January 10, 2008

Import Your Hotmail Messages into Gmail

I finally found an use for Microsoft's Windows Live Mail, a mail client that replaces Outlook Express as the light version of Outlook. Windows Live Mail has a unique characteristic: it's free and it allows you to access Hotmail accounts. Microsoft also provides a plug-in for Outlook with an exuberant description:

"With Microsoft Office Outlook Connector, you can use Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 or Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 to access and manage your Microsoft Windows Live Hotmail or Microsoft Office Live Mail accounts, including e-mail messages and contacts for free!"

Microsoft probably thinks it makes you a favor by providing ways to access your mail from a desktop client, so it uses a proprietary mechanism that can only be interpreted by Microsoft's software.

But I digress: Windows Live Mail is a good way to migrate the messages from your old Hotmail accounts to Gmail.

1. Enable IMAP for Gmail.

2. Download Windows Live Mail. Microsoft no longer links to the standalone version of the product and it forces you to install a package, but you can choose the software you want to install.

3. Add the Hotmail accounts from Windows Live Mail's interface.

4. Add your Gmail account and make sure you manually configure the IMAP settings.

5. To prevent some new Gmail labels from being created, right-click on your Gmail account from Windows Live Mail's sidebar, select Properties, go to the IMAP tab and uncheck "Store special folders on IMAP server".

6. Then go to the inbox of each Hotmail account, select all the messages (Ctrl+A), right-click, choose "Move to folder..." (or "Copy to folder..." if you want to keep them in Hotmail) and select the Inbox of your Gmail account (or create a new folder). You should repeat this for each folder created in Hotmail.


If you don't expect to receive other message in your Hotmail accounts, uninstall Windows Live Mail. Otherwise, check your Hotmail accounts from time to time and manually move the messages to Gmail. Microsoft doesn't allow you to create rules for IMAP and HTTP mail accounts, so you can't forward new messages to Gmail. If you try to use the forwarding option from Hotmail, you'll notice that Microsoft still tries to keep your mail hostage.

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114 comments:

  1. TimJanuary 10, 2008 at 2:58 PM

    This may not be helpful to many users, but, if you have an older @msn.com or @hotmail.com account, for some reason, it will let you forward to an email ending in a different domain. Not sure why this worked, but I was able to do this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ArmandJanuary 10, 2008 at 4:06 PM

    I still have my Hotmail account since a lot of people write @hotmail.com instead of @gmail.com when trying to send me a message.
    This tip is very useful, thanks a lot !

    ReplyDelete
  3. edwardbruceJanuary 10, 2008 at 4:52 PM

    Great post. I've been trying to do this for a while. The fact that they won't forward mail to gmail is just ridiculous.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AzulnautaJanuary 10, 2008 at 5:02 PM

    if that import was automatic I would do it

    but having to go manually every time I get a new mail is boring hehe

    I only keep my @hotmail for my old friends/contacts contacts on MSN

    ReplyDelete
  5. Alex ChituJanuary 10, 2008 at 5:08 PM

    This is useful to import your old mail. Hotmail doesn't support forwarding to non-Hotmail accounts and you can't use Gmail's mail fetcher since Hotmail doesn't have POP3.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJanuary 10, 2008 at 8:43 PM

    Thank God, I never used hotmail.

    ReplyDelete
  7. George B. MogaJanuary 10, 2008 at 11:06 PM

    You can use a similar method in Thunderbird, if you install the add-in "Webmail" and the corresponding add-ins for Yahoo! and Hotmail accounts.
    This is what I used to migrate some of my old messages from Yahoo! to Gmail.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2008 at 12:47 AM

    The fact that they don't offer forwarding, means Microsoft and Yahoo are insecure about their offerings. And to be honest, I can understand that...

    How about using autoreply in Hotmail where you ask your contacts to use your Gmail address?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3isVZNAB5bY

    ReplyDelete
  9. UnknownJanuary 11, 2008 at 3:58 AM

    I managed to forward my messages after I enabled this service: http://join.msn.com/mobile-hotmail/overview

    The problem is your mobileprovider has to be included and you have to make sure you don't enable the Mobile alerts.(or you can pay alot of money for each e-mail)

    After that you can go to the options in your hotmail and there is an option to forward mail, even to a gmail account.

