Migrating mail in

Migration copies the mail already sitting in an old mailbox into its new Mailyte one, so moving provider does not mean losing years of history.

It reads from the old server and writes into the new mailbox. Nothing is deleted at the other end — the original stays exactly as it is until you decide to switch it off.

Mailyte connects to the old system the way any mail client would, using IMAP, and copies messages across folder by folder. Presets are provided for the systems people usually move from — Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and generic cPanel-style IMAP — which fill in the server address and port for you.

Because it is a copy, it is safe to run more than once and safe to run while people are still using the old system.

Each migration is a job you can watch: how many messages there are in total, how many have moved, and how many failed. A job that fails part-way can be looked at without disturbing what already arrived.

You will need the password for the old mailbox. Where the old provider uses two-factor authentication — Gmail and Microsoft 365 both do — that means an app password generated in their system, not the person's normal one.

1. Create the new mailbox first. Migration needs somewhere to put the mail: see Creating mailboxes.
2. Go to Migration Center and start a migration.
3. Pick the source. If it is Gmail or Microsoft 365, choose the preset and the server details fill themselves in. Otherwise enter the old server's address and port.
4. Enter the old mailbox's username and password. For Gmail or Microsoft 365, generate an app password in their admin tools — a normal password will be refused where two-factor is switched on.
5. Enter the new Mailyte mailbox and its password as the destination.
6. Start it, and watch the progress. A large mailbox takes hours, not minutes; you do not need to keep the page open.
7. When it completes, sign in to the new mailbox and check a few old messages and folders before you tell anyone to switch.
8. Run it once more at cutover, just before you point the domain at Mailyte. That second pass picks up everything that arrived while you were preparing.

Authentication fails against the old server. Almost always two-factor authentication on the old account. Generate an app password there and use that instead.

The connection is refused. Check the port and SSL setting. Nearly every provider uses 993 with SSL; a few older hosts want something else.

Some messages failed but most arrived. The job records what failed and why. Common causes are a message larger than the new mailbox accepts, or a folder the old server would not read.

The folder structure looks flattened. Check the run's settings. Where the option to preserve folders exists, it has to be on before the job starts, not after.

New mail is still arriving at the old system. That is expected until the domain's MX record points here — migration copies history, it does not redirect delivery. See Setting up your domain.

• Creating mailboxes — the destination has to exist first
• Import and export — for files rather than servers
• Go to Migration Center