Are you still holding on to an email address from years ago, and overwhelmed by the amount of junk mail you get? Have you ever received emails you thought might pose a threat of malware, or ever clicked a link you accidentally shouldn’t have? It’s most likely time to move onto a private and secure server.
But how do you do that? It’s much simpler than you think, and it’s worth it. Learn how to migrate your mail by following along below.
Table of Contents:
Why should I switch to a private email service?
There are many reasons you should consider choosing a private and secure email option. The free email services many of us are on – like AOL, Yahoo, Gmail and Outlook are scanning all your emails so they can sell your data to advertisers.
If you’re looking for the best private email solution, our #1 pick, StartMail is a safe and affordable option with many important privacy features. First and foremost, with StartMail, your emails are encrypted and your privacy is protected.
As mentioned in our article Best Private and Secure Email Providers 2022, among the many great features, StartMail provides you with
- Unlimited, anonymous aliases. This feature protects your main email address from spam and phishing attacks. So when you’re giving your email to a company but want to protect your identity, StartMail can generate a shareable alias email, so people can’t sell your information. And they can be deleted at any time.
- Password-protected message options. The recipient of your email will receive a link and option to enter a password just to view the email.
- Malicious link protection allows you to see full links before clicking them and putting your device in harm’s way. This is a GREAT feature that will help you from falling for phishing attacks that come via email, often in the form of links or attachments. Emails can look like they’re coming from legitimate companies but might contain malicious advertisements. StartMail will pop up a warning message after you click a link showing you what website you’re clicking to. If it’s a suspicious-looking website, don’t click the link!
How do you migrate your email messages and contacts to StartMail?
Step 1: Sign up for a StartMail Account
Your plan includes:
- StartMail email address
- 10 GB of email
- Unlimited aliases
- Access email on any device
- Import your contacts easily
- no ads, no tracking
- send encrypted emails to anyone
Step 2: Prepare for the transition
Before you move over the actual emails from your previous account to a new StartMail account, first follow these steps to prepare for the transition:
- Switch your email address on any important websites. It’s important to update your contact information for banking, social media, and any other websites you receive emails for. If you fail to change those sites to your new Startmail address, you won’t be able to respond to 2- factor ID requests
- Send an email to your friends and family alerting them of your email change. All emails are transmitted as plain text, readable by anyone. So be sure to send the alert as a Startmail encrypted email…don’t send from your former email address
- Now you’re ready to start importing contacts and email messages to Start Mail
Step 3: Migrate old email messages to your new StartMail account
There are various websites that offer to export your emails for you, but StartMail offers a Migration Portal so you can directly move over old email messages from most accounts. You will have to give StartMail permission to access your old accounts.
Head to migrate.startmail.com and enter the login information for your old account. You can choose from Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, or select Other if you use another provider.
Follow the steps and check on the status of your email migration.
Step 4: Transfer contacts over to your new StartMail email
If you have any contacts saved on your email account, you’ll want to transfer them over to StartMail.
- It’s easy to export contacts from various outlets (Outlook, Gmail, AOL, Yahoo, etc.) to what’s called a vCard file.
- Once you’ve exported contacts from your old account, you can import them into Start Mail
- On your StartMail account, click Contacts at the top of the page
- Then tap the Import button and select the vCard file you exported from your old email account
- Your contacts will now all appear in your StartMail account under a folder called Imported
EXCLUSIVE DEAL
Your plan includes:
- StartMail email address
- 10 GB of email
- Unlimited aliases
- Access email on any device
- Import your contacts easily
- no ads, no tracking
- send encrypted emails to anyone
You’ll find many more reasons to switch to Start Mail today here:
2 comments
How much MB content of attachments?
Hi Mike, StartMail allows you to send emails with attachments up to 25 megabytes (MB) in size. This limit includes the email and all attachments combined.