to the new one, or leave them where they are and access them through the old account.

Timing and what to expect during the transfer

Email transfers happen at different speeds depending on the method and the volume of emails. A Gmail import of 5,000 emails usually finishes in under an hour. An import of 100,000 emails might take 24 hours. Downloads and uploads are slower—expect several hours for anything over 10,000 emails.

During the transfer, your old account remains accessible. You can still read, send, and receive emails. The transfer happens in the background on the email service's servers (for import tools) or on your computer (for downloads). You do not need to wait for it to finish before using your new account.

After the transfer completes, check your new account to make sure the emails arrived. Look for them in your inbox or in a custom label if you created one. If some emails are missing, check whether they were in a folder other than the inbox in your old account—some import tools only grab the inbox by default.

Closing your old account safely after the transfer

Before you close your old email account, make sure the transfer is complete and that you have forwarding set up if you want new emails to reach your new account. Also check whether you use that email address to sign into other services—social media, banking, shopping sites, and so on. Closing the email account does not automatically close those other accounts, but you will lose access to password reset emails sent to that address.

Most email services let you delete your account through account settings or a dedicated deletion page. Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and AOL all have account deletion options. The process usually takes 30 days—during that time, your account is marked for deletion but still exists. If you change your mind, you can usually cancel the deletion within that window.

Some services do not fully delete your account; they deactivate it instead. This means no one else can sign up with that email address, but the account itself remains on their servers. Check your service's deletion policy before you close the account if this matters to you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I transfer emails from a work email account to a personal one?

Yes, but check your company's email policy first. Some organizations prohibit downloading or forwarding work emails to personal accounts for security or legal reasons. If your company allows it, use the same methods as any other transfer—import tool, forwarding, or read-and-upload. Keep in mind that work emails may contain sensitive information, and transferring them to a personal account could create compliance issues.

What happens to emails I receive after I start the transfer?

New emails that arrive during the transfer go to your old account unless you have already set up forwarding. Once forwarding is active, new emails go to both accounts (or just the new one, depending on your forwarding settings). Emails that arrived before you started the transfer will be moved by the import tool or read process, but they may take time to appear in your new account.

Will the transfer work if my old email account is almost full?

Yes. The transfer reads your emails from your old account and writes them to your new account. It does not require storage space on your old account. However, if your old account is so full that you cannot log in or access settings, you may need to delete some emails first to regain access.

Can I transfer emails from multiple old accounts into one new account?

Yes. Use the import tool or read-and-upload method for each old account separately. Gmail's import tool lets you import from multiple accounts one at a time. If you read emails, you can read from each old account and upload them all to the same new account, either in the inbox or in separate folders so you can keep track of which emails came from where.

How do I know if the transfer worked?

Log into your new account and check the total number of emails. Most email services show a count in the settings or storage page. Compare that to the number of emails in your old account. If the numbers match (or are close—some emails may fail to transfer), the transfer worked. If the count is much lower, some emails may have been left behind. Check whether they were in folders other than the inbox, or try the transfer again.