Now, anyone can import their old email account’s messages and contacts into Gmail

By Mihir Patkar | Updated on 20-Aug-2009

20-Aug-2009

If you had an old email account from the pre-Gmail days that you need to keep checking ever so often to find an old mail, get a contact’s details, etc, then a new feature by the Google guys is bound to be of help. You can now import all the mails and contacts from your old account into your current Gmail.

Marcin Brodziak, Software Engineer at Gmail, explains how in an official blog post:

“A few months ago, we added the ability to import your old mail and contacts to Gmail. We made this feature available for all newly-created Gmail accounts first, since people new to Gmail benefit most from being able to move their stuff with them. Friends who wanted to use Gmail but kept telling us how painful it would be finally made the switch!

“But many old time Gmail users (including us) also have old accounts lurking. Often, these accounts predate Gmail, and occasionally we have to log into them to look at some old confirmation email or find the email address for someone with whom we’ve lost touch.

“Now, with just a few clicks anyone can copy all of that to your Gmail account. It’s easy – just go to the Settings > Accounts & Import page and click “Import mail and contacts”. A window will pop out to lead you through the short import process. If you want us to continue to forward any new mail your other account gets for 30 days, we can do that too.

“Copying mail over usually takes a couple days, occasionally up to a week – but eventually it all arrives. And once it’s done, you can forget your old account and enjoy having everything in one place.”

And before you ask, no, you don’t have to keep your Gmail page open for all the days that it is importing your old mail. That process happens at the back end on Google’s part.

So, will you be importing your old account? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below…