Mailbox import

Supported sources

• Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, iCloud, Fastmail, Zoho, Titan Email, Namecheap Private Email, Migadu, GMX, mail.com, mailbox.org, MXroute, Infomaniak, OVHcloud, Gandi, and any IMAP provider: connect with the provider's app, device, or mailbox password. The wizard walks you through creating the right credential for each provider.
• Outlook.com and Microsoft 365: click Sign in with Microsoft. Microsoft no longer supports app passwords for mail, so this is the only way to connect, and it also imports your Outlook contacts.
• File uploads: complete Google Takeout ZIP archives, MBOX files (including split and gzipped exports), Proton Mail Export Tool output, Tuta exports, and generic MBOX or EML ZIP files from Thunderbird or Apple Mail. Choose up to 20 files at a time. Each file can be up to 100 GB.
• Contacts: upload a .vcf (vCard) file from any provider during the import, or let the Microsoft sign-in bring Outlook contacts automatically.

Provider connection details

Choose the named provider in the import wizard. Shipmail fills in fixed server details and shows the credential steps before asking for a password. MXroute and some Titan partner accounts need the server hostname shown in the source provider's control panel. Zoho accounts can change the prefilled server to match their account type and region. When the connection check fails, it tells you whether the credential was rejected, the server is unknown, or the server is unreachable.

Provider	Secure IMAP server	Credential	Before connecting
Titan Email	imap0101.titan.email:993	Mailbox password	Enable Titan on other apps in Webmail Settings. Titan requires 2FA to be turned off for third-party access. imap.titan.email is the legacy host. Provider guide.
Namecheap Private Email	mail.privateemail.com:993	App or mailbox password	Enable IMAP in the third-party app settings. Current mailboxes can create app passwords. Older mailboxes use the mailbox password. Provider guide.
Migadu	imap.migadu.com:993	Mailbox password	Use the full mailbox address as the username and the password shown in Migadu's mailbox client instructions. Provider guide.
GMX	imap.gmx.com:993	Application-specific password	Enable POP3 and IMAP in Email Settings, then create an application-specific password in Security Options. Provider guide.
mail.com	imap.mail.com:993	Mailbox or app-specific password	IMAP requires mail.com Premium. Enable POP3 and IMAP in Email Settings before starting the import. Provider guide.
mailbox.org	imap.mailbox.org:993	Mail app password	With 2FA enabled, create a Mail app password under All settings, Security, and allow IMAP access. Provider guide.
MXroute	Your assigned server:993	Mailbox password	Copy the account-specific server hostname from Email Clients or DNS in the MXroute Control Panel. Provider guide.

Verify the domain, then create and import

Keep the old mailbox active while you move.

1. Add the domain to Shipmail and publish its MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records at your authoritative DNS host.
2. Wait for every verification check to pass.
3. Create the matching Shipmail mailbox and start the import.

MX is part of Shipmail's verification, so you can't leave the MX change until after the import.

Follow the DNS setup guide for your registrar or DNS host. It has its own Namecheap steps. On Titan, Migadu, mailbox.org or MXroute, pick the company that hosts your nameservers today. GMX and mail.com personal addresses need no custom-domain DNS change.

Mail import copies mailbox data, not address configuration. Before you change DNS, use the address portability checklist to map aliases, catch-all rules, plus addresses, masked aliases, subdomains, and multiple domains. After verification, recreate those addresses before you retire the old provider.

Shipmail starts holding mail as soon as MX verification succeeds and it activates the domain, before the other checks finish. The 48-hour setup window starts when Shipmail records the domain as fully verified. During that window, creating a matching mailbox or alias releases the held mail, except spam, that has its address in To or Cc. Each domain can hold up to 1 GiB. Before you close the source mailbox, compare both inboxes, test delivery, and run a catch-up import.

Starting an import

1. Go to the Mailboxes page and choose Import mail on the mailbox you want to fill. New mailboxes also offer the import right after creation.
2. Pick your old provider and connect. The wizard checks the connection and shows your folders with message counts before anything starts.
3. Choose what to import: folders, a time range (everything, or the last 12, 3, or 1 months), and whether spam and trash come along. They are skipped by default.
4. Review the storage check. While you pick folders, Shipmail measures the size of your source mailbox, then shows the size of the period you chose and whether it fits in the mailbox. The review also shows how long the import should take.
5. Connected-account imports show a final review before you start. File imports start as soon as every selected file finishes uploading. You can then close the page. Mail shows up in your inbox as it imports, and the progress card shows how much is done.

While an import runs, the bottom of the side bar shows its progress on every page, and the mailboxes list marks the mailbox with its percentage. The mailbox's Import section shows the same progress.

If you review an import but do not start it, the side bar and the mailbox's Import section keep it for 24 hours. Choose Continue to return to the review. The source password is not kept, so the review asks for it again before the import starts.

An import that needs you shows a banner at the top of every page. When the mailbox is full, add storage and the import resumes on its own. When your old provider refuses the password, choose Reconnect and enter it again. Mail that was already imported is skipped.

A file import starts by itself once every selected file finishes uploading, with no second start step. So select all parts of a split export together. When an import finishes, choose Upload more files to add more from your computer.

