Switch a domain without losing mail
Move your own domain's mail to AnhourMail step by step - copy the old mailbox, keep new mail coming while DNS changes, point MX here, then stop syncing.
When your domain's mail moves from another provider to AnhourMail, mail keeps arriving at the old provider until DNS points here. These steps make sure nothing is lost in between, and nothing arrives twice.
1. Add the domain and its mailboxes
Add your domain in the console and create a mailbox for each address (see Mailboxes). Don't change the domain's MX record yet: until you do, mail keeps going to the old provider.
2. Start the imports with "Keep copying new mail"
For each mailbox, start an import and turn on Keep copying new mail until I stop
it. (Admins moving a team can do them all at once, with sync set to yes: see
Import many mailboxes.)
After the first full copy, the import shows Copying new mail: every 30 minutes it copies whatever has arrived at the old provider since. It keeps going until you choose Stop syncing, for up to 14 days from the start.
3. Forward from the old account (optional)
If the old provider can forward mail automatically, you can also turn that on, to the new address here. Forwarded mail arrives straight away, and the import's next pass skips it, because the same message is already in the mailbox. So forwarding and syncing together never give you two copies.
4. Point the domain here
Change the domain's DNS records to the ones the console shows, starting with MX. The steps and the records are in Use your own domain. DNS changes can take a while to reach everyone, so for a few hours some mail may still go to the old provider. The import copies it here.
When the console has checked your MX record, the import page says: Your domain's mail now arrives here.
5. Stop syncing
Wait until nothing new is arriving at the old provider, for example for a day. Then open each import and choose Stop syncing. It copies anything that's left one last time, then shows Finished, deletes the app password it held, and we email you a summary. It doesn't stop on its own when MX changes, so you decide when it's done. If you forget, it stops by itself 14 days after the import started.
6. Tidy up
- Turn off forwarding at the old provider, if you turned it on.
- Revoke the app passwords you made for the import.
- Set up your mail apps with the new settings: see Mail app settings.
- Bring your contacts too: see Import contacts.
Keep the old account for a while before you close it, in case you need something that wasn't copied, like messages over 50 MB.
Import many mailboxes
For Owners and User Administrators moving a team - start an import for every mailbox at once from one CSV file, follow them on one page and download a report.
Import contacts
Bring your contacts from another app or provider as a vCard or CSV file, check which column holds what, and merge them with the contacts you already have.