    I got it from this dutch forum: http://www.iphoneclub.nl/forum/f18
    /iphone-internet/f39/e-mail
    /1787-hotmail-naar-gmail-doorsturen-gratis-truukje.html

    ReplyDelete
  10. euzadaJanuary 11, 2008 at 7:01 AM

    If I have a MAC OS X???????

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousJanuary 12, 2008 at 12:07 PM

    You can get Google Apps (free) for your own domain,
    and forward Hotmail there :)

    Other question why are you still using Hotmail? ;)
    It's 2008 already.

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousJanuary 13, 2008 at 2:37 AM

    Thats really great!! I am gonna use of it.

    Thank you! Goooooogle

    ReplyDelete
  13. UnknownJanuary 13, 2008 at 4:09 AM

    I think this post isn't very clear. It say Add Google account but where and how do I add my Google account? Is it in Windows Live Mail but where?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Alex ChituJanuary 13, 2008 at 6:27 AM

    In Windows Live Mail, where else?

    ReplyDelete
  15. AnonymousJanuary 14, 2008 at 8:16 AM

    I was so eager to finally have my little active but still alive Hotmail in my shiny Gmail that I made the whole process without reading the entire post. So I ended with my Gmail in WML, which I never use. Very nice... In the other hand, I can't find that Forwarding window to try it myself. Finally, Yahoo DO works with Gmail, perfectly (for me). I was silly, but next time give a more precise description of what you are teaching... Please.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Buoy StretcherJanuary 22, 2008 at 2:34 PM

    What about exporting old email messages from programs like Outlook, Outlook Express or even Goldmine into Gmail? Has anyone found a fix for these?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Alex ChituJanuary 22, 2008 at 2:41 PM

    Copy them to Gmail's inbox the same you do with the Hotmail account. Once you add the Gmail IMAP account to your email account you can do everything you like: delete messages, sort them, import messages from other accounts etc.

    ReplyDelete
  18. rcireasaJanuary 26, 2008 at 4:03 AM

    buna ionut,
    i have a question? i have an webmail account which is an imap account and i would like to download the inbox and sentmail to a web-based email. i have tried using yahoo and gmail, but none supports imap accounts. do you think that the method you are suggesting will enable me to get all the received and sentmail into gmail? on the other hand it seems that gmail does not allow to make other folders, does this mean that all these mesages will be mixed up with the old gmail messages?
    do you know i method that can be used to download imap account messages into yahoo?
    i supposed that once downloaded i can delete them from the imap server! my account on this server will be closed that's why i need to download them somewhere else.
    multumesc!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Alex ChituJanuary 26, 2008 at 4:28 AM

    If your webmail account also supports POP3, it's easy to import your messages in Gmail and Yahoo Mail (you'll also receive the new messages).

    Otherwise, you can't import the IMAP account in Yahoo Mail and you can only import the old messages in Gmail as described in this post. You can create a new Gmail folder (more exactly, a label) from a mail client and copy the messages there. Read more about Gmail's IMAP.

    If I were you, I'd choose Gmail, that offers free POP3, IMAP, forwarding and has a better spam filter than Yahoo Mail.

    Sper ca raspunsul a ajutat la ceva.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Alex ChituJanuary 26, 2008 at 4:33 AM

    In fact, you can use a Gmail account to import your messages into Yahoo Mail. Just setup auto-forwarding to your Yahoo Mail, import your messages to the Gmail client (as described above) and they'll be forwarded to the Yahoo account. Don't forget to remove the Yahoo address from Gmail's options.

    ReplyDelete
  21. rcireasaJanuary 27, 2008 at 4:27 PM

    If your webmail account also supports POP3, it's easy to import your messages in Gmail and Yahoo Mail (you'll also receive the new messages).

    it doesn't, that's the problem!


    Otherwise, you can't import the IMAP account in Yahoo Mail and you can only import the old messages in Gmail as described in this post. You can create a new Gmail folder (more exactly, a label) from a mail client and copy the messages there. Read more about Gmail's IMAP.

    yahoo doesn't allow download from imap accounts either, i have already tried it and i have checked it again now. actually, i did not find any webmail client allowing download messages from imap accounts.


