How to Transfer Email from One Hosting to Another? (2026 Guide)

To transfer email from one hosting to another, you need to set up new accounts on the new server, get the old mail across (through dedicated software or a manual migration process), and then point your MX records to the new host. It’s also wise to keep your old email account open for a couple of days while the DNS update takes place and syncs before you switch the DNS.

This guide provides complete step-by-step instructions on transferring email from one host to another when changing hosting service providers.

Reasons to Transfer Email from One Hosting to Another

• Affordability and reliability: Transferring email accounts involves switching hosts while continuing to use the existing account.
• Provider bankruptcy or ownership change: Necessitates an immediate change of providers, involving little opportunity to plan the transition.
• Transitioning from shared hosting: Due to increased needs for server capacity, speed, and management flexibility.
• Repeated delivery failures: Requires changing providers due to the existing shared IP’s disreputable history.
• Consolidating domains: Moving email services of different domains to the same provider to reduce multiple payments.
• Standardizing infrastructure: With an agency or IT team, this means assuming control of hosting and transferring clients or new employees to the preferred provider.
• Reaching mailbox storage capacity: Means the current plan is not capable enough. An upgrade requires switching to a hosting solution that has enough capacity.
• Mergers and acquisitions: Involve the merging of two email systems into the same host.
• Rebuilding a website: On a new platform, this requires a decision on whether to keep the email separate or transfer it.
• Transferring domains: To a new registrar that also provides hosting will require moving mail too.

Before You Begin

• Make a checklist: Note all mailboxes and aliases of the previous hosting service along with important email domains such as info@, support@, etc. These domains can be very easily overlooked and will not be carried over automatically.
• Verify disk space: Ensure the new hosting service has enough disk space to accommodate the incoming emails from the old host, especially if you have been using the old host service for a long time.
• Find the IMAP hostname: Get the IMAP hostname and port of the old server because it will be needed during the transfer. Usually, you can easily find this information in the email account section of the client area of your current host.
• Backup each mailbox: Do this before you transfer email from one hosting to another. This step is considered important as it allows you to recover your emails in case of failure during the transfer.

Methods for Migrating Email Accounts from One Host to Another

Approach	Ideal for	Skill required
Manual (email client)	One or two mailboxes	Advanced
Host’s in-built tool	Complete account migration with the same control panel	Advanced
Purpose-built tool	Quickly migrate bulk of emails from one hosting provider to another automatically without effort	None

Method 1: Transfer Emails from One Hosting Account to Another Using an Email Client

For manually migrating email accounts from one host to another, an IMAP-based email client such as Thunderbird, Outlook or Apple Mail could be used.

1. First, you will have to create a mailbox on the new host using the same address and, ideally, password.
2. Add both email accounts into the email client. While setting up the new account, you will have to connect it using the server hostname instead of using your domain. You will have to check your new host’s welcome email or the “Connect Devices” section.
3. You can then copy the content from the previous account to the new account. Open the folders one by one and drag and drop the contents into the relevant folders from the old server.
4. Use webmail for verification, not the client. Access the new host’s webmail to check for messages there instead of relying on the client’s interface.
5. Hold off on the DNS change. Just wait until you have confirmed that the folders are copied correctly; check the MX record section for when to perform it.

Note: This method works well for a few mailboxes and is free. However, it has its drawbacks, such as not transferring forwarders, filters, and autoresponders. Additionally, the process can be tedious due to the requirement of moving large mail in a folder-by-folder manner.

Method 2: Utilizing the Built-in Migration Tool by the Hosting Service

Various hosting providers offer a built-in facility to transfer email from one hosting to another that can be found in their control panels (cPanel’s backup/restore is one of the best examples). It operates effectively when both the old hosting provider and the new hosting provider have the same or similar control panel.

1. Create a new mailbox on the new hosting provider’s server, if this hasn’t been done already.
2. Access the migration utility in the control panel of your new hosting provider, in most cases under “Email” or “Site Tools” menus.
3. Input the old mailbox’s information, like its email ID, password, and old server’s IMAP name or IP.
4. Start the process. When finished, check the transition log.
5. Re-run the process only if the log displays “incomplete.” It will only transfer whatever it could not take before.

Note: Before you can have faith in this platform, it is important to note that this whole thing can only be executed via duplicate control interface and that there is a limit on mailbox size on various hosts.

Method 3: Professional Tool to Migrate Emails from One Host to Another

This is a better approach when transferring email from one host to another quickly with a bulk of emails. The Email Backup Software is ideally suited for this purpose since it connects to any mailbox using the IMAP protocol, and you can safely moving email address from one host to another without losing data or having technical expertise.

How to Transfer Email from One Hosting to Another?

1. Open the tool and select Webmail or IMAP as your source.
2. Enter the login credentials of your email account from where you want to migrate to another hosting. Simply enter your email address, password, IMAP Host and Port number.
   
3. Choose which email folders you want to migrate from one host to another.
   
4. Only need the important part of the mailbox? Use Advanced Filters to narrow your transfer by date range, sender, recipient, folder, or keyword.
   
5. To start moving email accounts from one host to another without effort, turn on the Schedule feature and set it to repeat daily, weekly, or monthly until it’s done.
   
6. Under Saving Option, select IMAP and enter the login and IMAP server details of the email account of another hosting.
   
7. Click Backup to start transferring email from one host to another.

Updating MX Records

• Implement the modification only after your email account has been successfully migrated to the new hosting server, as the first act of changing the DNS can lead to missing emails.
• Begin by determining where your domain’s DNS management takes place. This is usually at the domain registrar but can vary if the domain name servers are pointed towards another hosting service.
• Log in to your account and navigate to the website’s DNS/MX record settings.
• Replace the existing MX record values with the numbers provided by your new host. This is usually conveyed to you in the welcome email or in an article on how to configure the email service.
• If you are using an SPF record, add the new mail servers of the host rather than deleting the previous hosts until the process is confirmed as finished.
• Allow some time for propagation of the new settings. Typically, this takes several minutes but can take up to 2-3 days depending on the changes that were implemented.
• Set up another synchronizing procedure so that emails from the previous server until the propagation ends are available for your use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q 1: How do I transfer email from one hosting to another without losing anything?

To move emails from one hosting provider to another, you need to copy and check all mailboxes before changing the DNS settings.

Q 2: Can I migrate an email between different hosting control panels?

Yes. Migrating emails from one hosting provider to another using IMAP is possible even if their control panels differ.

Q 3: What is the best way to transfer multiple email accounts from one host to another?

To transfer email accounts from one hosting provider to another, use the batch or CSV method to do it faster.

Q 4: Should I change the password when migrating email accounts from one host to another host?

No. You can use the same password when transferring your email accounts from one hosting provider to another.

Q 5: Is there a free way to transfer emails from one hosting account to another?

Yes. Manual IMAP is free for moving email accounts from one host to another, but it takes more time.

Q 6: Is it possible to migrate an email address from one hosting to another without changing settings on the device?

Yes. When moving email accounts from one host to another with the same password, no modifications to the device settings are required.

Conclusion

If you want to transfer email from one hosting to another, you have to create new mail accounts, transfer and check your emails, and finally update your MX records. Manual IMAP is good for a few emails, whereas an automated tool makes it easier for migrating email accounts from one host to another while working with several mailboxes and different hosting services.