How to Move Emails from One Gmail Account to Another

 Karrar Haider  13th Jan 2016

Moving from one Gmail account to another Gmail account is just a sign-up away, but leaving all your old
emails behind isn’t really an option in most cases. There can be thousands of important emails that you
may like to keep with you. Additionally, you may also like to keep receiving incoming emails from the old
Gmail account to the new one.

Thankfully, Gmail offers a simple process to move emails from one Gmail account to another to keep
receiving new emails as well. If you are looking to move your old emails to your new Gmail account,
follow the process explained below.

Enable POP in the Old Gmail Account

POP (Post Office Protocol) is a protocol that retrieves all the emails from a server and saves them to the
client. By enabling POP in your old Gmail account, you can allow Gmail to fetch emails (old and new)
from your old account and transfer them to another account (your new account).

To enable POP in your old Gmail account, sign in to your old Gmail account and click on the Gear icon
located at the top right corner of the window. Now click on the “Settings” option to access Settings.
In the Settings, click on the “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” tab and then select the option “Enable POP for
all mail.” As soon as you Enable POP, you will see a drop-down menu below which will let you decide
what you want to do with the emails that are accessed by POP. You can save a copy in the old account,
mark them as read, archive them or just delete them. Once you have selected the desired option, click on
“Save changes.”

There is also an option of “Enable POP for mail that arrives from now on” which will only send the new
emails to your new account and not the currently stored ones.
Import Email from Old Gmail Account to the New
Account
Now you need to add the POP-enabled Gmail account to your new account so Gmail can start receiving
emails from it. Sign out of the old Gmail account, and log in to the new one. In the new account click on
the Gear icon, and select “Settings” from the menu.

Click on the “Accounts and Import” tab, and then click on the “Add a POP3 mail account you own”
option.
A new window will open where you will be prompted to enter an email address. Enter the old Gmail
account email here, and click on “Next Step.”

On the next page enter the password for the old Gmail account, and click on “Add Account.” By default,
you don’t have to change anything, but it is best to check/customize the following options before
clicking “Add Account:”

POP Server: pop.gmail.com

Port: 995
Uncheck: Leave a copy of retrieved message on the server.
Check: Always use a secure connection (SSL) when retrieving mail.
Uncheck/Check: Label incoming messages – Check it if you want to Label the messages.
Uncheck/Check: Archive incoming messages – Check it if you want to archive messages instead of
sending them to the Inbox.
When you click on “Add Account,” you will be asked if you want to reply to the received emails as the
“old email address” or the new one. This can be handy if you want to make sure your recipient receives
emails from your old account to identify you. If you choose “Yes,” you will have to verify your old email
address with a confirmation code. If you choose “No,” the setup will finish and your account will be
added.

It may take some time to retrieve all the emails, so you may have to wait a bit. Furthermore, you can
always click on the “Delete” button next to your added account under the “Accounts and Import” tab to
stop receiving new messages from the attached old account.
Note: You may get an “unauthorized access” error when you click on “Add Account.” This happens when
Gmail doesn’t trust the other application/account that is trying to access your old account with POP
enabled. Just go to Allow Application page and click on “Continue” to allow access for ten minutes. Now
you will have ten minutes to click on the “Add Account” button again and continue the process.

Conclusion
The steps listed above are the easiest way to move and manage email from your old Gmail account to a
new Gmail account. You can also use the IMAP option and copy emails from a email client like
Thunderbird or Outlook. However, it can be a bit complicated and a more tiring process. If you have any
questions, let us know in the comments below.

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37 comments
sridhar
By enabling POP, will I receive mails to both old and new Gmail account? or only to the new Gmail
account? Please clarify!

Jan 13, 2016 at 5:55 pm

Damien
You will only receive in your new Gmail account.

Jan 13, 2016 at 5:59 pm

 Karrar Haider
When you will enable POP, you will be given four options that will decide what will happen to
the email in your old account. The selected option will decide whether you will receive the
email in just the new account or in both accounts (some other actions as well). It is also
mentioned in the article:

“As soon as you Enable POP, you will see a drop-down menu below which will let you decide
what you want to do with the emails that are accessed by POP. You can save a copy in the
old account, mark them as read, archive them or just delete them.”

Jan 14, 2016 at 5:54 am

Sarah
Hi,
This article is a recap of Google instructions on how to do the same thing — with
nice illustrations.

It is not working for me and for many other people.

One thing I noticed that was different was when you illustrated to Add a POP3
mail account you own in the new email…my email did not have this: it simply said
“add a mail account you own.” Is this the hangup that so many folks are
experiencing?

I am loath to pay $20 to transfer my info with that other service…

Thanks! Hoping you have some follow up on your article.

