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Cornelius J. van Dyk's SharePoint Brain Dump > Posts > The best way to migrate your old email to Gmail

4/8/2008

The best way to migrate your old email to Gmail

OK, one of my email accounts were being converted to Google Apps hosted Gmail. Having a couple of months worth of historical email for the account, I wondered how I could get that old email into the Gmail account to make it indexed and searchable. So I began to search for the solution. The first solution I found was this instruction set that used Mark Lyon's GMail Loader (GML) to upload old messages.

http://www.wikihow.com/Import-Archived-Outlook-Email-Into-GMail-Using-GML

The problem with this method is that I'd have to 1) Export email from Outlook to Outlook Express 2) Install Thunderbird 3) Export from Outlook Express to Thunderbird 4) Install GML 5) Import the mbox file using GML to Gmail. Quite a process.

Then I saw the new Google Email Uploader.

http://code.google.com/p/google-email-uploader

I downloaded and tried this tool, but it was way too prone to just stopping for no reason. Additionally, the email did not retain date information at all. I was just about at the point of giving up when I discovered the solution. As it happened, I was going to setup my Gmail account to work through Outlook and IMAP anyway, but in the process I found the solution, quite by accident.

This was only proven to work with Outlook and only for email that was in Outlook, but I would guess that any IMAP capable email application should work.

  1. Configure your Gmail account for IMAP.
    1. Logon to Gmail.
    2. Click "Settings" in the top right corner.
    3. Click the "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" tab.
    4. In the IMAP Access section, select "Enable IMAP".
    5. Click the "Configure instructions" link to popup the IMAP configuration instructions in a new window for step 2.
    6. Click the "Save Changes" button.
  2. Configure your email application using the instructions from 1e above.
  3. Fire up your email application.
  4. Create folders in the Gmail account for your old email.
  5. Move the email from the old email folders to the Gmail folders and tada! J

This method retains all date info etc. and seems to be perfect! Enjoy…

Later
C

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Posted at 1:51 AM by Cornelius J. van Dyk | Category: Tips | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (95)

Comments

Um... actually this doesn't work at all

This does not load old e-mails into the web version of GMail.
at 4/16/2008 2:32 PM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Um... actually it DOES!  I'm not sure who you are (since you didn't leave a proper contact URL or email address) but you must be doing something wrong.
I uploaded all my historical email to Gmail this way and it works just fine.

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 4/17/2008 9:14 AM

bloem@radagio.ANTISPAM.com

Thanks! That's so simple I could almost have thought of it myself... but I kept struggling with Google's tool instead, until I saw your post :) The Google uploader kept quitting on me, but Outlook is now in the (long) process of uploading everything for me!
at 4/18/2008 4:53 AM

rwinfr@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

Hi Cornelius, I've tried to follow your instructions in order to get my old Outlook mails into gmail but I loose track at point 3. I've managed to configure the accounts for IMAP and assume that at 3. I need to start up outlook..At 4. you instruct to create folders but Gmail doesen't work with folders...and in outlook I can't create folders in the gmail account section.
Regards, Rob.
at 4/18/2008 7:00 AM

paul.deruiter@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

Worked for me too. Thank you very much for this brief explanation.

Shepard.
at 4/18/2008 11:49 AM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey Bloem,

Yeah, I had the same problem with the Google app just continually quitting on me.  I started reducing the size of email folders I was trying to move and it finally appeared to me that if I had 100 or less items, it would actually seem to stay running rather than giving me the ugly crash message.  I loaded about 500 messages that way and then though to myself... this is retarded!  There has to be a better way.  And that's when, after a little exploring, I found the IMAP setting in Gmail that led me to this solution!
Isn't it funny how the simplest solutions are usually the ones staring us right in the face?  ;-)

Glad this was helpful to you.

