Sachin writes – “I have few thousand email messages inside Microsoft Outlook (a pst file) organized in various folders. I know it is possible to download emails from Gmail to Outlook using POP3 or IMAP but is the reverse path possible.”
Sachin is looking for a trick to archive all Outlook email messages (and folders) to his online Gmail account for two reasons – one is secure backup and two, he will be able to access his old emails from any computer.
Solution: It is quite easy to transfer Outlook emails to your Gmail mailbox. Here’s a step by step guide:
Step 1: Enable IMAP in your Gmail account and then configure Outlook (or Outlook Express or Windows Live Mail) to sync with your Gmail address via IMAP. Read this guide.
Step 2: Import your Outlook PST file into a Personal folder that is different from your default Gmail Inbox.
To import, click File -> Import And Export -> Import from another program or file. -> Next -> Personal Folder File (.pst) -> Next.
Select the PST file that contains your email, then pick the email folders that you want to import in Outlook and click Finish.
Step 3: Select the Personal folders that you want to backup online and copy them your Gmail Folder in Outlook (see screenshot).
In the Folder List, right-click the folder you want to copy and click Copy Folder name. Click the Gmail Folder in Outlook to copy that folder in that location. You can repeat the steps as needed for other folders.
That’s it. Your Outlook email will soon become available inside your online Gmail Inbox.
If your switching from Hotmail to Gmail, check this tutorial on moving emails from Hotmail to Gmail.
Caution: The migration from Outlook to Gmail can take a long time if you have very large Outlook pst file or if your internet connection speed is slow. Therefore, consider removing all large emails before moving them to your Gmail via IMAP.
Related: Is Your Outlook+Gmail Slow ?
Find this article at: http://www.labnol.org/internet/email/export-outlook-email-to-gmail-pst-backup/1938/
Tags: backup, feature, gmail, microsoft outlook, Email, Internet
Reader Comments
This only works if your corporate firewall ports are open for the IMAP ports Gmail uses. Otherwise it fails.
Ed: If you are looking to store your Office email into Gmail, just backup your Outlook PST Files on a CD or a USB Drive and import it into your Gmail account from the home computer.
Written by Teknojunkie on 12.14.07
This seems like a novelt idea but by exporting outlook pst to GMail you risk handing your private and potentially corporate information to Google. You should double check the GMail EULA to make sure you are protected.
Written by D Lao on 12.15.07
Great article but do you have any specifics regarding step 2 for Outlook Express?
Written by Viran on 12.16.07
But IMAP at Gmail had some problems a few days back when I used it..Hope it works..
Written by Manpreet Singh on 12.16.07
Great post. I used this tip to move messages from my never used Hotmail account to my Gmail, so at least now I can search them.
The next thing I need is the ability to forward messages from my Hotmail account to Gmail. They apparently let you forward to toher Hotmail or Live accounts (dig around in the settings), but not to other email providers.
Written by Michael on 12.18.07
Hi,
Nice tutorial, but i don’t understand the purpose of step 2..can you please give more explanation about all the steps involved in this step and the fina purpose of doing this, instead of just copying a folder form the “personnal folder” into the “gmail imap folder” like in step 3.
Thanks for the feedback
Regards
Written by freedisk on 01.12.08
hi,
i like this tutorials, but i want mails to be stay in mail accounts and copy in outlook. was it there any solutions. exp: i set yahoo mails to outlook but i want the same mails to be in yahoo also. like copy of mails in outlook. plz send me the details
Written by vinod on 04.01.08
I tried to copy my mails from outlook express in my gmail like explained. I make maps and then I select the mails and copy them in the corresponding map in gmail. In outlook in the gmail folder all messages are shown and seem copied. When I open this map online in gmail, then he only shows like for example 14 of the 38 mails…. or 5 of the 8….. Can you tell me what is wrong like this? It seems that I don’t see all the mails in gmail that I see in the gmail folder in outlook. Thanks
Written by johan on 05.31.08
I have tried but in step 2 while I try importing from pst file, it is showing an error message saying, “The Personal Folders File (.pst) is already in use in the current profile”, can anyone tell me how to get rid of this and backup my outlook e-mails to gmail.
Regards,
Rakesh Pachawa
Written by Rakesh Pachawa on 07.28.08
I can not get my gmail to link with my outlook. I keep getting server errors with the IMAP and STMP. Is there a program I need to download like Hotmail first?
Written by Peg Olson on 07.31.08
How do I export my outlook e-mail files (XP) to microsoft mail (Vista)
Written by Howard mitchell on 07.31.08
Why import the PST file? In Outlook, just File > Open > Outlook Data File and then copy the folders from the PST to gmail.
Written by badbob001 on 09.24.08
how do I delete or log off someone who decided to open his gmail on my outlook. It interfers with everything.
Written by Sylvia on 02.02.09
how can i log someone out that has opened his gmail on to my outlook without asking and now it interferes with everything that I do.
Written by Sylvia on 02.02.09
Companies have strict policies about their data. They dont want Google to store their data just like you dont want your money to be stored in your neighbors house, just because they said it is free to keep. I’ve known some young employees get Fired for storing company/client data on Gmail. Be aware of your company policies.
Regards,
Alok
Written by Alok Verma on 03.16.09
How can i export emails from Outlook to my IPhone? I have a Gmail account set up on my phone.
Written by vicki on 04.11.09
Thanks for the tip. However this only partially works for me.
The mails (personal ones not corporate!) are copied across, but the To: and From: fields are blank. I assume this is because the Exchange user information is not available. However it would be good if the text of the To: and From: fields were copied, even if the email address is not available.
Anyone know how to achieve this?
Written by Joe on 04.27.09
How can I make this a unidirectional transfer. I don’t want to synchronize between Gmail and my local client. I only want to use Microsoft Outlook as a way of uploading local e-mails to the gmail server for archive purposes. The IMAP config does this but it also downloads e-mails from the gmail inbox, which I don’t want.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Written by Simon on 05.17.09