    If I were you, I'd choose Gmail, that offers free POP3, IMAP, forwarding and has a better spam filter than Yahoo Mail.

    Sper ca raspunsul a ajutat la ceva.

    multumesc!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Pilgrimage, Retirement, Immigration and other Odd Ideas from Alfred van AmelsvoortMarch 4, 2008 at 9:45 AM

    The most straight forward method is to download and install GetMail for Hotmail. I'm surprised that it was not listed here.

    ReplyDelete
  23. GordonApril 9, 2008 at 5:18 PM

    I'm with Alfred,

    GetMail is great.

    ReplyDelete
  24. christerApril 21, 2008 at 8:02 PM

    A message today (20080422)from MSN informs that GetMail uses Outlook Express when forwarding and this protocoll ends june 2008. I have GetMail - a very good program to forward my mail to gmail but now I have to change.

    ReplyDelete
  25. AnonymousApril 22, 2008 at 12:54 AM

    Hmm....I have been using GetMail for older messages. For some reason (coz my hotmail account is 'old'?), it allows me to forward to gmail.

    You can also use IzyMail, which am trying out now.

    http://v3.izymail.com

    http://v3.izymail.com/gmailconfig.aspx

    ReplyDelete
  26. AnonymousMay 2, 2008 at 3:53 AM

    Fellows, Friends,
    pls guide me,
    i am employee in a company, i have my company email address, like,
    123@ptcl.net.pk
    with 100 mb space, after some time, i got quota warning, from avoiding this, i add all my email into gmail account, NOW,
    Porblem is this, i received email from 123@ptcl.net.pk to my gmail account, but how can i get my old sent emails items into gmail account, ?
    this is the prohlem, plz guide me, i tried my best but got nothing.
    with regards
    waiting.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Alex ChituMay 2, 2008 at 3:58 AM

    Does your company's email have POP3 support? If it has, use Gmail mail fetcher.

    ReplyDelete
  28. AnonymousMay 18, 2008 at 6:25 PM

    I just tried to forward my email from Hotmail to gmail; Looks like the hotmail team is now allowing the forwarding to happen! =) Happy Gmailing!

    Thanks for the tip on moving over old messages!

    ReplyDelete
  29. ChrisMay 31, 2008 at 5:26 AM

    YES! Confirmed this to work like a charm! Moves emails without modifying them!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Thiago LechugaJune 8, 2008 at 9:47 PM

    And the linux users.....
    :/

    ReplyDelete
  31. AnonymousJune 23, 2008 at 11:00 PM

    Tim - How old is your hotmail account?

    ReplyDelete
  32. AnonymousJune 24, 2008 at 9:02 PM

    I've had MSN dial-up for several years & have 4,000 sent emails there. They appear to be stored on my old computer, which runs Windows Me, because they aren't in my new Hotmail plus account that I got for $19.95/year. How can I get them onto my new computer? I'm using Gmail on my new Mac Book.

    ReplyDelete
  33. maggie mayJuly 6, 2008 at 6:29 AM

    i, too, got lucky with the hotmail forwarding to gmail option...works for my new messages. for all of my older messages, your guide was a god-send!! thanks so much for the hack.

    ReplyDelete
  34. AnonymousAugust 6, 2008 at 1:50 AM

    If you enable Mobile message alerts for your hotmail account, but sent it to never send you any messages, then you can forward to any email address :-)

    ReplyDelete
  35. AnonymousAugust 16, 2008 at 1:59 AM

    adam, you're a genius.. i just enabled my mobile message alers for hotmail and it seems to be forwarding my hotmail emails to my gmail account!! you're the best :)

    ReplyDelete
  36. UnknownAugust 20, 2008 at 6:57 PM

    ^^ What did you do to get this to work. I set up mobile messaging with my verizon number and told it to not send any messages, but i don't see how i can forward all messages to gmail... i still get the "has to be msn.com hotmail.com etc" address.

