How do I back up my email?
Webmail is not a backup, and an export is not a restore. Which method actually produces a copy you can read years later, and why the account matters more than the mail.
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Time
- 1 hr
- Read
- 4 min
- Safety
- warning
Short answer
Three routes. A desktop mail program set to keep local copies gives you a continuously updated offline archive, which is the most practical option for most people. The provider's own data export produces a single archive file, good as an annual snapshot. Dedicated backup software gives versioned, scheduled copies for people who need it. Whichever you choose, keep the exported file with your other backups, and make sure you can still get into the account itself.
Most people's entire history — receipts, correspondence, arrangements, records of what was agreed — lives in one webmail account they do not control and have never backed up. It is usually the single largest gap in a household's backup, and it is invisible because the account has never failed.
Safety
Step by step
- Recognise why it is not already backed up.Webmail lives on the provider's servers. Your computer backup does not contain it, because there is nothing local to copy. A phone showing the same mailbox is another window on the same copy, not a second one.
- Secure the account before anything else.A strong unique password, two-factor authentication, current recovery details, and recovery codes stored somewhere other than the account. Losing access is a worse outcome than losing messages, and it is the more common one.
- Route one: a desktop mail program.Set up a free mail client on your computer with the account configured to download and keep local copies of everything, including all folders. The mailbox is then on your drive and is captured by your ordinary computer backup, updating itself continuously. This is the best answer for most households.
- Get the settings right.Use IMAP so the client mirrors the server, and enable synchronising all folders and keeping messages offline including attachments. A default setup often downloads only headers or only the inbox, which produces an archive that looks complete and is not.
- Route two: the provider's export.The major providers offer a download of your data, producing one or more archive files containing your mail in a standard format. Excellent as a point-in-time snapshot and an annual habit. It is not continuous, and a very large mailbox can take a long time to produce and download.
- Check you can actually read the export.An archive in a standard mailbox format can be imported into a mail client and read. Open it once and confirm — an unopened export is a hopeful file, not a backup.
- Route three: dedicated backup software.For a business mailbox or an archive that matters commercially, software or a service that takes scheduled, versioned copies is worth the cost. Overkill for most households.
- Include the address book and calendar.Contacts and calendars live in the same account and are just as lost if it goes. Both export in standard formats in a couple of minutes, and neither is included in a mail backup.
- Store the result properly.The export or the local mailbox is now part of your data and needs the same treatment as everything else: a backup, with a copy offsite. It also contains a great deal of personal information, so keep it encrypted or on an encrypted drive.
If it doesn't work
Mail client shows the folder list but messages are missing
Cause: It has downloaded headers only, or is not synchronising all folders — Fix: Enable offline use and message synchronisation for every folder in the account settings, then let it complete — a large mailbox takes hours.
Export downloaded but nothing will open it
Cause: It is in a standard mailbox format that needs importing rather than double-clicking — Fix: Import it into a mail client. Free tools also read the common formats directly.
Locked out of the account entirely
Cause: Lost password, lost second factor, or a suspension — Fix: Use the recovery process, which is why the recovery details had to be current. This is the scenario the paper copy of recovery codes exists for, and there is often no other route back.
Mailbox is full and the provider is rejecting mail
Cause: Storage limit reached, usually from attachments — Fix: Archive locally first, then delete the largest items on the server. Do not delete before the local copy is verified.
Old messages disappeared from the phone
Cause: The app keeps only recent mail locally by design — Fix: Not data loss — the messages are on the server. It is, though, a good demonstration that the phone is not a copy.
Questions people ask
Is downloading my mail with POP a backup?
It removes mail from the server to your machine, which makes your machine the only copy — one copy, not two. Use IMAP with local caching instead, so the server keeps its copy and you have your own.
How often should I export?
If you use a desktop client with local copies, continuously and automatically. If you rely on the provider's export, once a year is a reasonable habit, and before any change of provider or plan.
What if my provider closes my account?
Providers do close accounts, sometimes with little warning and no appeal, and the mail goes with them. This is the whole argument for keeping your own copy and, for anything important, using an email address on a domain you control.
Does backing up email include attachments?
With a properly configured local client and a provider export, yes. With a partial or header-only sync, no — and attachments are usually the part people actually need.