Are you using an email client that works with the IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) and looking to download IMAP emails locally? If yes, this blog is for you. However, exporting/downloading all emails from the IMAP server can have multiple reasons. A few of them include creating a backup, switching the email account, or just wishing to make their data portable.
There may be more reasons, but the crucial thing is to know how to download all emails from the IMAP server to the Windows system. This blog will share detailed solutions, manual and automated, to effectively save all IMAP emails to the local folder.
What are the benefits of exporting/saving all IMAP emails?
- By downloading emails, you can keep a backup that helps you avoid accidental data loss, server crash or other disruption scenarios.
- After taking the IMAP email backup, you can delete the unimportant emails from the mailbox to free up storage.
- You can access or read email data even without the internet connection when you have exported them to the local drive.
- Saving the IMAP emails also allows you to easily switch your data to another account if you want to do so.
You can also have more benefits of downloading all IMAP emails to the Windows system. Let us now look into the ways to complete the backup of emails from the IMAP server.
Different solutions to download/export emails from IMAP server:
You can go through two types of methods, Manual and Automated (IMAP Downloader), to complete the backup/download task. Now, we will understand both of them in detail that you can implement to download all IMAP emails effectively.
1. The manual methods to save IMAP emails for free:
This section will share two approaches for downloading emails from the IMAP server to the local drive. We will use the Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird desktop applications to implement the solution.
Using the Microsoft Outlook:
- Launch the Microsoft Outlook program on your system.
- Then, continue with the File tab and click the Add Account option.
- Following that, type your IMAP client email address and choose the Advanced Option. From here, you have to select the Let me set up my account manually option.
- Thereafter, you can select the IMAP as Account Type and enter your incoming (IMAP) & outgoing (SMTP) details.
- Enter the password and tap the Connect button.
- Wait until Microsoft Outlook syncs all email folders of your IMAP email account.
- After that, navigate to the File, Open & Export and select the Import/Export option.
- Go with the Export to a file option and choose the file type (Outlook PST).
- Then, you have to select the folder you want to download and continue with the Next button.
- Give a path for the destination location where you want to save the resultant PST, and tap the Finish button.
Pros:
- Good for backup and also provides easy access to the data.
- Simple steps to download IMAP emails using the Outlook program.
Cons:
- It allows only a single folder to back up at one time.
- It can affect data originality and is not perfect for larger data.
Through Mozilla Thunderbird:
- Download and open the Mozilla Thunderbird on your personal computer.
- Thereafter, you have to set up your IMAP email account.
- To do this, you must go with the Email option from the Setup wizard.
- Enter your details, such as your name, IMAP email address and password.
- After that, Thunderbird will automatically attempt to configure your IMAP email account. If the automatic attempt fails, you can choose the Manual Configuration option and provide the required details, such as IMAP server, port & security settings.
- Also, you have to select the incoming and outgoing servers to proceed.
- Now, select the Account Settings and go to the Synchronization & Storage section.
- Then, you need to check the options: “Keep messages for this account on this computer” and “Synchronize all messages locally regardless of age.”
- Tap the OK button, and the Thunderbird app will start downloading your IMAP emails.
Pros:
- Free and beginner-friendly way to download IMAP emails to the local folder.
- It takes data to the MBOX folder, which users can easily read and access.
Cons:
- This method can take a long to synchronize, depending on the size of the mailbox.
- Allows only MBOX file format to backup/download emails from the IMAP server.
2. An Automated IMAP Downloader to back up emails from the IMAP server:
You can use the Weeom IMAP Backup and Restore Tool to download all emails from the IMAP server effortlessly. This software comes with a lot of features, offering a simple way to export IMAP email data to the selected folder. It retains the folder hierarchy and meta properties of all emails during the backup process. You will get multiple file formats to save/download IMAP emails to the local storage, such as PST, MSG, MBOX, or MHT.
This IMAP Downloader supports various IMAP-using email clients, such as Thunderbird, Outlook, Gmail, AOL, Zoho, Amazon Work Mail, Zimbra and many more. The steps are simple, and every user can complete the IMAP email backup even without having any technical understanding.
Steps to download IMAP emails using Weeom IMAP Downloader:
- Download and open the Weeom IMAP Backup and Restore Tool.
- Then, you have to choose the target folder (Backup Directory) for backup and apply filters according to your needs.
- Add your IMAP email client by entering the required details, such as email address and IMAP server details.
- Choose the target file format (PST, MBOX, MSG or MHT).
- The tool will now connect to the server and download/back up IMAP server emails.
The Essence of the Blog!
This blog has explained manual and automated solutions to download IMAP emails from the server to the local storage on your Windows system. The manual method might be challenging and not perfect for large data backups. Therefore, the automated IMAP downloader, like the Weeom IMAP Backup and Restore Tool, is a perfect and reliable solution for users. For more details on its working procedure and functionality, users can try its free trial version on their Windows operating system.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Downloading emails will only create a copy of the emails until you manually delete them from the server.
Yes. You can automate the IMAP email backup regularly using the Weeom IMAP Backup and Restore Tool.
Yes. Weeom IMAP Backup and Restore Tool allows you to restore downloaded emails to another email account.
Yes. You can choose the desired folder or even use the filters to include/exclude email items to the local storage on Windows.
