# Migrate email from another provider
Source: https://docs.webgee.com/en/email/migrating-emails-from-imap-providers-using-our-migration-center







Copy the contents of a mailbox hosted elsewhere into a WebGee mailbox. Applies
to every WebGee Workspace mailbox.

The Migration Center connects to your old provider over IMAP and copies
messages, folders and read state across. The old mailbox is left untouched.

## Before you begin [#before-you-begin]

You need:

* **The destination mailbox already created** on WebGee. Create it under
  **cPanel → Email Accounts** first — the migration copies into it, it does not
  create it.
* **Credentials for both mailboxes** — the old provider's and the new one's.
* **The old provider's IMAP server name**, from their documentation.

<Callout type="info">
  Migrate **before** you change MX records, not after. Once mail is delivered to
  WebGee, the old mailbox stops receiving — but its existing contents stay
  there, and you still need this step to bring them across.
</Callout>

## Migrate [#migrate]

1. Open the **Migration Center** and select **Email Migration**.

   <img alt="The Migration Center with Email Migration selected" src="__img0" />

2. Enter the credentials for the **source** mailbox and the **destination**
   mailbox. Set the provider to **Custom IMAP Server**.

3. Select **Begin Migration**.

4. Both connections are tested first. Green ticks on each mean the credentials
   and server details are valid — then select **Start IMAP Migration**.

   <img alt="The connection test showing both servers validated" src="__img1" />

How long it takes depends on mailbox size. Large mailboxes take hours; you can
close the page and it continues.

## Check it worked [#check-it-worked]

Sign in to [webmail](https://webmail.webgee.com) and confirm your folders and
messages are present. Compare the message count of a couple of folders against
the old provider.

Leave the old mailbox in place for a week or two before closing that account, so
you can go back if something is missing.

## If the connection test fails [#if-the-connection-test-fails]

* **The IMAP server name is wrong.** Check the old provider's documentation —
  it is often `imap.` followed by their domain, but not always.
* **The password is wrong.** Confirm by signing in to the old provider's webmail.
* **The provider requires an app password.** Gmail, Outlook.com and iCloud all
  refuse ordinary passwords for IMAP when two-factor authentication is on.
  Generate an app-specific password in that provider's security settings and use
  that.
* **IMAP is disabled on the source account.** Some providers turn it off by
  default — Gmail in particular. Enable it in their settings first.

## Related [#related]

* [Email server settings](/en/email/manual-configuration)
* [Use Google Workspace for your email](/en/email/how-to-configure-email-routing-and-mx-records-for-google-mail)