I’m making the switch from my old email setup to Gmail and need some help.
I have tons of old messages stored in an Outlook 2007 PST file that I want to keep. These are important emails I’ve been saving for years.
I thought about just forwarding everything from Outlook to my new Gmail address, but I’m worried this might mess things up. Won’t Gmail just see this as one big email with all my old messages as attachments?
What’s the best way to get all these archived emails into Gmail so they show up as separate messages? I want to make sure I don’t lose any of my old correspondence during this move.
Has anyone done this before? Any tips would be really helpful.
Had the same issue a few years ago during a work migration. That forwarding idea won’t work - Gmail just sees them as forwarded messages, not originals. I used Outlook’s export feature with a third-party PST converter. Exported to EML format first, then used Google’s Email Uploader (now discontinued unfortunately). Now you’ll probably need Thunderbird as a middleman - import your PST there, then IMAP sync everything to Gmail. Takes forever but keeps all metadata intact and treats messages as individual emails instead of attachments.
I transitioned my emails using the built-in import function in Gmail without any hassle. Ensure that IMAP is activated in Outlook 2007 if your account is still operational. Navigate to Gmail settings, then to the Accounts tab, and utilize the ‘Import mail and contacts’ feature. This method allows you to transfer all your emails while preserving their original timestamps and folder structures. If your old account is inactive, Google Takeout can help, but it requires converting your PST file, making it less convenient. Overall, I recommend the IMAP route; it efficiently maintains your email organization.
Honestly, the easiest way i’ve found is using google’s migration tool if you still have access to that old account. If not, convert the PST to MBOX format first with a free tool like Aid4Mail. Then upload the MBOX files directly to gmail using their import feature. Takes a while but keeps everything separate like you want.