    ReplyDelete
  37. AnonymousAugust 26, 2008 at 10:02 AM

    Adam Dempsey's idea worked! I've searched the net and found all sorts of silly other ideas, but his is good.

    FYI, I forwarded to yahoo account not gmail.

    ReplyDelete
  38. AnonymousAugust 27, 2008 at 6:39 AM

    Adam's idea works beautifully! Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
  39. AnonymousAugust 30, 2008 at 7:33 PM

    Adam, your too smart........it was driving me nuts that i could not forward my hotmail but now i can............. : * : *

    ReplyDelete
  40. AnonymousAugust 31, 2008 at 9:21 AM

    Adam, I can't find the option in my Hotmail account to add mobile message alerts.. does it have to be a Hotmail Plus account?

    ReplyDelete
  41. AnonymousAugust 31, 2008 at 7:05 PM

    I have a Mac. I don't have Outlook, nor can I run Windows Live Mail. Does anyone know how I can import all of my old messages from hotmail to gmail? Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  42. AnonymousSeptember 1, 2008 at 11:43 AM

    Regarding the following post by "Anonymous said on August 31, 2008 9:21 AM PDT":
    :

    "Adam, I can't find the option in my Hotmail account to add mobile message alerts.. does it have to be a Hotmail Plus account?"

    I believe the steps are as follows:
    "Hotmail" --> "Options" --> "Mobile alerts for new messages"--> "Sign up for Windows Live Mobile - it's free and easy!" --> "Change alert delivery settings" --> "Alert delivery: Off"

    However, I'm not sure what to do after now having turned off alerts. Any help is appreciated; thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  43. REFITSeptember 1, 2008 at 3:07 PM

    Adam,
    You are a true genius! No need to upgrade to hotmail plus whatever. Enable mobile messaging, then disable alert sending, and suddenly hotmail allows you forwarding to gmail!

    Next is forwarding yahoo mail, any ideas?

    ReplyDelete
  44. AnonymousSeptember 2, 2008 at 10:41 AM

    It worked!! Thank you very much.

    ReplyDelete
  45. C FangerowSeptember 3, 2008 at 1:50 PM

    I have enabled mobile alerts and set up forwarding to my googlemail account but so far none of my test messages are forwarding to my googlemail even though Windows Live Mail confirms my emails are being forwarded. Anyone have any suggestions?

    ReplyDelete
  46. AnonymousSeptember 5, 2008 at 8:40 AM

    Thankyou SO much for this guide... everything works, including transferring the following Hotmail folders: Inbox, custom folders, sent items --> Gmail - just remember OTHER than the inbox, everything goes under "Google folders" in the Windows Live Mail window (you'll know what I mean when you see it), e.g. Sent Items goes under Google Folder/Sent Items, NOT under the "Sent Items" directly beneath the Inbox. In any case, COPY your emails, then make sure they come up in gmail before deleting them in hotmail.

    Thanks again :)

    Working as of 6 September 2008 :D

    ReplyDelete
  47. UnknownSeptember 6, 2008 at 11:13 AM

    thanks adam

    ReplyDelete
  48. AnonymousSeptember 8, 2008 at 2:11 PM

    Great article, just what I was looking for!

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  49. AnonymousSeptember 16, 2008 at 5:14 PM

    So... I tried following the steps and after setting up mobile messaging and selecting no alerts, I still am not allowed to forward to gmail???

    What gives, any advice? Thanks much!!

    ReplyDelete
  50. AnonymousSeptember 22, 2008 at 5:57 AM

    Adam's suggestion works fine, thank you.

    FYI Responding to a hotmail email forwarded to gmail:

    1. from gmail web the reply is sent using my hotmail id

    2. from iphone email client it is sent using my gmail id

    I have configured (with gmail) to reply using the id that was sent in the original email.

    ReplyDelete
  51. AnonymousSeptember 29, 2008 at 2:36 AM

    does it cost to set up mobile alerts?

