Overview
Thunderbird is a mail application that can be used to transfer email from UW Google mail to UW Office 365 mail. This is useful if you are changing the mail service you use and want to have all your mail in one place.
- Both Google mail and Office 365 mail accounts are set up as IMAP accounts in Thunderbird.
- Thunderbird synchronizes with the mail servers, showing your email and folders (labels) in the app.
- Once Thunderbird is properly set up and has fully sync’d with your existing online mail accounts, messages and folders can be copied from Google mail to Office 365 mail.
You can choose to swap mail services but not transfer your mail if you prefer. In that case, email prior to the date on which you swap services remains accessible through the Gmail web browser site. Individual messages can be forwarded to yourself to get them into the Office 365 mail if they require further interaction.
Preparation
- Cleanup Google Mail: To the extent possible, clean up your Google mail before starting the migration process. This may include emptying the deleted mail and spam folders, deleting advertising or mailing list emails, or even moving very old email to a separate folder/label that you will leave on Google or delete. Transferring large amounts of email will be time consuming and the less you need to copy over the better. You can continue to access Google Mail that you leave on Google after the migration even though you change which service you are actively using.
- Switch your UW email from Google to Office 365.
- Go to Manage NetID Resources
- Click UW Email Forwarding from the menu on the left.
- Click the radio button next to Forward to UW Office 365
It can take up to eight hours for your email to be switched. During that time email will continue to come into Google mail. You can access your Office 365 mail online here: https://outlook.office365.com/uw.edu. When your new email begins coming into your Office 365 account rather than your Google mail account, you are ready to proceed.
- Install Thunderbird
- Download Thunderbird Desktop: https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/download/
- Mac users: Open the Thunderbird installer file and drag the program to the Applications folder in the installer window.
- Windows users: Launch the Thunderbird installer and follow the installation instructions. Choose the standard install.
Coordinate with CBE IT to install Thunderbird if you do not have administrative rights on your computer. Email
be-help@uw.edu to start a help request.
Next: Setup Thunderbird with your UW Google and UW Office 365 email accounts