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 4/20/2008 4:45 AM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey Rob,

If you configured Outlook to use your Gmail account with IMAP, you should see your Gmail account on the left.  Under the account there should be folders for:

[Gmail]
Inbox
Junk E-mail

If you expand the [Gmail] folder, you should see:

All Mail
Drafts
Sent Mail
Spam
Starred
Trash

Now, if you right click on the Gmail account i.e. the item ABOVE the [Gmail] folder, you should get the option to create a New Folder.
I actually believe you can create the folder inside [Gmail] too, but I just haven't used it that way.  I actually started by going to Gmail and creating a new Label over in Gmail's web UI.  Then I fired up my Outlook client to see where the Label showed up as a folder in Outlook, and it was on the same level as the [Gmail] folder so that's why I create my folders at that level.

Another option is to simply right click the folder you wish to move to Gmail, in the other IMAP/POP account in Outlook.  On the popup menu, simply click Move... and then point it to the top level of your Gmail account.  That works in both Outlook 2007 and 2003.

Hope that helps.

Thanks
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 4/20/2008 4:56 AM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey Shapard,

Glad to hear it works for you too!  ;-)

Later
C

PS:  I've loaded all my email back to 1998, about 100,000 messages or so, and am using 81% of my 6 GB account!  YEEHAA!!!
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 4/20/2008 5:01 AM

www.grootens.com

Works great this way. Bedankt!
at 4/27/2008 12:06 PM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Glad it was useful!

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 4/28/2008 6:54 AM

Raymondo

Many thanks, had tried other methods with little success. This was quick and simple and also works with own domain gmail accounts.
at 5/4/2008 4:33 AM

nithi.vivatrat@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

This worked great for me -- thanks for the tip.  I didn't even have to worry too much about the "create folder" step -- I created one single folder / gmail label called "imported", and then dragged major folders of my old email into there (holding down Control since I wanted to copy not just move).  The subfolder structure (each major folder had multiple subfolders) was even preserved -- appropriate new labels were automatically created in gmail.  The only flaw I saw was that emails that were sent using internal Exchange addresses did not display the full email address in the To/From/Cc header areas.

By the way, I am using Outlook 2003 and Gmail for domains (google apps), running on Parallels for the Mac.

Thanks again for the tip.

NITHI
at 5/6/2008 7:55 AM

www.reitzlange.com

This is so simple maybe Google should just link to your post and abandon that API of theirs altogether.  Several years of mails successfully migrated with dates and even the attachments intact.  thanks for posting.
at 5/18/2008 12:58 AM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Raymondo,

Yeah, I had very little success with other methods as well, especially the Google app that kept crashing on me when I tried to load more than 200 messages at a time.  Given I eventually loaded 100,000 messages into my account, I would STILL have been loading messages had I not sought out a better, easier option!  ;-)

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 5/22/2008 3:51 AM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Nithi,

My pleasure!  ;-)

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 5/22/2008 3:52 AM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Reitzlange.com,

Yeah, we should suggest that to them.  ;-D

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 5/22/2008 3:52 AM

scott.phillips1@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

Hi Cornelius!  Thanks for sharing this information.  Like everyone else, I was wondering how I should go about importing old e-mails from Outlook into Gmail.  After reading your post, I found the solution that worked perfectly...so I thought.

The only issue I have is that most all of the imported e-mails now have the infamous winmail.dat file attachment.  I think I understand the reasoning behind this, but did you or anyone else have this issue?  If so, do you know a fix?  Am I doing something wrong?

Please let me know if you have any information on this issue.  Thanks again for your post.

Scott
at 6/6/2008 10:03 PM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey Scott,

I don't think the Winmail.dat file is caused by Outlook.  My email client has been Outlook for many years and my email did not get the winmail.dat file attachment during the migration process.

That said, I have seen the winmail.dat attachment come through on other people's email sent to me and I'm wondering if it might be due to Outlook Express or a web client maybe.  Either way, I can confirm that my email did not have the attachment.