Nov 2, 2016 at 6:27 pm

Jena Bowker
Hi Sarah

I have exactly the same issue. Did you manage to find a resolution?

Dec 9, 2016 at 3:21 am

Bhekokwakhe
I want to use my gmail

Feb 21, 2016 at 4:10 am

John Bosco
I want to change my user name, the password will be the same and the mails which I am receiving will
be the same for sometime. Is it possible.

Mar 3, 2016 at 8:53 am

Karrar Haider
You cannot actually change the username of your current account (as far as I know).
However, you can use the instructions in the above article to create a new account (with the
“changed” username), and send all new and old emails from your old account to your new
account. When you will do this, you will also be able to reply to the emails from your old
account with your new account (i.e. your new username).

If you are confused and need a bit detailed instructions, let me know.

Mar 24, 2016 at 4:29 am

Jav
I usually move emails from folders in one account to folders in another, using Thunderbird as you have
said. I can do it also with the native iOS client. Is there a free or payed email client for Android that can
do it????

Mar 22, 2016 at 9:09 am

Karrar Haider
I don’t really use any email client on Android, so I can’t give you any precise instructions on
this matter. However, you can try Microsoft Outlook (link below), it supports Gmail, Outlook
and Yahoo and should let you sync emails easily. Do let me know if you succeed.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.office.outlook&hl=en

Mar 24, 2016 at 4:23 am

Lynn
I have tried many times to transfer emails and folders between my two gmail accounts and the same
message always comes up: Server denied POP3 access for the given username and password. and
Server returned error: “[AUTH] Web login required: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/78754”
I have checked that I am using the correct password and I am. I have tried to change the security setting
to allow different apps – no joy.
Any suggestions? Thanks for any help you can give me.
Apr 6, 2016 at 12:17 pm

Safii D.
https://www.g-transfer.com was how I solved it since there was no light at the end of the
tunnel with Google, you have to pay, but it ended up being worth it for me.

Aug 21, 2016 at 5:51 pm

Bianca
This is USELESS. DOES NOT WORK. Have tried playing with POP settings, disabling 2-step,
changing old Gmail password, allowing less secure apps…it is ENDLESS. Cannot believe
Gmail’s import settings basically break themselves. SORT IT OUT, GOOGLE!

Dec 19, 2016 at 10:22 am

Ali
I have been experiencing the same problem as Lynn. I have done this process all on a laptop using
Chrome, not even on an app. I have gone to the link and enabled access. So, how can this problem be
fixed?

Apr 9, 2016 at 11:59 am

laurencia lungile mkhize

I was being robbed my phone now I want to use my old gmail but I can’t when I try to setup on my new
phone it says it is in use what must I do

Apr 29, 2016 at 4:40 am

r hirsch
i want to move all my messages from my current account to a new email account. however, i want to
continue to receive emails and use my current account. basically, i am approaching the storage limit on
my current account (and don’t want to pay for more storage), so i want to just move messages to a new
account and then continue with my current account which would then have freed up storage space.

is this possible? if so, how do i do it?

thanks!
rh

May 5, 2016 at 1:40 pm

arul
I have labelled the mails in my old account. I want to import the mails along with the same labels in the
new email account. Is it possible? How to do it?

May 16, 2016 at 11:57 pm

J Hunter
Flat out does not work. Tried every iteration possible. I get the same error message: “[AUTH] Web login
required: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/78754” I am simply stunned that google makes it
this difficult.

Jun 1, 2016 at 2:44 pm

S. Siniari
I have tried many times to transfer emails and folders between my two gmail accounts and the same
message always comes up: Server denied POP3 access for the given username and password. and
Server returned error: “[AUTH] Web login required:

YES. Same problem as Lynn and no solution in sight,. I kept getting a notice from Google saying it
prevented someone from trying to sign into my account, so I want to close it & move my stuff, but no!
So, one tedious email at a time I will forward to my new gmail account.

Jun 6, 2016 at 9:54 am

Ann
Same here. You get the error…

https://support.google.com/mail/answer/78754

Google, fix it. Right now it’s not possible to transfer your old gmail to a new gmail account.

Jun 13, 2016 at 2:04 pm

Ann
Here is the problem…
If you have a smartphone and a laptop in which both use the same new gmail account, it’s a problem.
It’s not that it needs to recognize a new device, but that it has to recognize both devices. It does do that
for most things, but not if you get on your laptop to transfer your old gmail to the new gmail account…
and that new account is also being used on your smartphone. Then it gives unauthorized errors, even if
you turn off your smartphone. There is a software error going on with Google that does not allow a
gmail to gmail transfer on your laptop, since your smartphone is set up with that new gmail account. I’m
a computer scientist and I’d bet on Google having a bug with the above scenario.

