You may have maxed out your Google account’s free 15GB storage with emails. It’s possible when you receive bulk messages and large attachments. If you don’t want to pay for a Google One subscription, create a new account and transfer your emails to create space. It’s an effective solution even when you want to discard an inactive Google account. Gmail’s built-in import option makes the process automatic, but you must first adjust a few settings from your personal computer. You can also forward your messages. Here’s how all methods work.
How do you transfer emails between two Gmail accounts?
You can transfer emails from one Gmail account to another with Post Office Protocol (POP) downloads. POP is an older email standard compared to the recent Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) Google uses. It retrieves emails from Google’s servers to your Gmail client, making them available when you log in. IMAP allows for synchronization across multiple devices.
With POP, you can move all your emails from Gmail to Outlook, Hotmail, and other supported email apps when you need to switch. You can also transfer emails between Gmail accounts. This way, you can merge them. POP doesn’t include the Spam and Trash folders, so take your time and check for accidentally deleted messages.
Another method is to forward your emails to the preferred account. You have selective control over what Gmail moves when you do it manually. Plus, it’s faster than POP, which may take hours and requires changing settings.
Many websites advise using Google Takeout and third-party add-ons. Takeout exports your account’s mail, photos, documents, and more to your device’s storage or cloud storage apps. However, you can’t import the data to Gmail. Also, Google removed many import add-ons from its Workspace Marketplace. So, you won’t find many extensions that transfer emails between accounts.
How to transfer emails between Gmail accounts with POP downloads
Before anything, you’ll activate POP downloads for the account you want to transfer from. Otherwise, both accounts can’t communicate. You’ll also decide what happens to the imported emails after moving them. Gmail either keeps a copy, marks everything as read, archives messages, or deletes messages.
Then, you’ll return to the receiving Gmail account and add the old account. Your current account begins importing its emails. It may take hours, and you can stop the process if you change your mind. When done, Gmail marks the emails so that it doesn’t re-download them in the future and generate duplicates. It may import them again when Gmail crashes. If that’s a common problem, use troubleshooting steps to resolve it.
You can’t perform POP downloads on the Gmail mobile app. It doesn’t provide the option. Instead, you’ll use a PC browser to access the web version. Follow the steps below to start:
Enable POP downloads on your old Gmail account
- Open your preferred PC browser and visit mail.google.com.
- Sign in to the account from which you want to transfer emails.
- Click the cog icon in the upper-right corner. Then, select See all settings.
- Go to Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
- Under POP download, turn on POP for all mail.
- Choose what happens when messages are accessed with POP from the drop-down option.
- Scroll down and click Save changes.
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Import emails between Gmail accounts
- Switch to your current Gmail address if you’re signed in to multiple accounts on your browser. Click your profile icon in the upper-right corner. Then, select the account.
- Click the cog icon in the upper-right corner. Then, select See all settings.
- Go to Accounts and Imports. Then, click Import mail and contacts.
- A new window pops up. Enter the email address you want to import from, then click Continue.
- Click Continue again. Then, follow the instructions to sign in to the account and verify it.
- Choose whether to import contacts, all mail, or incoming mail for the next 30 days. You may also check all the options.
- Click Start import.
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How to forward emails between Gmail accounts
When you forward an email, you send a copy of the one you received to another email address. Email forwarding within Gmail can be manual or automatic. Use the manual method if you want the freedom to select messages and push them to the receiving address.
The automatic method is the ideal choice if you want a hands-free experience. Every incoming message is copied to the other account. You can also set up advanced filters that scan messages for matching keywords before Gmail forwards them on your behalf.
The manual method works on the mobile app. Access the web app on PCs to configure automatic email forwarding. Here’s how to forward emails manually:
- On the Gmail web app, click the checkboxes beside emails to select them. Don’t select more than three emails, as Google may have trouble displaying them on your screen simultaneously.
- Right-click any of the selected emails to view available options.
- Select Forward.
- Choose Forward as attachment if you want your emails as a downloadable EML file.
- The compose window appears. Enter the email address you’re forwarding to.
- Forwarded messages often include headers indicating that they were forwarded. You can edit it.
- Click Send.
Clean up after transferring your emails
After moving your emails between Gmail accounts, search through the folders for duplicates. Then, mass delete them. If you manually transfer emails, you’re more likely to generate duplicates. It’s challenging to keep track of which emails you’ve moved, especially when dealing with large volumes. Deleting the emails moves them to the Trash folder, and Google erases them permanently after 30 days. Archive them if you’re not ready to lose them.