I don't think you did anything wrong.  This process doesn't really have any grey outcomes.  It either works or it doesn't, so I think it might just be something with your source email that caused the winmail.dat attachment.  Annoying, I know, but at least you have almost 7 GB to store all those attachments right?  ;-)

Hey, maybe someone should write a gadget to remove such attachments in bulk... what an idea...  ;-)

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 6/8/2008 5:00 AM

bacon22@mailinator.ANTISPAM.com

Wow - thanks for the excellent doco!  I'd tried Thunderbird addon "Mboximport enhanced" as it was the top ranking Google hit, but your way works a lot more reliably.  Will be importing a decades worth of email overnight into Google Apps :)
at 6/24/2008 5:38 AM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey Bacon,

Yeah, it worked for me!  I don't know why people always overengineer and overcomplicate things.  I see that a lot in my work as SharePoint Architect.  My motto has always been Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS).  Maybe it's because Google doesn't want to actually recommend that anyone use Outlook at all, even if it's only for transferring email into Google Apps.  <grin>

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 6/24/2008 6:44 AM

www.ipulp.com

Does this method also import attached files ?
at 7/2/2008 7:15 AM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey ipulp,

Yes it does.

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 7/6/2008 1:21 AM

tzvihirsch@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

excuse my illiteracy - I have had my gmail set up in outlook for a while because I was accessing my gmail through outlook. I now want to flip it and access all my email in gmail. I forwarded my other accounts to gmail successfully. Now I am up to moving over the old stuff and I can't seem to fin different acounts "on the left", just my regular folder tree starting with Personal Folders. can you help me?
at 7/7/2008 12:59 PM

tzvihirsch@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

excuse my illiteracy - I have had my gmail set up in outlook for a while because I was accessing my gmail through outlook. I now want to flip it and access all my email in gmail. I forwarded my other accounts to gmail successfully. Now I am up to moving over the old stuff and I can't seem to fin different acounts "on the left", just my regular folder tree starting with Personal Folders. can you help me?
at 7/7/2008 1:02 PM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey tzvihirsch,

If you already have your Gmail setup in Outlook to use IMAP, then all your email should already be in Gmail and there's nothing for you to move.  You should be able to confirm that from the Gmail web interface.

Thanks
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 7/10/2008 11:21 AM

phend.tumblr.com

Worked great. Thanks!

Using Outlook 2002, I ended up with 0KB winmail.dat files attached to a whole bunch of messages. It looks like we can blame Outlook for that, and it's not a big deal - worth it to be Outlook free!
at 7/16/2008 8:04 PM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Let me point out that I actually still use Outlook.  If you live in the SharePoint world, Outlook 2007 has a LOT of cool features such as combined, super imposed calendars for all your SharePoint site memberships as well as your primary calendar.
Anyway, I use Gmail's IMAP features to work with Outlook, just not on my email account that has history dating back to 1998.  Unfortunately, Outlook doesn't handle large PST files very well.  Once a PST file starts to exceed 1 GB and starts to approach 2 GB in size, Outlook becomes extremely unstable and sluggish.  I'm hoping that's one of the things they'd fix in vNext, but who knows...

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 7/18/2008 3:15 AM

scottwired@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

I am in the process of converting from Outlook 2007 (windows) to Gmail using your instructions right now.  Thanks much for the great info -- I was searching like mad for a solution.  A few questions:

Will it move multiple PST files (I have one for each year back to 1998)? 

I have about 10GBs of email/attachments, in all.  Any thoughts on how long it should take?  I'm on a pretty fast comcast 10mb (2mb upload).  I have a fairly slow laptop, and Outlook itself runs pretty slow and hangs often, so I'm wondering, if it goes on for hours and hours, how I'll know whether it's the computer or Outlook or bandwidth or what.

Will it move notes, tasks, and calendar?  Calendar I'm not too concerned about, as I use a great Outlook/Gcal sync tool called syncmycal. 

Has anyone maxed out Gmail storage, and if so, did it/can it max out midstream?  I know you can buy more, but I don't want to if i don't have to.

One note:  I have an iPhone, and I guess I'll still have to use Outlook to sync my Calendar and Contacts :(

Thanks again!!
at 7/18/2008 8:02 PM

scottwired@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

I am in the process of converting from Outlook 2007 (windows) to Gmail using your instructions right now.  Thanks much for the great info -- I was searching like mad for a solution.  A few questions:

Will it move multiple PST files (I have one for each year back to 1998)? 