    ReplyDelete
  52. AnonymousOctober 2, 2008 at 7:44 AM

    great! I'm gonna use it

    ReplyDelete
  53. AnonymousOctober 2, 2008 at 2:58 PM

    FANTASTIC!! Thank you! I wish I had known about this months ago :)

    ReplyDelete
  54. AnonymousOctober 3, 2008 at 11:11 AM

    Hello everyone: does anyone know how to forward your hotmail to gmail if you're using Mac OS/X? I've read through all of these posts and nothing seems to work for Mac if you don't have the oldest version of hotmail.

    Can anyone point me in the right direction?

    ReplyDelete
  55. AnonymousOctober 10, 2008 at 4:18 AM

    how come my mails doesn't show up at gmail? :S

    ReplyDelete
  56. AnonymousOctober 15, 2008 at 8:57 AM

    Works, but no mails are forwarded :(

    ReplyDelete
  57. AnonymousOctober 17, 2008 at 6:10 AM

    I must be completely blind. Could somebody please kindly tell me how I enable mobile messaging alerts? I have been through every link in account settings and the only one that comes close is:

    Settings > Settings,

    then under "Account Security" I have "Mobile Number and PIN...

    ReplyDelete
  58. AnonymousOctober 21, 2008 at 9:53 AM

    Forward Hotmail to any email providers without paying for this premium feature
    Hope I get some reps for this:

    Hotmail instructions
    THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE FOR THE NORMAL HOTMAIL - NOT HOTMAIL LIVE!

    1. Sign in to hotmail.com
    2. Click the mail tabs
    3. On the right hand side click options
    4. Click Mobile alerts
    5. Click "Other" in the service provider
    6. Check My device has text messaging
    7. Enter your email address such as gmail, yahoo, etc
    8. Enter your activation code
    9. WAIT: Apparently it takes a long time to forward stuff - or it is not configured properly!

    This is a premium feature in many email providers such as Yahoo!

    For information on how to auto forward Yahoo! Mail for free (premium feature) see here

    Hope I helped!

    ReplyDelete
  59. AnonymousOctober 22, 2008 at 4:28 AM

    Hello. Thank you for the exlenent tips/tools.

    I followed all of the directions provided above (I think) and I am now able to use Windows Live Mail as a local client for GMAIL and HOTMAIL.

    However, when I make changes to my messages using Windows Live Mail, the changes are not pushed back up to my gmail.com web account. For example, if I delete a message on Windows Live Mail, it does not delete the message from gmail.com.

    Another example - when I copy/paste mail from my hotmail folders into gmail folders, those messages do not transfer up to gmail.com. This is core of why I'm even going through this - I'm trying to move mail messages from my hotmail account to my gmail account

    It appears that mail comes successfully from gmail.com to Windows Live Mail, but the changes are not replicating successfully from Windows Live Mail to gmail.com. For whatever its worth, this transfer/synch IS working between Live Mail and Hotmail.com

    Any suggestions? Thanks....

    ReplyDelete
  60. Alex ChituOctober 22, 2008 at 4:34 AM

    @MY24:
    Make sure you use IMAP, not POP3.

    http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=75725

    ReplyDelete
  61. AnonymousOctober 26, 2008 at 12:38 AM

    this was amazingly helpful, thank you for the article and for the comments about the forwarding hotmail workaround

    ReplyDelete
  62. AnonymousNovember 7, 2008 at 10:22 AM

    I get lost/stuck at Steps 3 and 4.

    I can't find the link or Option or Menu that lets me "Add the Hotmail Accounts" and "Add the Gmail Accounts."

    Am I not looking at the right place.

    I didn't download and install Windows Live Mail because I thought I was automatically switched to that when Hotmail classic upgraded me to Hotmail Live (without my request, or course!)

    I see Windows Live at the top of my Hotmail and Home, etc ... I click that and go to what appears to be the main Windows Live site .... is this not the same thing?

    Also, when I do get there and click the main Account link (where I could Link other ID's, change settings, etc ....) it never loads.

    What little I know about AJAX, it appears all these different little spots on the web page are AJAX spots and they are trying to download their piece of information .... but all I get are these spining little arrows or icons (think of the hourglass you get in Windows) ...

    Are my Cookie settings or other IE browser settigs to strict or something and it's dis-allowing the content to download?