Jun 13, 2016 at 2:28 pm

Sarah
I have changed both of my devices to the new email, so neither should be accessing the old
account any longer…

It STILL does not work.

Google, fix this. It is a major fail and a total complete hassle.

Nov 2, 2016 at 6:29 pm

Kristen
When I try to sign in, it stops me. I get an email in the old account saying it stopped a sign in from an
unknown app.

Jun 17, 2016 at 2:51 pm

HARSH
Hello,

Thanks for all the info. Real help.

However, it seems difficult for a complete layman like me. I am using Google for Work Free which
denies me any phone/email support from Google. 1 of my 15 email ids have overshot the email storage
space which needs immediate attention. I am unable to even buy more storage space even though I
have turned on purchase storage from the Admin id.

Can I possible transfer all my emails from the current a/c to a new a/c and then keep using the 15 gb I
have transferred from the old account?

Jun 29, 2016 at 1:06 am

Roger
Hopefully this helps someone, but I struggled with this for about 30 mins until I finally went to this page:
https://myaccount.google.com/security#connectedapps and at the bottom I turned on the “Allow less
secure apps” option. I also did everything else mentioned in the article as well as going to the “Allow
Application page” and clicking Continue.

This finally worked for me.

Jul 11, 2016 at 9:43 am

Mandy
Was having same error issue as many others posted. disabled 2-step verification on old account and
then retried. worked after that. hope that helps others.

Jul 17, 2016 at 1:49 pm

Ju
After all the step. I can remove my old gmail for good ? I don’t want anyone from my old email contact
to know my new email address.

Jul 26, 2016 at 7:44 am

Stacey P
I want to move all emails that have been saved into folders an old gmail account to this gmail account.
If I click the box ‘archive’ does that mean they are moved into new folders? Will the process you describe
create new folders in my new gmail account?

Thanks,

Jul 31, 2016 at 5:49 am

Austine
i have been able to archive what i wanted through this help thanks so much to gmail,

Aug 4, 2016 at 10:37 pm

Safii D.
So, I’ve been through the gauntlet with this problem. Just wanted to start out by saying THANK YOU to
Karrar for writing such a great article, but there are problems I encountered along the way that still
haven’t been solved on Google’s end. Mainly, I wanted to save the folders and labels and organization
that I had done over the years, but I was getting the error message like Lynn: “Server denied POP3
access for the given username and password. and Server returned error: “[AUTH] Web login required:
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/78754” Had the same problem with absolutely no end in
sight, there was a major bug at hand.

I searched high and low for a workaround and found an amazing solution. http://www.g-transfer.com

It worked magnificently and I couldn’t be happier now, kept all my labels, folders, I did have to pay for it
which was a bummer, but spent way too much time on this anyway–very happy with the end result.
(Literally, took less than two minutes for me to do). Highly recommend this route for anyone who wants
to save time and whose having the same problems.

Aug 21, 2016 at 5:47 pm

Charmaine
I have done this successfully. Thank you for the step by step instructions.
It says it may take a few days to complete the transfer from my old gmail.
Once this is done, can I completely delete that OLD gmail account and just start fresh using the new
gmail account?

Aug 21, 2016 at 6:41 pm

Sarah
Charmaine–
HOW did you get this to work? I still cannot get it to acknowledge the old email and add as a
POP server — it says it cannot verify or some such. Endlessly.

What was your trick???

Nov 2, 2016 at 6:20 pm

Alex
IMPORTANT!!!!!

For the ones that have problems with the “Add account” for the POP3 access and get an “unauthorized
access” error and still can’t get it to work, do this:

CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD ON THE OLD ACCOUNT and try again, and should work.

It worked for me ;)

Cheers!

Oct 3, 2016 at 4:39 am

Bruce
One more thing to keep in mind. Once you “allow less secure apps” and email starts flowing in using the
importer, the importer will quickly use up your new email address’s daily Receive quota and not only will
it stop importing, but you will also not receive any emails at all, from anywhere, until the limit period
expires. The fact that Gmail has an import function that breaks itself is the dumbest thing I’ve ever
heard of.

Nov 29, 2016 at 3:03 pm

 Jameel Shaikh
will the above procedure also transfer the ” sent items” mail as well ?

Dec 1, 2016 at 5:42 am

Sydney
I’m still having problems with this!

Dec 15, 2016 at 1:44 pm

yaseen
Server denied POP3 access for the given username and password.
I tried everything possible to fixed it and i failed

Jan 9, 2017 at 4:31 am

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