I have about 10GBs of email/attachments, in all.  Any thoughts on how long it should take?  I'm on a pretty fast comcast 10mb (2mb upload).  I have a fairly slow laptop, and Outlook itself runs pretty slow and hangs often, so I'm wondering, if it goes on for hours and hours, how I'll know whether it's the computer or Outlook or bandwidth or what.

Will it move notes, tasks, and calendar?  Calendar I'm not too concerned about, as I use a great Outlook/Gcal sync tool called syncmycal. 

Has anyone maxed out Gmail storage, and if so, did it/can it max out midstream?  I know you can buy more, but I don't want to if i don't have to.

One note:  I have an iPhone, and I guess I'll still have to use Outlook to sync my Calendar and Contacts :(

Thanks again!!
at 7/18/2008 8:03 PM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey Scott,

It's my pleasure providing the info. I'm glad it's usefull to you.
As for multiple PSTs, you will need to move the email from each PST in turn to the folders mapped to Gmail.
Time wise, it took me about a week to move my 7 GB of messages (about 100,000 messages) so expect to spend some time.
For meetings and calendars I would use Google Calendar Synch.
As far as storage goes, I am at 87% usage. If you have 10 GB in PSTs you will run out of space at this point so i'd suggest you remove your largest attachments to get under 8 GB.

Hope that helps

Later
C


at 7/24/2008 7:47 AM

sjeupie@hotmail.ANTISPAM.com

After a lot of trying an thinking I found out this same way myself; unfortunately is soooo sloooooow. I have about 10gb of e-mails with attachments so I started (for the first time :s) looking on the internet and your solution was the first I found; could have saved me a lot of time if I was smart enough to search first instead of trying myself.....however, I was wondering if you had any idea of speeding it a bit up because I can move only 1 folder each time and I have hundreds (!) of folders.....If I trie to drag a big folder with sub-folders it uploads only the name of the bigger folder.
The consequense is that I cant even just let the computer do the work and go to sleep. I have to be here and drag and drop each folder every 10 minutes!!!

Any suggestions?!!
at 8/20/2008 2:05 PM

sjeupie@hotmail.ANTISPAM.com

After a lot of trying an thinking I found out this same way myself; unfortunately is soooo sloooooow. I have about 10gb of e-mails with attachments so I started (for the first time :s) looking on the internet and your solution was the first I found; could have saved me a lot of time if I was smart enough to search first instead of trying myself.....however, I was wondering if you had any idea of speeding it a bit up because I can move only 1 folder each time and I have hundreds (!) of folders.....If I trie to drag a big folder with sub-folders it uploads only the name of the bigger folder.
The consequense is that I cant even just let the computer do the work and go to sleep. I have to be here and drag and drop each folder every 10 minutes!!!

Any suggestions?!!
at 8/20/2008 2:05 PM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey sjeupie,

Yep, it seems you're trapped in the old Outlook folder flining zone.  That's the way a LOT of people work in Outlook, myself included.  I decided to simplify my folder structures some time ago and that helped me in my move to Gmail.
Unfortunately, I don't have any advice for you other than to look at simplifying  your folder structure.  Sorry I can't be of more help...

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 8/20/2008 2:09 PM

steve@fishram.ANTISPAM.com

Hello, and thank you so much for the great information.  I'm confused about one thing...

In step 2 you say:
2.  Configure your email application using the instructions from 1e above.

Where do I find these instructions...I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean by 1e.  I would like to configure Outlook 2007 to work with your IMAP method.  Can you point me in the right direction please?

Many thanks for your help!
Steve Springer
at 9/3/2008 12:23 AM

thaflie@yahoo.ANTISPAM.com

Works with Thunderbird 2.0!

Thanx!
at 9/3/2008 11:19 AM

jeff.botterill@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

Hi Cornelius, 
I have the same issue that Rob had posted earlier.
I have configured IMAP on Outlook & Gmail but no [Gmail} folders have appeared on my Outlook, stopping me from transferring folders to Gmail. IMAP is working well apart from the non-existent folder Gmail...

I'm using Outlook 2003 - There is does not appear to be anywhere in the New Account process to open a 'new file' for Gmail and its not auto seemingly.

Am I being a numptie doing something wrong or is there a work around that you might know of?

