How to import emails into Gmail from PC or cell phone

Many people use several email accounts and access them both via PC and cell phones, and this is quite common nowadays, but then you decide to import emails into Gmail and you don't know how. You may prefer to keep separate email accounts for various reasons, one for professional matters and another for personal matters, for example.

This helps organize messages and avoid mixing work commitments with personal matters. Having separate emails for different purposes such as online shopping, social media and other activities can help protect personal information and minimize the impact in the event of a account being compromised.

However, reducing the number of email accounts and accessing them centrally can really help save time and reduce confusion. With fewer places to manage messages, it's easier. So now we're going to help you do that.

Importing emails into Gmail is a great way to consolidate your messages in one place. In Gmail, you can easily do this on both your computer and cell phone, although the complete process is more accessible on your computer.

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What are the import options?

In Gmail, you have a few options for importing emails and other data from external accounts. These options help bring back old messages and contacts, even allowing you to redirect new emails for a while.

• Import emails and contacts

With this option, you can import old messages and contacts from another email account into Gmail. It is available in the web version of Gmail. You can choose whether you want to import just old messages, just contacts, or both.

Additionally, Gmail gives you the option to continue bringing new emails from your old account to Gmail automatically for up to 30 days if you still receive messages on this account.

If you want new emails from an external account to be automatically received in Gmail, you can set up forwarding. Some email accounts allow you to set up direct forwarding, sending copies of messages to your Gmail without having to import them manually.

This is useful if you want new emails to arrive in Gmail, but without transferring your entire message history.

• Add an email account (via POP3 or IMAP)

In the “Accounts and import” tab, you can configure POP3 or IMAP access so that Gmail can fetch emails from another email account. With POP3 access, Gmail will make copies of messages from an email account and allow you to view them in your Gmail inbox.

In the case of IMAP, it synchronizes messages with the original account, keeping messages in both locations. However, direct configuration via IMAP usually requires you to do this in the email client (such as Outlook or Thunderbird), as Gmail does not offer this IMAP import natively.

It is a Gmail feature that allows you to link email accounts from other providers (such as Yahoo, Outlook, Hotmail and others that support IMAP) to Gmail.

With Gmailify, you can view and manage emails from other accounts directly in Gmail, and take advantage of exclusive Gmail features. Emails from your external account are filtered by Gmail's spam system, which improves the filtering of unwanted messages.

Gmail automatically organizes emails into categories, such as “Primary”, “Social” and “Promotions”, making them easier to view. You receive notifications and can use Gmail's powerful search tool to find messages from the linked account.

You can also use Gmail's archiving, mark as important, and labels options to organize your emails, whether they come from your Gmail account or your linked account.

• Contact synchronization

In Gmail, you can also import just contacts from other accounts if you don't need the messages. This makes the transition easier, keeping contacts up to date without bringing up old messages.

Additionally, you can import contacts manually if you exported a contacts file (CSV or vCard) from another service or account.

Gmail: how to import emails from other services on your PC

To import emails from other services into Gmail on your computer, you can follow these steps. The process is simple and works well to migrate your messages from accounts like Yahoo and Outlook and others to Gmail.

Once the import process is complete, your imported emails will appear in Gmail. They are typically identified with a label corresponding to the originating account.

Gmail: how to import emails from other services on your cell phone

To import emails from other services into Gmail on your cell phone, the process is a little more limited than on your computer, as the Gmail app does not offer all direct import options. However, you can set up the external account to access your messages directly in Gmail or use Gmailify (if your email service supports it).

• Option 1: Using Gmailify (if available)

If you use an email account from another service like Yahoo, Outlook, or Hotmail, Gmailify allows you to view and manage the other account's emails directly in Gmail, including features like spam filtering and category organization.

1. Open the Gmail app: On your phone, open the Gmail app and sign in with your main account.
2. Go to Settings: tap the three horizontal lines in the top left corner to open the side menu and scroll to “Settings”.
3. Add account: tap “Add account” and select the email service (Yahoo, Outlook, or other).
4. Link account: Enter the email address and password for the account you want to link. Gmail will ask for permission to access this account.
5. Activate Gmailify: After connecting your account, the app will ask if you want to activate Gmailify. Accept to take advantage of Gmail features like spam filtering and email categorization.

• Option 2: add the account via POP3/IMAP

If Gmailify isn't available for your email service, you can still add your account to Gmail through POP3 or IMAP to centralize your incoming emails in Gmail:

1. Open the Gmail app and go to Settings (tap the three horizontal lines and scroll to Settings).
2. Add account: Choose “Add account” and select “Other” (for non-Google, Yahoo, or Outlook accounts).
3. Enter the email address and credentials: enter the account email and follow the configuration steps, providing the external account login and password.
4. Set up POP3 or IMAP: Select IMAP to sync messages between the originating account and Gmail (or POP3 to download messages). You can choose sync settings, like how often Gmail checks for new email.
5. Finish setup: Complete the setup so that emails from your external account appear in Gmail.

Notes:

• Gmail Web for Complete Import: To import all old emails (not just new ones), it is most effective to use a computer, where you will have the “Import emails and contacts” option directly in Gmail settings.
• Notifications: After configuration, messages from the external account will reach Gmail and can generate notifications, facilitating access to emails in a single app.