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Written By
Suman Rawat -
Approved By
Sonika Rawat -
Updated on
October 25th, 2025 -
Read Time
5 minutes
Are you tired of juggling multiple email clients? Whether you are switching from Outlook, Apple Mail, or even your web hosting provider (such as cPanel). Migrating your email accounts to Gmail is easier than you think. In this blog, learn how to migrate IMAP to Gmail for free or with an effective IMAP Backup Tool. It is needed to centralize email communication, improve productivity by having all email accounts easily accessible, and harness all of Google’s awesome features.
Gmail has some distinct advantages to make it a great place to consolidate all your email accounts into one hub! The factors are mentioned as:
As everyone is well aware of the IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) and Gmail. Both can be easily configured together with the correct IMAP and SMTP settings. There is a manual method with Google’s built-in feature, explained here. But with the manual method comes its shortfalls. So, an automated solution is given at the end for accurate migrations.
This is a standard free method for a single IMAP account. Follow these steps:
Note: Enter the server credentials depending on your IMAP account (Outlook/Thunderbird/or others). If you have any doubts, contact their concerned support.
This Gmail import from IMAP method is possible. But you require technical expertise, it is time-consuming if your mailbox is large, and it has no support for batch IMAP accounts.
If you have several accounts, a gigantic mailbox (well over 20GB), or simply want to keep the folder structure you have, using SysInfo IMAP Backup Tool is the best answer. With it you can:
05 Simple Steps to Import IMAP Mail to Gmail
Tip: This is an effective option for businesses, intense use cases, or anyone concerned with losing their well-organized folder hierarchy under the IMAP setup.
Learning how to migrate IMAP to Gmail makes an enormous difference in productivity, both personally and professionally. Whether you choose a simple manual option for a single account. Or use the expert tool for a complex migration; you now know how to properly consolidate your email into one place. Enjoy the convenience of one inbox with IMAP Email Backup and get rid of clutter in your online server mailbox.
Ans- No. Your original emails will continue to show unless you choose to Free Server Space, and that too within the IMAP Email Backup Tool.
Ans- It depends on how many emails you have. Manual methods can take a few hours to a few days to complete the import. Whereas with the professional tool, the import completes in minimal time.
Ans- Yes. You can use the Batch Mode of the IMAP Mail Backup Software for bulk migration. It allows you to “Import CSV” containing details for multiple accounts. Add IMAP email to Gmail and complete your conversion in a batch successfully.
Ans- With the manual method, old emails are not preserved, since only new ones are moved. Also, folder structure and labels aren’t preserved correctly. To preserve folders when you import IMAP mail to Gmail, use the SysInfo IMAP Migration Tool.
About The Author:
Suman Rawat is a technical content writer and expert in the fields of email migration, data recovery, and email backup. Her passion for helping people has led her to resolve many user queries related to data conversion and cloud backup.
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