We all use an email service, a webmail, to get an email address and send or receive messages, such as Outlook.com, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Libero Mail etc.
When using an online service to receive emails, it is possible to download messages to a PC using an email program like Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, Apple Mail, or other clients to read mail from a PC, notebook, or smartphone.
Emails often contain very important information and attachments. Although consulting them is very simple - just use the search to find the message we need - we must not forget that it is possible to lose them due to a domain transfer.
Using emails for work, you will be well aware of how important they are since they constitute daily correspondence with clients and suppliers. If you lost your emails following a domain migration, it would mean a great loss of money.
Professional mailboxes are often linked to the domain and reside with the provider.
In such situations, a change to commercial agreements, a modification to the domain name, or a change of host is enough to lose access to your emails.
It is therefore advisable to arrange periodic backups of your mailboxes right from the start.
Creating a backup file to save directly on your PC also has a dual advantage.
Firstly, it allows us to create copies of our mail archives locally, so we can store and consult them without the risk of them being deleted or removed from the server.
The second advantage is being able to clean up the inbox and delete all older messages, to recover space in the webmail if it is almost full.
The simplest way to create a local backup is to rely on the specific functions present in email clients.
Below are the guides for creating a backup in the major email clients:
Microsoft Outlook
To export a backup:
1. Go to the top on File, select Open and export and finally Import/Export;
2. Select Export to a file and click Next;
3. Choose Outlook Data File (.pst);
4. Choose the folder of your email account you want to back up;
5. Indicate or confirm the save path and click Finish.
To import a backup:
1. Go to the top on File, select Open and export and finally Import/Export;
2. Select Import data from other programs or files and click Next;
3. Choose Outlook Data File (.pst) and click Next;
4. Choose the Outlook Data File (.pst) you want to import by clicking Browse;
5. In Options, choose how to import mail messages or contacts;
6. Click Finish and wait for the operation to complete.
Apple Mail
To export a backup:
1. From the Mail application, right-click on the mail folder you want to export;
2. Select Export Mailbox;
3. Choose the path where to save the exported mailbox and click Choose;
4. Repeat the procedure for each folder.
To import a backup:
1. From the Mail application, click on File at the top;
2. Select Import Mailboxes;
3. Choose the option Files in mbox format and click Continue;
4. Go to the folder where you saved the previously exported file, select the file, and click Choose.
Thunderbird
If you have a Windows PC
To export a backup:
1. Go to the Users folder and click on your personal folder;
2. Select the hidden folder AppData. If you can't find this folder, enable the display of hidden files from your system;
3. Find the Roaming folder and double-click;
4. Go to the Thunderbird folder and right-click to select Copy;
5. You can save this folder in any storage space, such as a pendrive, an SD card, or an external hard drive by right-clicking and selecting Paste.
To import a backup:
1. From your storage device, right-click and select Copy:
2. Go to the Users folder and click on your personal folder;
3. Select the hidden folder AppData. If you can't find this folder, enable the display of hidden files from your system;
4. Find the Roaming folder and double-click;
5. In a free spot in the folder, right-click and select Paste;
6. Confirm that you want to overwrite the current folder.
If you have a Mac
To export a backup:
1. Click the menu button, then click Help and from the submenu select Troubleshooting Information;
2. Click Show in Finder. The Thunderbird profile folder will open;
3. Close Thunderbird;
4. From the profile folder, open the Go menu and select Enclosing Folder twice;
5. Hold down the Control key while clicking the Thunderbird folder and select Copy "Thunderbird";
6. You can save this folder in any storage space, such as a pendrive, an SD card, or an external hard drive, hold down the ctrl key while clicking inside the drive and select Paste item.
To import a backup:
1. Hold down the ctrl key while clicking the Thunderbird backup folder, saved in your storage space, and select Copy "Thunderbird";
2. Start Thunderbird and close the account setup window if displayed;
3. Click the menu button, then click Help and from the submenu select Troubleshooting Information;
4. Click Show in Finder. The Thunderbird profile folder will open;.
5. Close Thunderbird.
6. From the profile folder, open the Go menu and select Enclosing Folder twice;
7. Hold down the Control key while clicking inside the folder and select Paste item.
8. When prompted, confirm the replacement of current data.