Many thanks and regards
Jeff
at 9/3/2008 5:16 PM

yassern@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

Worked for me. You're great man:) Thanks a lot
at 9/23/2008 4:31 PM

steve@mailinator.ANTISPAM.com

This is just about the most valuable hint I've found anywhere. Works like a charm!

Thanks very much for sharing!

steve

at 10/2/2008 7:30 PM

dadamato50@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

I am using Outlook 2003 on an Exchange server and do not have the TSL option under the advanced tab for outgoing server. I only have ...this server requires an encrypted connection SSL..just as the one for the incoming POP server. Any suggestions? Thanks..Deb
at 10/15/2008 6:45 AM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey dadamato50,

I'm not sure why you don't have those options.

Sorry...
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 11/10/2008 6:31 PM

dude@donttazeme.ANTISPAM.org

One more confirmation that T-bird importing Outlook Express and then IMAP'ing it all into Gmail works like a champ!
at 11/10/2008 9:23 PM

trinitychiro@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

I've been trying to get this to work, but I keep getting a message saying, "Your upload has puased temporarily because we were unable to reach the server. We will resume in X secnds."

Anyone know why?

Thanks
at 11/12/2008 11:01 AM

jimmarks@virtualresults.ANTISPAM.net

AARGGHHH!!
This appears to be easy, but I am getting this error message when I try to move a file to the new account..

The connection to the server is unavailable.Outlook must be online or connected to complete this action.

I have checked all my setting twice, sent a succesful test email, etc...

Any help would really be appreciated...
at 11/23/2008 1:59 PM

goldrimtang@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

Thanks so much for this, I spent hours fighting the other tools. To migrate from Ubutu/Evolution to GMail, this is the way to go.
at 12/2/2008 1:38 PM

rwz@zri.ANTISPAM.com

Cornelius--

Many thanks from a neophyte.  Can you address how I might keep my own (presently in yse) domain name when using gmail?  Must I continue to have a service provider/Exchange service to do so?

Again, many thinaks.
at 12/31/2008 10:16 AM

Richard443@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

Can't thank you enough. Followed your instructions and stuff is moving from outlook to gmail. Many thanks, Richard
at 1/3/2009 2:43 PM

http://realgrouchy.blogspot.com

I had been putting off transferring my e-mails (which are divided among a number of different programs), but finally needed to search for some old stuff that I couldn't find easily. This worked like a CHARM!!! Thanks!!! (Outlook 2002).

- RG>
at 1/25/2009 9:29 PM

comptawiph@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

Hi all. I thank you for this precious way to transfer messages.
But before i start the loonnnggg process, i've read that it's working with Outlook 2003 and 2007. Can someone confirm it's working with Oulook 2000 too ?
Thanks,
Bruno
at 2/4/2009 2:08 AM

lululeis@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

Hi, Thanks for the easy suggestion on how to accomplish this.  I'm a totally non-technical person and am in the midst of successfully transferring all the emails as you have suggested and it's working perfectly. However, I just need clarification on one thing.  Once my emails are moved from my Outlook Files over to my Gmail files,  can I un-enanble the IMAP function and abandon my Outlook account and will the emails will still remain in Gmail. Essentially, I need the emails in Gmail without having the Outlook Account active.  Thanks
at 2/4/2009 12:45 PM

toto@laplage.ANTISPAM.be

Excellent, beaucoup plus simple que d'installer un serveur IMAP !

Great ! Much simpler than to set up an IMAP client ! :)
at 2/9/2009 5:29 AM

Mike V

Wow, a totally awesome method. Also very interesting to see how gmail behaves when you put folders within folders and such. I used to just forward stuff to my gmail account, but I love that I can keep the date info and everything with this!

PS If you need to connect through a proxy that blocks these ports or gmail altogether, try setting up an ssh tunnel to your home computer that forwards 993 to imap.google.com:993 and 465 to smtp.google.com:465. Then in outlook, just replace imap.google.com and smtp.google.com with localhost. Works for me!
at 2/11/2009 9:07 AM

janemcohen@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

Thanks very much for your suggestions migrating Outlook files to Gmail.

