How to transfer emails to another email account—the process explained

Switching email providers can be challenging and time-consuming. Learn how to transfer emails to another email account and avoid losing important conversations.

There are various reasons for moving to a new email address. Perhaps your current email is overwhelmed with spam or mail from newsletters you no longer want to follow. You may also want to switch to an entirely new provider because the current one doesn’t offer all the features you need or adequate security.Whatever the case, your existing email likely contains numerous messages you don’t want to lose. To help you ensure this doesn’t happen, this guide will show you how to transfer emails to another email address. You will then learn what email service you should switch to if you want to make the process as effortless as possible while increasing your security levels.

Safely migrate to a secure email serviceSkiff’s one-click migration ensures a smooth transition with minimal effort

How to transfer emails to your new account

Migrating to a new email account typically involves a laborious process. The specifics depend on the provider of your new account, but most Big Tech solutions require you to forward old emails to the new address.To give you a thorough breakdown and all the necessary steps, this guide will focus on Gmail as the most common email provider.

How to forward old Gmail to another Gmail account

To import emails to a new Gmail account, you’ll need to go through two stages:

POP access configuration
Migrating to the new account

Configuring POP access for the old account

The Post Office Protocol (POP) is a basic email protocol enabling email transfer. POP is disabled by default in Gmail, so you’ll need to configure it manually before migrating to a new email address.You can do this by taking the following steps:

Log into your old Gmail account
Click the gear icon in the upper-right corner and go to See all settings
Click the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab
Under POP Download, click Enable POP for all mail

Source: Gmail screenshotFrom the same menu, you can choose what happens with the emails you transfer. Click the drop-down menu next to When messages are accessed with POP and choose from the four available options:

Option	Details
Keep Gmail’s copy in the Inbox	Leaves the transferred messages in your old account intact
Mark Gmails’s copy as read	The messages will stay in your old account and be marked as read
Archive Gmail’s copy	Removes old emails from your inbox and stores them in the Archive folder
Delete Gmail’s copy	Clears your inbox and moves all mail to Trash, where it will stay for the next 30 days before being deleted permanently

Setting up email fetching with the new account

With POP enabled, you can add the address from which you want to transfer emails to your new account. Assuming you’ve already created the account, you can do it by following these steps:

Open Settings on your new Gmail account and go to Accounts and Import
Go to Check mail from other accounts and click Add a new account
Enter the old email address and click Next
Select Import emails from my other account (POP3) and click Next
Under POP server, enter pop.gmail.com, and select 995 under Port.
Check Always use a secure connection (SSL) when retrieving mail and click Add account
Choose Yes, I want to be able to send mail as [username]@gmail.com and click Next
Enter your name when prompted and go to Next step
Click Send verification to verify the email

Source: Gmail screenshotGmail will send you a verification code via email to your old inbox. Copy the number and follow these steps to complete the process:

Log into your new Gmail account
Go to Settings > Accounts and import
Under Send email as, click the Verify button next to your old email
Paste the verification code and click Verify

Gmail will start importing your emails from the old account immediately. The transfer will be done in batches and can take a while, depending on the number of emails in your old account. When it’s done, you can remove the old account from the new one by clicking the Delete button under Send email as.

Which email provider should you switch to?

As you can see, the email migration process is quite lengthy. You’ll have to go through similar steps with most providers or use a third-party service, which can be equally complex to set up.Alternatively, you can export mail as MBOX, EML, or other file types, depending on your old account’s provider. This is quite inconvenient and requires some technical knowledge that an average user might not have.All this effort may not be worth the effort if you end up with another Big Tech provider—especially if you value safety.Gmail, Outlook, and similar email services do not offer adequate email protection. Such options use basic encryption protocols like TLS (Transport Layer Security), which may not be strong enough to safeguard your correspondence against cyberattacks.Besides, threats don’t always come from the outside. Services like Gmail are well-known for collecting user data and relying on privacy-invasive practices to profit. Entrusting large corporations with your sensitive information is not a wise decision, and every user deserves the peace of mind of knowing their online behavior isn’t tracked.To enjoy such privacy and minimize the risk of your data being exploited by malicious parties, you should choose a privacy-first email service.

