Transfer your email to us
Definitions
When you transfer your email to us, you move your email to our platform, meaning your email becomes hosted with us. This differs from transferring a domain name, which moves your domain registration service, or a website transfer, which moves your website to your hosting service.
An email transfer moves your email to your hosting service.
‼️ IMPORTANT For email transfers, here are key terms in two main categories. Understanding these definitions is crucial for a successful email transfer:
Your Providers
Current Web Hosting Provider
- Definition: This is the provider where your email is currently hosted and you are moving away from.
- Also called: Current web host, old web host, web host you are leaving.
New Web Hosting Provider
- Definition: This would always be us because you’re moving your email to our platform.
- Also called: New web host, web host you’re moving to.
Your Services
Existing Web Hosting Service
- Definition: A web hosting service active on your account with us, where you already host other emails and website data. Has usually benefited from a previous free transfer completed by our team.
- Also called: Existing hosting subscription, existing hosting plan.
New Web Hosting Service
- Definition: A new web hosting service where you do not yet host other emails or website data. Has usually never benefited from a free transfer completed by our team.
- Also called: New hosting subscription, new hosting plan.
Before you start
‼️ IMPORTANT Your web hosting service determines which email transfer scenario applies. If you haven’t done so already, review the definitions above to understand each term within the scenarios.
Scenario A Do you have a New Web Hosting Service with us❓
➡️ All new hosting services come with a free email transfer by our team. If you just signed up for a new hosting service and want a free transfer, open a support ticket with our team.
Scenario B Do you have an Existing Web Hosting Service with us❓
➡️ To transfer additional email to your existing hosting service, use this guide to do it yourself for free. If you prefer our transfer team to handle it, open a support ticket. Transfer requests for existing hosting services start at $25 per email transfer. Service fees also apply if you require our team to intervene at any point during your self-transfer.
❗ADDITIONAL POINTS
✅ To transfer your email address, your current email service must be IMAP enabled.
ℹ️ This guide has been written to transfer one email address at a time, therefore you must complete the steps from start to finish for each email address you want to transfer.
⚠️ This guide provides general guidelines for each step. If you’ve already completed a step, skip ahead to the section that matches your current step.
🛑 Email address calendars, contacts, filters, signatures, and similar settings cannot be transferred.
🚨 Email transfers can be complex. If opting to complete the transfer yourself, make sure to follow the sections in this guide thoroughly.
⛔ Email hosted on Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 cannot be transferred. You will have to activate their email records on your domain instead, reference these guides: Google Workspace | Microsoft 365
❌ Website transfers do not transfer email. If you want to transfer only your website, go here: Transfer your website to us. Transferring your website only does not transfer your email service.
🌐 Domain name transfers do not transfer email. If you want to transfer only your domain name to us, go here: Transfer your domain name to us. Transferring your domain only does not transfer your email service.
Step by step
🤔 Each section below will guide you on where to perform the step by step instructions.
Get your email address details
🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps in this section between your computer and your Current Web Hosting Provider, the web host you are leaving.
1. Pull up a secure note on your computer via your notepad app or password manager. On your secure note, write down these three fields:
- IMAP Host (or ‘hostname’):
- User:
- Password:
2. Log in to your account at your current web hosting provider
3. Go to the email account section and find the IMAP hostname for your email address. This should be available on your hosting control panel. If not, check your web host’s official help documentation or support channels.
4. Once you have the IMAP hostname for your email address, write it down on your secure note next to the IMAP Host: field
5. On your secure note, next to the User: field, write down your full email address
6. On your secure note, next to the Password: field, write down your email address password. It’s crucial this password is correct, or your email transfer will fail. If unsure, reset your email password with your current web host.
7. Double check the email address details on your note, these credentials must be correct for a successful email transfer. Once you’ve successfully checked, move to the next section.
Create your new email address shell
🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps in this section at your New Web Hosting Provider, which is on your hosting control panel with us.
1. Go to this guide: Create an email address and complete all the steps under only the ‘Create an email address‘‡ section. By completing these steps, you will create a new email address shell.
