Can You Import Sent Mail From Another Email Address Into Gmail?

By John Lister

Importing sent email requires a little preparation.
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When you start using Gmail, you may decide to stop using your previous email service, particularly if it involves running dedicated email software. Gmail can copy across messages from your old account so that you can readily refer to them if needed. However, a technical limitation means you'll need to use a workaround to get a copy of messages you sent from your old address.

Principle

In principle, you can use Gmail's import feature to copy across messages from your old email account. This works with a large number of email providers. To access the feature, go to Gmail's "Settings" menu, then select the "Accounts and Import" tab and the "Import mail and contacts" link. You must do this in a Web browser and visit the desktop Gmail site: you won't be able to access this tool on the mobile edition of the site or in a dedicated app.

Problem

Gmail's import function works via POP3, a common technology standard for email communication. One limitation of POP3 is that when one email service accesses an account on another service, it can only access incoming messages. This limitation means that in most circumstances, Gmail will only be able to retrieve messages you received on your old account.

Workaround

One way around this problem is to copy or move sent messages into the received messages folders in your old email account. Do this directly in the old account, either through your old email provider's website or in a dedicated email program. The instructions will depend on the email service in question, but in most cases you should be able to create a new folder within the inbox and manually copy across messages from the "Sent" folder. To reduce the possibility of glitches, do this before the first time you attempt to import the messages into Gmail. Once you have the messages in Gmail, you can use filters to find message which have your old address as the sender and then move these messages into a separate Gmail folder to minimize confusion.

New Messages

If you use Gmail's import feature, you can opt to have new messages for your old account automatically picked up by Gmail for the next 30 days. You can also use Gmail's "Mail Fetcher" tool to do this permanently. In both cases, only incoming messages from your old account are picked up. The simplest option is to stop sending any new messages from the old account; if necessary, you can configure Gmail to let you send messages with your old account address listed as the sender.

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