I have a dedicated server with plesk. how can i migrate my email messages from my previous mail service to my new server with aplus.net?

Answer by: George Kaloyanov, Aplus.Net Knowledge Base Support

Plesk uses the qmail system along with the Horde webmail client. Different mail services use different mail applications, thus the actual email message file format usually differs. The best option to migrate your email content to your new server is the use of an intermediate local email client like MS Outlook, Outlook Express, etc.

Here are the general steps you should perform to migrate your email content:

Make sure your email accounts are already configured within your Plesk Control Panel with the new server.

· I have a dedicated server with Plesk. How do I create a new email account?

Use a local email client to connect to your old mail server in order to download all email messages.

Note: You can use either POP3 or IMAP protocol. We strongly recommend the use of the IMAP protocol, if supported by your old mail server, as this will preserve the directory structure of your mail boxes. We also recommend the use of Outlook Express or MS Outlook

Configure new IMAP email accounts within your local email client to connect to the new server with Aplus.Net.
Establish an IMAP connection to a particular email box created on the new server. Drag and drop all email messages downloaded from your old mail server to the newly configured IMAP email account using your local email client. If you are moving entire directories, the directory structure will be preserved.

Note: You have to repeat step4 for each email account.