    Or maybe I still need to download and install Windows Live Mail? I just didn't want to load more MS crap than what I already have.

    Thanks in advance for your help!!

    ReplyDelete
  63. AnonymousNovember 10, 2008 at 8:36 AM

    adam dempsey and bob made my day - i combined both posts and am waiting to see if it works...!

    ReplyDelete
  64. AnonymousNovember 14, 2008 at 1:27 AM

    im so totally freakin lost!
    i have had this hotmail account forever but because i have an iphone i need to have it all forward to my gmail account. ive read everything everyone is saying and nothign is working..
    everytime i go to mobile alerts for new messages all it ask me is what kind of messages i would like to recieve and i select all..
    then i press save and it goes directly back to the options window
    someone please help!!

    ReplyDelete
  65. Alex ChituNovember 14, 2008 at 1:48 AM

    Good news: Hotmail will soon offer POP3 and you'll be able to import all your messages in Gmail.

    ReplyDelete
  66. AnonymousNovember 17, 2008 at 8:40 AM

    To add to those steps (in between 4 and 5), for the new Windows live hotmail, you have to click on the 'go to Windows Live Mobile' link to get to step 5.

    ReplyDelete
  67. AnonymousNovember 24, 2008 at 10:05 AM

    Great! A brilliant help. Luckily I have an hotmail account so i can forward items

    ReplyDelete
  68. StudySqueekNovember 25, 2008 at 5:47 AM

    AMEN! Thank you for your help moving my old hotmail messages across to Gmail!! Im converted :) Bbye Hotmail!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  69. mikeDecember 8, 2008 at 9:25 AM

    I think that hotmail, or microsoft needs to get off its high rocker and move on to the opensourceness, move on to allowing people to chose what they want, when they want, however they want,

    So what if they lose emails on there server.. it'll mean more storage space so they can create more money making programs "that are a big rip off"

    "in a world without walls- who needs windows?"

    ReplyDelete
  70. AnonymousDecember 13, 2008 at 10:02 AM

    I did all of the above and it worked perfectly.
    Now I want to copy my e-mail messages from Windows Live (or from my gmail account) to folders in Microsoft Outlook. I can select an email in Windows Lie, click copy, but when I try to paste it into Outlook, it says I can't do that.

    Any ideas?

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  71. UnknownDecember 23, 2008 at 7:32 AM

    Thank you for helping me finally get off Hotmail, what a relief!!!

    ReplyDelete
  72. AnonymousJanuary 3, 2009 at 9:11 PM

    Nobody answered the Mac questions. Please do, since I also need to migrate my hotmail to gmail on a Mac. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  73. AnonymousJanuary 22, 2009 at 9:00 PM

    This is great for old messages, but it is now possible to automatically forward hotmail messages to gmail. That message about using only accounts from hotmail.com, msn.com or live.com no longer appears.

    ReplyDelete
  74. Alex ChituJanuary 23, 2009 at 12:04 AM

    I still see the message: "You can forward your mail to one other e-mail address that ends in hotmail.com, msn.com, live.com, or is part of Windows Live Custom Domains."

    Hotmail started to offer POP3 for a small number of countries. "We are happy to announce that POP3 technology is now available to Hotmail users in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, Japan, Spain, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. If you don’t see your country or region in this list, never fear, we’ll be rolling POP3 out to more parts of the world later this year. "

    ReplyDelete
  75. AnonymousJanuary 23, 2009 at 8:26 PM

    I have a MAC too. Can someone please advise how to do the same thing for MAC! Does it exist for MAC?

    ReplyDelete
  76. AnonymousFebruary 1, 2009 at 2:20 AM

    its the same if u have a mac... i has nothing to do with the issue... dummy

    ReplyDelete
  77. AnonymousFebruary 3, 2009 at 5:18 AM

    I been asking Google chrome to add all my email from Verizon & Hot mail to g mail. so far they can't add them? I hope you can help me?

    ReplyDelete
  78. AnonymousFebruary 4, 2009 at 9:47 AM

    I have noticed Adam's comments work for some but not others. It worked for me but not a co-worker (I had 2 successes- coworker 2 failures). Could this be related to phone providers(I don't know why, but I was there when the coworker attempted it and she did everything I did!). I am with T-mobile. Co-worker AT&T. Have other AT&T customers been able to do the forwarding using mobile alerts?