‡ When you create your email address shell, make sure the Username and Password match the details in your secure note from the previous section. In other words, the ‘shell’ email address and password should match your existing email address and password.
2. Once you have successfully created your new email address shell, move to the next section
Transfer your email address data
🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps in this section at your New Web Hosting Provider, which is on your hosting control panel with us.
1. Log in to your hosting control panel with us
2. From the top right, click the down arrow ∨ and choose the domain associated with the email address you are transferring
3. Click on the Email Transfers button
4. Click on Import e-mails
5. Pull up your secure note where your email Host, User, and Password details are written down
6. On the Start Import Migration page, under the Source section, fill in the required fields:
- Host: This is the IMAP hostname from your current web host
- User: Your full email address
- Password: Your email address password
⚠️Note: Our process below provides visual examples. Keep in mind that your settings and naming will differ.
7. Under Destination, click the ▼ and select your email address prefix. The prefix is the part before the @ symbol in your email address. For Authentication, keep Internal sign-in selected.
8. Double check all the fields, and make sure everything is filled our correctly. Once checked, click the Start Migration button.
9. Your email address data will now transfer. The run time (duration) will depend entirely on how much data is being transferred. If small, it may be completed in a few seconds. If large, it could take hours or a full day.
10. On the IMAPSync Migrations page, you will see your email transfer running. The transfer will run in the background and notify you via the message center once completed. Below is an example of the process.
11. On the My Messages page, you can click on your IMAPsync migration message to view your email address data transfer details, and then click the Mark as read button to clear it.
Verify your email transfer
🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps in this section between your Current Web Hosting Provider and your New Web Hosting Provider, which is on your hosting control panel with us.
1. Log in to your account at your current web hosting provider
2. Go to the email account section and find your email address
3. Find the size of your email address mailbox
ℹ️ Note: If you are unsure how to check the size of your email address mailbox within your current web hosting provider, consult their official help documentation or support channels.
4. Once you’ve confirmed the size of your email address mailbox at your current web host, take note of it
5. Now, log in to your hosting control panel with us
6. Click on Email Accounts
7. Find the email address you transferred and under its Usage column, make sure the number matches approximately ‡ the size you noted down in the previous step.
‡Note: In reality, the size numbers will never be an exact match due to compression during transfers. A different size on our side does not mean you lost email data. However, it should be within a range of the original size and always above 0.
8. Once you’ve successfully verified your email transfer, move to the next section
Check your email forwarders
🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps in this section between your Current Web Hosting Provider and your New Web Hosting Provider, which is on your hosting control panel with us.
1. Log in to your account at your current web hosting provider
2. Go to the email forwarders section
3. Look for any existing email forwarders for your email address
ℹ️ Note: If you are unsure how to check for email forwarders within your current web hosting provider, consult their official help documentation or support channels.
4. If you see email forwarders for your email address, go to step 5 in this section. If you do not see any email forwarders, skip step 5 and go to the next section.
5. (Only complete this step if you have email forwarders. If you do not, skip this step.) Open this guide and complete all the steps for each email forwarder: Create an email forwarder
Apply our nameservers or MX records
🤔 Where do I do this? It depends. See the scenarios below and follow the correct steps. Only complete one set of instructions, from one of the scenarios.
Scenario 1
🌐 You want to apply our nameservers to your domain.
🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps at your Domain Registrar, the company that manages your domain name registration.
1. Open this guide and follow all the steps: Use our nameservers on your domain name
2. Once you’ve applied our nameservers to your domain name, you must wait for the settings to load across the internet, this can take anywhere from a few hours to 24 hours in a process called DNS propagation.
❗Do not check your email immediately after applying our nameservers, as you need to allow 24 hours for proper DNS propagation and SSL activation. Don’t worry, your email remains fully operational during this period. You just need to wait for internet service providers worldwide to sync their settings.
3. Once you’ve waited a few hours for DNS propagation, move to the Access your email section further below
Scenario 2
🌐 Your domain uses our nameservers already.
🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps at your New Web Hosting Provider, which is on your hosting control panel with us.
1. Log in to your hosting control panel with us
2. From the top right, click the down arrow ∨ and choose the domain associated with the email address you transferred
3. Click on the MX Records button
4. On your Modify MX Records page, go to the MX Template section. On the dropdown, select Local Default and click the Save button. Below is an example of the process.
5. Return to the main page of your hosting control panel
6. Open and complete all the steps in this guide: Find the IP address of your hosting account
7. Once you’ve found your IP address, note it down on a secure note
8. Return to the main page of your hosting control panel
9. Open this guide Manage your DNS: TXT records, go to the ‘Edit a TXT record‘ section, and use the steps to edit your SPF record. You have to construct your SPF record, using the structure below:
v=spf1 a mx ip4:yourhostingaccountipaddress include:relay.mailchannels.net ~all⚠️ Note: Replace the yourhostingaccountipaddress with the IP address of your hosting account that you noted down in the previous step.
For example, if our hosting account IP address is: 70.38.95.141, our SPF record would be:
v=spf1 a mx ip4:70.38.95.141 include:relay.mailchannels.net ~allHere is a visual example of our SPF record, in our DNS zone:
10. Once you’ve successfully updated these settings with us, move to the Access your email section further below
Scenario 3
🌐 Your domain uses an external DNS or CDN provider (e.g., Cloudflare)
🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps between your hosting control panel with us AND at your DNS Provider, which is the company that manages your DNS.
1. First, go to Scenario 2 above and complete all the steps except the last one. You need to come back here. Complete the Scenario 2 steps to update your email routing and generate the MX and SPF records.
2. Once you’ve completed the steps in Scenario 2, open a new web browser window, and log in to your external DNS provider user dashboard (Cloudflare, etc.).
3. Edit your MX record, and match it to the MX record you generated on your hosting control panel with us
ℹ️ Note: If you are unsure how to manage MX records with your DNS provider, consult their official help documentation or support channels.
4. Edit your SPF record, and match it to the SPF record you generated on your hosting control panel with us. For visual help, see the guide Manage your DNS: SPF record and refer to the steps under Scenario B for adding your SPF record to Cloudflare.
ℹ️ Note: If you are unsure how to manage SPF (TXT) records with your DNS provider, consult their official help documentation or support channels.
5. Once you’ve successfully updated these settings at your DNS provider, move to the Access your email section below
Access your email
🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps in this section either on your web browser or your New Web Hosting Provider, which is on your hosting control panel with us.
Your email service provides you with a webmail web app to access your email.
1. To access your email via webmail, open and follow these steps: Log in to your email via webmail
2. Once you’ve successfully logged into your email via webmail, move to the next section
Check your IMAP and SMTP settings
🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps in this section on your devices (computer, mobile phone, iPad, tablet, etc.).
If you already use your email address on email apps on your device(s), you must check and apply any required updates to your IMAP and SMTP settings on them.
- Open this guide and check your IMAP and SMTP settings match: IMAP and SMTP settings
If you don’t use an email app on your device(s) and would like to, see the guides below.
(Optional) Review your special settings
🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps in this section at your New Web Hosting Provider, which is on your hosting control panel with us.
This section applies only if you had ‘special settings‘ for your email address at your old web host and need to reapply them.
‘Special settings‘ include:
- Email display name and signature (in webmail only)
- Email spam filters
- Email block list
- Email ‘always allow’ list
🛑 Email address calendars, contacts, filters, signatures, and similar settings cannot be transferred automatically. However, take a moment to manually save any contacts, info, or settings you used previously.
(Optional) Transfer your domain name to us
🎉 If you’ve made it to this section, congrats, you’ve completed your email transfer! Now, you can transfer your domain name to us, if you’d like and haven’t done so already.
🌐 To transfer your domain name to us, complete all these steps: Transfer your domain name to us
There are several benefits to transferring your domain name to us, namely:
✔️ You will manage all your services from one place
✔️ You will have long-term cost savings
✔️ You will gain an additional year on your registration period (for most extensions)