I was able to easily execute Steps 1 to 4.

Being a novice at all of this, however, could you tell me how I accomplish Step 5, Move the email from the old email folders to the Gmail folders.

What commands do I use in Outlook?

Thanks so much.

Jane
at 3/15/2009 1:59 PM

http://www.yippiemove.com

(Full disclosure: this commenter works for YippieMove.)

If you have a lot of email or if you're concerned about the date and time of each email you may want to consider a commercial service such as www.yippiemove.com. YippieMove will migrate your email folders in batch online without you having to download anything locally first. Setup is a simple three step process.

You could also download and figure out a program such as imapsync if you've got the time.

Cheers,
Alexander
at 4/13/2009 11:03 AM

larryfrommissouri@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

Worked good.  Outlook crashed once, but I was able to choose the emails it didn't yet transfer, and it finished well.  Thanks for this help.
at 4/23/2009 1:57 PM

guessworktheory.com

I'm not sure if this comment will be found, but I tried using this method and it worked great except for my sent mail.  All the sent mail I copied to my gmail "sent mail" folder doesn't have a "from" or "to" address in it. 

Is there a way to fix this?  Should I just make an "old sent mail" folder in gmail and stick these messages in there?
at 6/11/2009 9:51 AM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey Larry (from Missouri),

I'm glad it worked for you too! :-)

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 7/2/2009 10:33 AM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey Jane,

Simply click and drag the email to move it. ;-)

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 7/2/2009 10:49 AM

spamchauzer@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

i tried this method, and it does not show any of the email addresses of people i ahd sent emails to, and when they respond to emails.. any ideas?
at 7/17/2009 3:29 PM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

That's because Gmail only builds out that list when you actually send email to those people INSIDE of Gmail.  I don't have any solution to getting that populated other than sending email to the people, but then again, neither does any of the other Gmail migration tools... :-p

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 8/6/2009 2:05 PM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Great info... even a year after your post still being used and working perfectly!

Thanks a lot!

Regardz
at 8/31/2009 1:24 PM

salazar@topmail.ANTISPAM.ie

hi there , I have my outlook recieving emails from my topmail account. How do I make it recieve and send emails from  my Gmail account
at 9/5/2009 4:25 AM

http://www.cjvandyk.ANTISPAM.com/blog

Hey Salazar,

Check Gmail.  They have good instructions on how to configure your Gmail account work with Outlook. :-)

Later
C
at 9/24/2009 10:02 AM

Jason

WOW..  worked as written.  Wished I had find your solutions sooner.  Thanks for the great works.  :)

at 10/7/2009 5:53 PM

kaleb0303@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!  If we could some how let everyone else know, instead of them running around wasting hours (just like the rest of us)!  Thank you soo much!
at 11/18/2009 7:41 PM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey Kaleb,

I know what you mean!  I'm just glad this post is useful to so many people. :-)

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 11/23/2009 5:36 PM

tom_francen@midtechcorp.ANTISPAM.com

well ... it kindof works.   i too have 100k plus of email content back to the late 90's ... the problem with IMAP is

while google's taken the model of "SEARCH DON'T SORT", i've adopted a hybrid of that model ... "SEARCH AND SORT".  i have hundreds of clients tucked in amongst hundreds of folders ... the IMAP model chokes after a 40 byte naming in the directory/subdirectory is breached ...

i guess i could move all my directories/subdirectories into a 1 level subdirectory ... but it would destroy the model i've used over the past 1.5 decades ....

tj
denver, co
at 11/30/2009 7:53 AM

scott.pielsticker@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

Great forum. Quick question re where to send data from Outlook.  I have 2 folders in Outlook.

1-Sent Mail
2-Read Mail

I have a clean inbox so everything that I've dealt with has been moved to Read Mail.

Should I move Outlook Sent Mail to Gmail Sent Mail, Gmail All Mail or create a label like Outlook Email & move it there?  And re Outlook Read Mail, the same question. To Gmail All Mail or create a label like Outlook Email?

Lastly I did a quick test and the Outlook Sent Mails moved to Gmail don't have the recipient's to: email address. They are all to me.  Is this correct? Makes it easy to search but difficult to study at a glance.