    ReplyDelete
  79. AnonymousFebruary 4, 2009 at 3:00 PM

    here's how you do it, work both on windows and mac:

    first you enable pop access in hotmail like this:

    http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/01/22/hack-to-enable-hotmail-pop3-and-smtp-support-instantly-for-all-countries/

    and then you follow the instructions here:

    http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/01/22/how-to-configure-gmail-to-download-get-and-transfer-mail-from-hotmail-via-pop3/

    that's it!

    ReplyDelete
  80. AnonymousFebruary 14, 2009 at 8:12 PM

    Great post. I've been trying to do this for a while.

    ReplyDelete
  81. AnonymousFebruary 21, 2009 at 10:55 AM

    perfect! it worked

    ReplyDelete
  82. AnonymousMarch 10, 2009 at 5:33 PM

    Jesus H. Christ, I was about to bite the keyboard after hours of futile attempts before I found this page here.

    Ye be blessed.

    Marc.

    ReplyDelete
  83. Kate DeYoeMarch 24, 2009 at 2:14 PM

    How do you deal with the inbox in hotmail once you've made the transfer of all your messages in hotmail folders to gmail? I only look at gmail now, and take all the inbox items I get in gmail and either delete them or "label" them. But now in hotmail I have thousands of inbox items (which I had already deleted or labeled in gmail)! Can I just delete them since they're saved in gmail? (Or are they?!) Is there a way to stop them from collecting there?

    ReplyDelete
  84. AnonymousMarch 25, 2009 at 5:43 PM

    Don't know about importing old hotmail messages into gmail but to add a hotmail account to gmail while in gmail go to:

    settings >> accounts >> add another email address you own >> your name >> yourname@hotmail.com >> user name (which has to be including @hotmail.com, @msn.com etc) >> password >> pop settings = pop3.live.com (port 995)then click on use ssl connection then save changes. gmail will then ask you to verify your account so log into your hotmail/msn account and check for a verification email, it'll probably be in spam/junk, highlight the verifcation number and then copy it into the gmail verification box you were at and viola!!!
    hope this helps,

    Paul

    ReplyDelete
  85. AnonymousMarch 27, 2009 at 12:07 PM

    Of course. Give everything to Google, and don't forget to whine about Microsoft invading your privacy. Lemmings.

    ReplyDelete
  86. AnonymousMarch 28, 2009 at 3:47 PM

    This is what I use. It's amazing.
    Gmail can download all your hotmail stuff (including contacts).



    (http://elayshelp.wordpress.com/2009/03/20/how-to-send-and-receive-hotmail-from-your-gmail-account/)

    ReplyDelete
  87. AnonymousApril 12, 2009 at 10:39 AM

    I feel very ignorant. I see nothing in my hotmail (windows live) account that shows the other accounts (gmail or other hotmail). I also do not see the button that is supposed to be in the account that is used to add more accounts.

    ReplyDelete
  88. AnonymousMay 4, 2009 at 10:21 AM

    > Alex Chitu said on January 23, 2009 12:04 AM PDT:
    > "Hotmail started to offer POP3 for a small number of countries"

    Then I found this:
    http://windowslivehelp.com/solutions/settings/archive/2009/01/06/send-and-receive-windows-live-hotmail-emails-from-a-mail-client.aspx

    It works for me with a Windows Live account :o)

    ReplyDelete
  89. JoshMay 5, 2009 at 8:42 AM

    I have 3 hotmail accounts forwarding into 1 gmail account and it's working just fine so far. But I noticed one inconvenience that is gmail only verifies new emails from time to time and there's no way to set up this time that is surely too long in my opinion! Sometimes I go to my accounts menu and I see that the last verification was something like 30 mins ago and the only way I found to resolve that is doing 'verify new emails now'!!! Is there a way to reduce or even set up the new email time verification? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  90. AnonymousMay 13, 2009 at 4:58 PM

    i found that using the following site was the easiest way to transfer my hotmail email (everything from my inbox for years!), into my gmail acct. it automatically sends these messages into the gmail 'sent mail' section (be sureto be patient if you have a large amt of mail- it takes some time)

    http://elayshelp.wordpress.com/2009/03/20/how-to-send-and-receive-hotmail-from-your-gmail-account/

    now l have to figure out how to get my folders and contacts over to gmail...

