How to Migrate From Gmail to Another Email Provider (2026)

Leaving Gmail is a copy job, not a demolition. Your mail, contacts and calendar can all come with you, and new messages to your old address can follow you automatically. The one thing that cannot come with you is the address itself: [email protected] belongs to Google and stays there.

This guide covers the order that loses nothing: export, import into Outlook, iCloud, Proton or Fastmail, forwarding, and the logins that quietly depend on your Gmail address. If you are moving a company domain or a Google Workspace account, jump to the Workspace section near the end.

Can I keep my Gmail address when I switch providers?#

No. A @gmail.com address cannot be transferred to Outlook, iCloud, Proton, Fastmail or any other provider. Google's account help says that switching from a gmail.com address to a non-Gmail address means deleting the Gmail service, and the only address change it offers is from one gmail.com address to another (where the option appears, limited to once every 12 months and three times in total).

What does move is a custom-domain address such as [email protected]. A domain you own is portable: you point its MX records at the new provider and the same address keeps working there. That is why moving to a custom domain is the cleanest long-term fix if you are tired of changing addresses every few years.

If you are staying on a gmail.com address, you have three practical options for the transition:

• Forward everything from Gmail to your new address and keep Gmail as a quiet relay (steps below).
• Keep the Gmail account open and read it through an email app or a send-as alias, so you never need to open Gmail's website.
• Buy a domain, use it as your new address, and let it follow you through every future provider move.

What does leaving Gmail actually mean?#

Separate two things people blur together: your Gmail mailbox and your Google account. The mailbox is the messages, labels and attachments. It lives in standard forms (IMAP, MBOX) that any provider can read, so moving it is a solved problem.

The Google account is the larger identity behind the address. The same login covers YouTube, Drive, Photos, Google Pay, the Play Store and Android backups, and it is the sign-in or recovery address for a long list of third-party services. None of that moves to your new provider.

So leaving Gmail here means moving your email life, meaning mail, contacts, calendar and incoming messages, while the Google account stays open in the background. For almost everyone that is the right call.

How should you plan the move before exporting anything?#

The biggest mistake is doing the steps in the wrong order: changing your address on important accounts before mail has arrived, or deleting Gmail's contents before confirming the copy worked. Create the destination account first, audit your Gmail filters, labels and top senders, then work through the five steps below. Run both inboxes in parallel for three to six months and treat the move as a transition that settles over time, not a single afternoon.

The overlap is the point. While Gmail keeps receiving and the new provider fills up, some contacts will have your new address and some will not. That is the normal state of having two accounts, and it is safe because neither one is ever the only copy of your mail.

1. 1

   Export your mail

   Take a Google Takeout archive as a backup and run an IMAP copy or the new provider's importer as the actual move. Verify the copy before touching anything else.

2. 2

   Copy contacts and calendar

   These move separately from mail, as a vCard and ICS files. Do this before you rely on the new account.

3. 3

   Set up forwarding and a filter

   Forward new Gmail messages to the new address and keep a copy in Gmail. Rebuild your important filters on the new side, because they do not migrate.

4. 4

   Update logins and recovery addresses

   Switch the username, recovery email and security-code contact on important accounts, one at a time, while Gmail still receives mail.

5. 5

   Keep Gmail for about 12 months

   Leave the address forwarding while contacts and services catch up. Close nothing until only spam still arrives.

How do you export your Gmail with Google Takeout?#

Google Takeout is Google's official export tool. For mail it produces an MBOX archive that most clients and providers can import, with Gmail labels kept in a header inside the file. Contacts come out as vCard and calendars as ICS, both standard formats. It is the right tool for a durable offline backup before you change anything.

1. 1

   Open takeout.google.com and sign in

   Sign in with the Gmail account you are migrating. Products you use are preselected, so deselect the ones you do not need.

2. 2

   Pick Mail, Contacts and Calendar

   Under Mail you can export all mail or only certain labels. Add Drive or Photos only if you want those too.

3. 3

   Choose delivery, file type and size

   Choose an emailed download link, .zip, and a maximum archive size. Large mailboxes split into several archives.

4. 4

   Download promptly and store it safely

   Export takes minutes to days depending on mailbox size. Download links expire after about a week, so grab every part and keep the archive on an encrypted disk.

What is the difference between MBOX export and IMAP migration?#

MBOX (Takeout) downloads your mail as a file you import later. IMAP migration copies messages from Gmail's servers into the new mailbox directly, keeping folders, read state and dates, and it can be re-run to catch newer mail. Take the MBOX as insurance, then use IMAP or the provider's importer as the real move. Enable IMAP in Gmail first (Settings, Forwarding and POP/IMAP, Enable IMAP) and sign in with OAuth, or an app password for older tools.

Where are you moving to: Outlook, iCloud, Proton or Fastmail?#

Each provider has its own route in. Menus change between versions, so treat the paths below as a map and follow the provider's own guide (linked in Sources) if a label differs on your screen. Always run Takeout first and verify folder counts afterwards.