Get a completely secure email serviceSkiff Mail employs the strongest encryption protocol and couples it with a beautiful UI

How privacy-first email providers keep your data safe

Unlike Big Tech email services, privacy-focused solutions use end-to-end encryption (E2EE) by default. This is the best standard for keeping your emails secured because it conceals your correspondence from everyone but the recipient.With E2EE, the message is turned into ciphertext on your device before leaving it. The encryption key is stored on your device and inaccessible to the provider, so even they cannot see the plaintext version. If an attacker intercepts the message, they won’t be able to decipher it because the decryption key is only available to the recipient.End-to-end encryption isn’t available for free with most Big Tech providers. You would have to pay and often go through additional setup to secure your account. If you need a service that protects your emails without complications and automates tedious tasks like email transfer, check out Skiff Mail.

Skiff Mail—simple, private, and free

Skiff Mail combines the two main aspects of emailing—security and ease of use. It offers strong end-to-end encryption involving two separate keys:

A public encryption key shared between the sender and the recipient
A private decryption key stored on the recipient’s device

Each email reaches Skiff’s servers already encrypted, so the provider cannot see its contents—only the recipient holding the decryption key can decipher the message.To give users full control of their data, Skiff does not collect any personally identifiable information during signup. Your login credentials remain stored on your device, so you can retain full privacy and anonymity.For additional account security, Skiff offers two-factor authentication (2FA) using the Authenticator app. Instead of leaving your phone number to receive a code, you can use the app to log into Skiff securely and prevent someone from taking over your account.The platform is open source, and the codebase is available on Skiff’s GitHub. You can also read the whitepaper to learn more about its security measures and other features.

Designed for convenience and maximum productivity

Skiff’s many security measures require no action or setup on the user’s part. They are built into the platform and active by default, so you don’t need any technical knowledge to get started.Thanks to a beautifully-designed, modern user interface, you can navigate Skiff seamlessly and stay productive. Besides most browsers, you can use the platform on iOS, Android, and macOS to ensure your correspondence is safe wherever you are.Skiff offers various other features that contribute to an effective workflow:

Fast email and text search
10 GB of end-to-end encrypted storage
Folders, labels, and filters for convenient mail management
Options to schedule and undo sending
Four Skiff.com aliases
Integration with various crypto platforms like MetaMask, Coinbase, and Brave

All of the above features are included in the free account, so there are no obligations or commitments. No security measure is hidden behind a paywall, either, ensuring every user can enjoy complete privacy.

Move your emails to Skiff in a single click

If you want to safeguard your messages with Skiff’s advanced security, you can get started in a few minutes without extensive manual processes. Moving everything to Skiff only takes three steps:

Visit the signup page
Choose your username and password
Use Skiff’s one-click migration to transfer all your emails immediately

Skiff won’t save unencrypted copies of your emails, so you can rest assured your correspondence is safe from the moment you transfer it.

Get access to three additional E2EE platforms

After signing up for Skiff Mail, you can create a comprehensive, secure workflow thanks to the three end-to-end encrypted products included with the account:

The following table offers a quick overview of what you can do with each platform:

Platform	Overview
Skiff Pages	Create unlimited docs and leverage invite-based collaboration to bring your team together. Skiff encrypts all of your file’s contents and metadata, like the title and modification timestamps, for enhanced privacy
Skiff Drive	Store files of any type and share them through end-to-end encrypted links. Skiff Drive also supports optional InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) integration to let you keep files safe in a decentralized space
Skiff Calendar	Stay on top of your schedule by automatically syncing Calendar and Mail. You can also hold private meetings with Calendar’s integrated video conferencing tool

While the free account should be robust enough for an average user, Skiff lets you scale as needed through its affordable paid plans. Sign up, transfer your emails in record time, and use Skiff’s comprehensive product suite according to your requirements.

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