Thanks...SP
at 12/1/2009 5:21 PM

andre.jodoin@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

thank you so much! it works GREAT!!!!
nice short and sweet How-to.
at 12/5/2009 11:44 AM

swiss.mail@vtxmail.ANTISPAM.ch

THANK YOU!!!!  Worked just great. Michael
at 12/5/2009 1:03 PM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

As always... it's my pleasure! :-)

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 12/7/2009 7:41 PM

light.wei@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

Hi, sir,

Thanks for that information. Now Gmail has detailed instruction about the IMAP setting in Outlook express. I followed it to add a IMAP Gmail account in my Outlook express( the previous email in the OE is not Gmail, it is my company's email. I want to upload the emails in my company email in OE to online Gmail system). However, when I tried to download the folder from Gmail through IMAP. It always show "Not connected" No any other error msg. I tried to turn off the firware. Still did not work. Could you please give me some suggestions on this? It would be highly appreciated.

Best,

LIGHT
at 12/15/2009 4:03 AM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey Light,

I have do not use and thus have not tested this via Outlook Express.  Therefor, I cannot provide you guidance in this case.
Sorry... :-(

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 12/21/2009 4:16 AM

pboudy@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

anyone else have trouble with sub folders here? I noted an early post that said all subfolders were kept in tact, but when i do this (outlook 2007) it only allows two nested subfolders and then gives me an error.  thoughts?
at 12/28/2009 9:42 AM

rob

Prefer to hold back my email - but just wanted to say thanks
spent loads of time looking for a solution to old archived emails - we had OUTLOOK Express - followed your advice and it worked like a dream.

Tried other changing DBOX into EML conversions but couldn't get to work.

Thanks

Rob
at 1/6/2010 3:01 PM

Ed

This post is brilliant!
I have my superold computer sitting in the lounge for about 3 years now (not kidding) only because I wanted to export my old emails from outlook express to somewhere I could read them (not just a stupid archive file).
Great!
1 question: shall I install Outlook 2007 , import from outlook express into Olook 2007 (is it possible tho?) and then upload them with IMAP ?
thanks cornelius !!!
at 1/17/2010 6:34 PM

bmauldin12@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

Hi C-

I think my situation is a little different. I have an actual .pst file. It holds my personal emails from my old work email address. The .pst file was sent to me from my tech from MS Outlook on the work's server. I don't have access to the server anymore because I don't work there anymore. I don't think I can use the Imap configuration? I did some research and it's confusing on which is the best way to retrieve the emails from the .pst file (sitting on my desktop) into Gmail?

Thanks,

Billy
at 1/25/2010 5:05 AM

mrsamisme@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

Hello C!
I'm not seeing the [Gmail] folders on the left in Outlook 2007. Did I mess up?
at 2/7/2010 1:58 PM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey mrsamisme,

If you don't see the [Gmail] folders, you may need to try again.  Something probably didn't sync just right. ;-)

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 3/6/2010 10:06 AM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey Billy,

If you have the actual PST file, just attach it to Outlook as another mail folder.  It should then show up on the left, the next time you open Outlook.
Proceed by adding Gmail to Outlook per this article and then simply drag and drop the email from there. :-)

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 3/6/2010 10:17 AM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey Ed,

If Outlook Express supports an IMAP account, you can do it directly from there without having to go through Outlook first.  I don't know if it does or not, though.

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 3/6/2010 10:19 AM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Rob,

My pleasure.  Glad it was helpful.

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 3/6/2010 10:20 AM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey pbouty,

If you have more than the allowed folder nesting, you may have to rearrange your folders to a more flat structure before porting to Gmail.  Once they're in Gmail, you can use labels to assign all the metadata you like and essentially fake out a deeper folder structure.

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 3/6/2010 10:22 AM

billsimpson999@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

Hello C.

I have to say that I was searching all over for a solution to this issue and was very happy to find this simple solution. The only 'problem' I had was getting the IMAP Gmail account properly configured in Outlook 2007. For anyone who is also struggling with this, very detailed instructions can be found at http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&ctx=mail&answer=75726.

