3 methods for domain transfer incl. emails

3 simple methods for your domain transfer including emails

Moving a domain, including email inboxes, causes many website operators and web developers to worry. The fear of losing their own data or that of their customers is too great. It doesn't have to be that way! I'll show you three simple ways to move a domain including emails from one hosting provider to another without any worries.

Problem: Old provider may delete all emails

Very many providers delete all saved e-mailsas soon as the domain is no longer hosted there. In the worst case, this means that the data is gone if the wrong action is taken.

A brief excursion into the world of Internet protocols: POP3 vs. IMAP

Before we take a closer look at the different options, it makes sense to take a brief look at the two common Internet protocols, POP3 and IMAP. Both have their own characteristics and pitfalls that you should be aware of for a successful move. At least if you want to understand what lies behind them.

POP3

With the so-called post-office protocol, emails are saved locally on your device as soon as you open them and deleted on the server itself. This means that the message is only available on your device. Of course, this harbors risks. If your cell phone falls into the water while you are reading the email, the email is also lost.

It is therefore advisable to make regular backups when using POP3. In the past, when server capacities were not as large as they are today, POP3 made perfect sense and was also the more common option. However, as you can probably guess from the way I wrote it, this has now changed.

IMAP

With the Internet Message Access Protocol, on the other hand, you work directly on the server. This means that the emails remain on the server and you can see, for example, whether you have already read the email or not. Even if you work with folders in your mailbox, the e-mail that you have just moved to the "Invoices" folder on your cell phone has also been moved there on your PC.

This is also the great advantage of IMAP. The disadvantage, on the other hand, is the accumulation of data (also from an environmental point of view). Why should I worry about storage space when it is almost infinite? But be careful: email inboxes also have limits. However, as emails are very small files, many do not even reach their limit or only reach it after many years. IMAP is the much more common format these days.

Variant 1: Use POP3 for local backup

If your emails use IMAP, you can switch this to POP3 for the move and download the emails in your client program (Outlook, Spark, Thunderbird, ...). The emails are then stored locally on your computer (and deleted on the server).

Then you can move your domains, create the e-mail addresses there again and import the messages from your local computer into the mailboxes.

Option 2: Temporary storage in another e-mail inbox

Another simple and secure method is to cache emails in another email account.

The best way to do this is to create your own folders and name them after the emails you are moving. But this is very important, not in the actual e-mail, but in another e-mail.. If there is a certain hierarchy in the email, you can create subfolders in your folder, such as Inbox, Sent, etc., and save the emails there separately. This also makes sense for the import, as otherwise you can easily get confused.

After you have opened the e-mails in the separate e-mail account, you can move the domain, create the e-mail addresses there again and copy/move the e-mails back accordingly using Thunderbird or (almost) any other client. 

I like to use this option for customers who do not have too many email inboxes. For a hierarchy with 10+ folders and 10,000+ emails, this method no longer makes sense. In this case, it is best to use variant 3. 

Variant 3: Use the importer of the new provider

Some providers offer so-called import tools for emails. Almost every provider has such a tool that they use for internal purposes. Unfortunately, very few of them make it available to customers. So a little tip in advance: ask your new host about this.

This method is of course by far the best method. Providers who currently offer this tool in the customer area are: All-inkl.com and Siteground*.

The procedure is ultimately similar to the previous methods, except that you create the domain before the actual move and don't actually have to save any emails locally. Personally, however, I would create a backup before every move, regardless of the method used, just to be on the safe side. Simply "just in case".

Once you have created the "old" domain with the new provider and created the email addresses (ignore all warnings), you will find the "Import" function in the "Webmailer". All you have to do there is enter the server data of the old host and run the import.

You will then have your emails in the same hierarchy in the new mailbox and only need to carry out the actual domain transfer with authentication code.

If this is possible with your new provider, I highly recommend this method! It requires the least effort and is the safest method.

Conclusion

* This is an affiliate link. This means that if you buy something on the linked website, I will receive a commission. There are no additional costs or anything similar for you. I would like to emphasize that I recommend Siteground out of complete professional conviction, not because of the commission. I use Siteground myself and am very satisfied.