Still choosing a destination? See Fastmail vs Proton vs iCloud: how to choose or the best email provider in 2026. For the same job between any two providers, read migrating email between any two providers.

How do you move your contacts and calendar, not just mail?#

A migration that loses your contacts or calendar has failed, and you feel it the first time autocomplete is empty. Contacts move as vCard and calendar as ICS, and every major provider imports both. If you ticked them in Takeout you already have the files. Otherwise export contacts at contacts.google.com and calendars at calendar.google.com, Settings, Import and export.

Two cautions. Importing the full set into a provider that already synced contacts from your phone creates duplicates, so run its merge tool afterwards. And a one-off ICS import copies events but not live sharing or subscriptions, so re-share your calendars and re-subscribe to external ones.

1. 1

   Export contacts as a vCard

   At contacts.google.com, select all and export as vCard (.vcf). It keeps more fields than CSV.

2. 2

   Export each calendar as ICS

   In Google Calendar settings, Import and export, download the zip with one .ics per calendar.

3. 3

   Import, then merge duplicates

   Import the .vcf and each .ics at the destination, one calendar at a time, then run its duplicate-merge tool and re-share your calendars.

How do you set up forwarding so you never miss new mail?#

Exporting old mail is half the job. The other half is making sure mail that still arrives at Gmail reaches you at the new provider, and a lot will for a long time. Forwarding does that. The setup most people want is to forward everything and keep a copy in Gmail, so it becomes a passive relay with a built-in backup.

Forwarding handles incoming mail only. A reply from the new provider goes out as the new address unless you set up a send-as option, which Outlook, Proton and Fastmail support and iCloud Mail does not appear to.

1. 1

   Add the forwarding address in Gmail

   Settings, Forwarding and POP/IMAP, Add a forwarding address. Gmail sends a confirmation code to the new address. Confirm it.

2. 2

   Forward a copy and keep Gmail's copy

   Choose to forward a copy of incoming mail and keep Gmail's copy in the inbox, so the old account stays a safety net.

3. 3

   Add a filter or an auto-reply if you want

   A Gmail filter can forward only certain senders. A vacation responder with your new address nudges senders to update without you chasing them.

4. 4

   Recreate your key filters on the new side

   Gmail filters and labels do not migrate. Rebuild the few that matter, such as receipts or a project folder.

What actually breaks when you stop using Gmail?#

Your Gmail address is woven into your digital identity, and pulling it out has consequences far from email. The biggest category is logins: you have probably used Sign in with Google on dozens of services and your Gmail address as username or recovery on dozens more. These keep working while the account exists and break only if you delete it, which is the strongest reason not to. Migrate them one at a time, and switch the recovery email and security-code contact on important accounts (bank, work, your password manager) while Gmail still receives mail, or a half-finished change can lock you out.

How do you keep your old Gmail address working?#

The address and the mailbox are separable. You stop checking Gmail daily and live in the new provider while the old address keeps receiving and forwarding. For most people that state lasts a year or more, and there is no rush to end it.

Three things keep it working: forwarding, a send-as option where supported, and an account that is not abandoned. Google's inactive-account policy allows it to delete personal accounts left unused for two years, so sign in every few months rather than assuming forwarding counts as use.

The low-effort way to retire the address is to let forwarding act as your checklist. Each time a forwarded message arrives from someone who matters, update your address with them right then. After a few months the meaningful senders have moved and the old address goes quiet on its own. When only spam and forgotten accounts still arrive, you can decide whether to keep it forwarding indefinitely, which costs nothing, or to close it knowing nothing important routes through it.

Is moving from Google Workspace or a company domain different?#

Yes. A Google Workspace account on your own domain is the portable case: your addresses move with the domain. You choose the new provider, use its importer or an IMAP copy to bring mail across, then change the domain's MX records so new mail lands there, and the same addresses keep working. Proton's Easy Switch is aimed at personal Gmail and does not support Workspace or custom-domain connections, so Workspace moves use a separate admin-led route. Your IT admin or the new provider's migration guide is the place to start, and the general guide to migrating email between providers covers the DNS side.

If your real goal is a new Gmail address, not a new provider, that is a different job. See how to change your email address without losing emails.

Can AI Emaily help while you leave Gmail?#

AI Emaily does not migrate or export your mail, and it does not move contacts, so the steps above still apply. What it removes is the awkward in-between: you connect Gmail and your new provider (Outlook, iCloud, or an IMAP account such as Fastmail) and see both in one inbox with one search. Proton is not supported, so a Proton mailbox stays in Proton's own apps.

When you reply you choose which account sends, and drafts use the voice and details you set in your Context. In Copilot mode nothing sends until you approve it. It has a 7-day free trial on Pro and Autopilot, and you can check current plan prices on the pricing page.

The bottom line on moving from Gmail#

You cannot take the gmail.com address with you, but you can take everything else. Choose a destination, take a Takeout backup, copy your mail by IMAP or the provider's importer, move contacts and calendar as files, and turn on forwarding. Keep the Google account alive, update logins and recovery addresses one at a time, and let the old address fade out over a year.