How to Import Gmail Mail Into Another Gmail Account

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Migrate to a different Gmail account in a few simple steps

Co-authored by Nicole Levine, MFA Reviewed by Stan Kats

Last Updated: December 11, 2024 Fact Checked

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• Enabling POP
|
• Exporting Gmail Messages
|
• Tips

|Show more |Show less

If you already have a Gmail account but want to switch to a new one, there's an easy way to import your emails into your new account. To move your emails from one Gmail account to another, you'll need to enable POP on your old account and then add your old Gmail account to your new one. Keep reading to learn how to import everything from one Gmail inbox to another.

Quick Steps

1. Open your Gmail settings in your old account.
2. Go to Forwarding and POP/IMAP and enable POP.
3. Click Save changes
4. Open your settings in your new Gmail account.
5. Go to Accounts and import > Add a mail account.
6. Add your old Gmail address and start the import.

Steps

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Enabling POP in Your Old Gmail Account

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1. 
   1
   Log in to your old Gmail account and open your settings. If you export all emails from your old Gmail account to your new one, you'll need to enable POP access in the Gmail account you're exporting from. To open your settings, click the gear icon at the top-right corner of Gmail and select See all settings.
2. 
   2
   Click the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab. It's at the top of the right panel.
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3. 
   3
   Select Enable POP for all mail. This is the first option in the "POP Download" section. Turning this feature on allows you to import the messages from this account into your new Gmail account.
4. 
   4
   Choose what to do with the original messages. Select an option from the "When messages are accessed with POP" menu.

   • If you don't plan on using your old Gmail account anymore, you can select archive Gmail's copy (to clear the imported messages from your inbox and move them to the archive) or delete Gmail's copy (to delete the messages once they're safely imported into your other Gmail account.
   • If you still want to keep copies of the messages in this Gmail account after exporting, leave "keep Gmail's copy in the Inbox" selected.
5. 
   5
   Scroll down and click Save changes. Now that you've enabled POP, you can continue to exporting your email messages.
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Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Importing the Messages

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1. 
   1
   Log in to your new Gmail account and open your settings. Now that you've enabled POP access, you'll need to import the messages into your new Gmail account. Once logged in to the new Gmail account, click the gear icon and select See all settings.
2. 
   2
   Click the Accounts and import tab. This tab may just be called "Accounts" on some devices.
3. 
   3
   Click Add a mail account. This is under "Check mail from other accounts."
4. 
   4
   Enter your old Gmail address and click Next. Be sure to enter the Gmail address you're transferring messages from.
5. 
   5
   Select "Import emails from my other account (POP3)" and click Next. This option ensures you can actually export the messages from the old account and import them into the new account.
6. 
   6
   Fill out the form.

   • Enter your old Gmail password into the "Password" field. Don't change the "POP Server" or "Username" fields, as they're already prefilled and correct.
   • Use the "Leave a copy of retrieved messages" checkbox to control what happens to the messages in your old Gmail account after you import them into the new one.
   • Check the box next to "Always use a secure connection (SSL) when retrieving mail" to ensure the import is encrypted.
   • To add a label to all imported messages, check the "Label incoming messages" box and add your preferred label.
   • By default, all the imported messages will appear in your inbox. If you don't want to fill your new inbox with Gmail messages you've already read, you can check the box next to "Archive incoming messages (skip the Inbox)" if you'd like.
     • If you want to continue importing future messages from your old account into your new one, don't bypass the inbox—you could miss important messages this way.
7. 
   7
   Click Add account to start the import. Gmail will now connect to your original account via the POP protocol and begin importing the messages. The import can take a while—even several hours or a few days, depending on how many emails you're importing.
8. 
   8
   Choose what to do with future emails to your old account. Once you've moved your Gmail messages into your new account, you have a few options:

   • If you want future email messages that people send to your old account to be routed to your new account:
     • You can continue importing via POP and make no changes.
     • Alternatively, you can remove your old Gmail account from the "Check mail from other accounts" section, then forward your old Gmail address to your new one.
   • If you don't want people to be able to reach you at your old Gmail account, you can delete the account.
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Tips

• If you're moving to Gmail from another email provider, check out our general guide to importing email into Gmail.
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