Shipmail sizes large import batches to the search capacity available. Part of that capacity is always kept for new mail, and one organisation can't take every import worker while other customers wait.

If the connection to your old provider drops, the import reconnects and carries on from the last batch it finished. Nothing already imported is copied twice, and you do not need a new app password. The progress card says when this happens.

If your old provider refuses to open a folder, the import tries once more, then skips that folder and carries on. The progress card lists it with the reason, and the rest of your mail still finishes. Running the import again later only adds what is missing, because anything already imported is skipped as a duplicate.

A Shipmail mailbox holds up to 5,000 folders. Each folder you import becomes a folder in Shipmail. If you choose more than 5,000, the review step says so and Start stays off until you uncheck some. If the mailbox reaches 5,000 folders during an import, the import stops and says so. Running it again does not help: remove folders or choose fewer, then start a new import.

The storage check

• For IMAP sources, Shipmail reads message sizes from the provider without downloading anything, so the number is measured, not estimated. For very large mailboxes it samples, to keep the check quick.
• The check counts sizes per month, so a time range is measured too. A range that starts mid-month counts that whole month, and the size reads "about".
• For file uploads, the check uses the uploaded file sizes. Compressed archives show an estimate, because they expand during import.
• When the measured size does not fit, the check offers two choices: add storage to the mailbox, or import the longest run of recent months that fits. Either one lets the import start. You can also uncheck folders.
• Adding storage lists every size that holds the import, with its price and the space left after the import. The smallest size left at most 70% full is marked Recommended. Only the organization owner can buy storage. Anyone else sees which size to ask for.
• An estimate never blocks an import. When an estimate is over the limit, the check says the import may not fit and offers more storage.
• If storage fills up mid-import anyway, the import pauses and resumes after you free space or upgrade. The import page shows the same storage choice. Nothing is lost.

Gmail specifics

Gmail labels become Shipmail folders. A message with several labels shows up in each of those folders but is stored only once. Gmail's Starred and Important views are skipped, because they only mirror mail that already comes across in your other folders. Google limits IMAP downloads to about 2.5 GB per day, so a large mailbox imports over several days. Shipmail paces the transfer, pauses when Google's daily limit is reached, and resumes on its own. The progress card shows what is happening and why.

You can upload the ZIP downloaded from Google Takeout directly. Shipmail streams large ZIP64 archives, reads the MBOX files inside them, and applies Gmail labels without asking you to extract a multi-gigabyte archive first. Expanded data cannot exceed the mailbox's available storage or the 100 GB import limit.

Importing from Infomaniak

1. In Infomaniak Mail, open the menu next to your address, then choose Address settings, Manage password, and Add a device.
2. Choose Manual configuration, name the device shipmail, and generate a password. Copy it before you close the window. Infomaniak won't show it again.
3. In Shipmail, choose Infomaniak on the Import mail screen. Enter the full source email address and the new device password. Shipmail already uses Infomaniak's secure IMAP server on port 993.

Do not enter your Infomaniak account password. The device password is separate and can be revoked after the import without disconnecting your other devices. See Infomaniak's device password guide.

Importing from OVHcloud

1. In the OVHcloud Control Panel, check which email product and incoming server your mailbox uses. European MX Plan mailboxes use imap.mail.ovh.net. America and Asia-Pacific mailboxes use imap.mail.ovh.ca.
2. Choose OVHcloud on the Import mail screen. The European MX Plan server and secure port 993 are prefilled. Replace the server if your region, Email Pro, or Hosted Exchange account uses a different assigned hostname.
3. Enter the full source email address and its mailbox password. Do not enter your OVHcloud account password.

See OVHcloud's current MX Plan IMAP settings.

Importing from Gandi

1. Confirm that IMAP access is enabled in Gandi Webmail Settings.
2. Choose Gandi on the Import mail screen. Shipmail uses mail.gandi.net with secure port 993 automatically.
3. Enter the full source email address and the password created for that mailbox. The mailbox password is separate from your Gandi account password.

Gandi webmail 2FA does not cover IMAP. If you turned IMAP off to secure webmail, turn it back on for the import and off again afterward. See Gandi's standard email settings.

Safety and credentials

• Your old account's password is encrypted, used only for this import, and deleted the moment the import finishes, fails, or is cancelled.
• Imports skip messages already copied, matched by message identity. To catch late mail before you close the old account, run the import again. It only picks up new mail.
• Undo removes every message the import added and the folders it created. A folder that holds other mail is kept, and the import history says which folders were kept and why. If the undo cannot finish, it says so instead of reporting success.
• Cancelling keeps everything imported so far. For a file import, Shipmail keeps the uploaded file and the saved progress for 7 days. If the file is still there, resume the same job. If the file is gone but the 7 days are not over, choose the original file again. Shipmail matches it by size, name, and a versioned sample fingerprint, not a full-file hash, then continues the same job. Once the source expires, undo the partial import before you start again from that file. Shipmail skips messages larger than 50 MB.

Importing via the API

You can do all of this from code too. Create imports, poll progress, and stage file uploads through the REST API, the TypeScript SDK, or the Shipmail MCP server. See the mailboxes API reference for the endpoints.