Thanks so much for sticking with this thread for nearly 2 years now.

Bill
at 3/10/2010 3:55 AM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Thanks Bill and thanks for the link you posted!

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 3/11/2010 12:27 PM

will031610@willwhitman.ANTISPAM.com

Cornelius, thank you for the post and all the continued answers.  This has been very helpful in my effort to get my email consolidated to a single gmail (actually Google apps for your domain) account.  I have a question that may be far enough off topic that it's worth handling offline, but since you're moderating, you can make the call whether to post or contact me directly. 

I am subleasing office space at my former employer.  They have an Exchange server in-house.  I access internet via their network under the sublease arrangement, and have a mailbox on their exchange server.  Since I've now synced my gmail into outlook and vice verse, are my gmails now accessible in exchange to the company's network operators, or has the IMAP process solely provided me with a, for lack of a better word, "window" into my gmail account(s) through my Outlook "client"?  I'm not sure if I'm using these words correctly in the technical sense, so forgive me.  If you don't understand the question, I'm happy to elaborate (Again offline if you prefer).  Thanks again for the post, it was very helpful.  sincerely, Will
at 3/16/2010 9:30 AM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey Will,

Thank you for your comment.
Indeed, I've now been on Google Apps Gmail for my domain for almost 2 years and I couldn't be happier.  No more wasted time and CPU cycles with Outlook and Windows Desktop Search! :O

Anyway, as for your question.  IMAP is a client side connection to your email that you setup so Exchange never even knows about the email you access through Outlook via IMAP.  I hope that answers your question.

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 3/17/2010 5:36 PM

goemanb@abe.midco.ANTISPAM.net

does this work if I have outlook express? I am wanting to try to do this because I just got a smart phone and want to be able to access record. I have outlook express on my old computer and I have been able to import them to windows live mail in my new computer running windows 7 so I could send them from either place, but I don't have outlook.
at 3/18/2010 6:35 AM

goemanb@abe.midco.ANTISPAM.net

can you explain what 1e is?
Configure your email application using the instructions from 1e above.
at 3/18/2010 5:36 PM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey Goemanb,

Though I've not tested it, Outlook Express supports IMAP so it should work.
Here's a link on how to configure IMAP in OE:

http://www.os-cubed.com/MailHelp/ConfigureOutlookExpressIMAP/tabid/192/Default.aspx

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 3/19/2010 12:09 PM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey Goemanb,

The item list numbering got messed up.  1e should be 1-5.

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 3/19/2010 12:12 PM

http://www.angelahou.com

Hey C,

Thanks SO MUCH for this wonderfully simple method!! Solved my problem big deal!!
at 5/13/2010 10:04 PM

http://www.cjvandyk.com/blog

Hey angelahou,

My pleasure!

Later
C
Cornelius J. van Dyk at 5/22/2010 4:51 AM

alexpop57@gmail.ANTISPAM.com

My question is a bit complicated... I recently decided to switch from using a Comcast email address on Outlook to creating a Gmail address and using Gmail completely. I set up my email so that all messages going to my Comcast address will now go to my new Gmail address. However-- I can't figure out how to import all my old Comcast/Outlook messages into my new Gmail account. Could you help me with that?
at 8/1/2010 10:46 PM

paa2013@med.cornell.ANTISPAM.edu

Hi Cornelius,

I have a Gmail account (not a Google Apps account) and an email account through my College.

About a week ago, I added my College email account to Gmail.  Gmail imported all the emails available on the server -- one month's worth.

Now, I was wondering if I could upload the remainder of the email sent to my @med.cornell.edu account, which now resides in a .mbox file generated by Apple Mail. Unfortunately, Apple Mail stinks. It indexes inconsistently, its junk mail filter stinks for listservs, and it does not support advanced search syntax.

Short of forwarding 9k messages, is there a way I can get my institutional emails into Gmail?

Thanks for any possible insight.

Paul
at 8/2/2010 1:41 PM

paa2013@med.cornell.ANTISPAM.edu

It's uploading really slowly, but I think I figured it out. The key was to create a new account at imap.google.com.
at 8/2/2010 2:00 PM

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