    thanks for all the great advice out there- i'm not so computer savvy, so this really helped! :)

    ReplyDelete
  91. AnonymousMay 13, 2009 at 7:25 PM

    umm... i just lost a bunch of emails from my hotmail acct... my inbox was cleared and now i only have the latest (15) emails for hotmail after i had checked the mail again in the accounts section in settings... where did they go and how can i retrieve them??? i have also discovered that the latest gmail accts have an option in accounts to get contacts from other accounts, so i'll just wait a few on that... any advice?

    ReplyDelete
  92. AnonymousMay 17, 2009 at 7:22 PM

    I noticed in hotmail's email forward terms, they warn that inactive accounts (after 200+ days) will be disabled. So they advice that we log-in regularly.

    Does using any of the above 'login' methods help to resolve the enforced hotmail login as well? Or do we still need to login every 6 months or so? Otherwise the account will be 'closed'.

    Side tangent, if the hotmail account does get closed - does that mean my MSN account gets closed as well? And then I got to seek a new one?

    Advice / suggestions (other than why are you still using hotmail comments) Thanks in advance.

    ReplyDelete
  93. AnonymousJuly 21, 2009 at 1:32 AM

    Install GetMail v.4.0

    It's free and completely automatic.

    ReplyDelete
  94. SavvyKAugust 19, 2009 at 7:52 AM

    There is an easy way to permanently forward your Hotmail to Gmail. This is described at http://www.savvyk.com/index.php/how-to-forward-hotmail-to-gmail/

    ReplyDelete
  95. AnonymousSeptember 11, 2009 at 10:37 AM

    SavvyK, you saved my day! Hotmail finally has POP3 enabled on free accounts so you easily can forward to e.g. Gmail.

    ReplyDelete
  96. MarcusSeptember 12, 2009 at 11:21 PM

    Import Your Windows Live Hotmail Messages and Contacts Into Gmail

    To migrate Windows Live Hotmail messages, folders and address book contacts to Gmail:

    Copy all messages you want to migrate from your Windows Live Hotmail Deleted and Junk folders to the Windows Live Hotmail Inbox (or another folder).
    Follow the Settings link in Gmail.
    Go to the Accounts and Import tab.
    Click Import mail and contacts.
    If you have previously imported, click Import from another address.
    Type your Windows Live Hotmail email address under What account do you want to import from?.
    Click Continue.
    Enter your Windows Live Hotmail password under Enter the password for example@hotmail.com:.
    Click Continue.
    Make sure Import contacts and Import mail are checked.
    To have messages you receive at your Windows Live Hotmail address automatically appear in your Gmail inbox for a month, check Import new mail for next 30 days.
    Optionally, check Add label to all imported mail:.
    This label lets you easily find all imported mail in one place. You can always remove the label from individual emails, of course, or delete it altogether.
    Messages imported from Windows Live Hotmail folders other than your Inbox will automatically get a label derived from the folder name. All mail imported from your Windows Live Hotmail "Projects" folder will get the "Projects" label, for example.
    Messages in your Drafts, Deleted and Junk folders will not be imported.
    All messages and contacts will of course still be available in Windows Live Hotmail after the import.
    Click Start import.
    Click OK.

    ReplyDelete
  97. AnonymousSeptember 25, 2009 at 5:24 AM

    Thanks for this great guide, made my transition to Gmail so much easier.

    ReplyDelete
  98. UnknownOctober 6, 2009 at 6:17 PM

    Is there a way to import my hotmail messages to gmail using a Mac? I've read the posts for mobile users, but I just want to forward/transfer all my messages on my MacBook.

    Thanks, ali

    ReplyDelete
  99. UnknownNovember 26, 2009 at 8:28 AM

    The Getmail mentioned above is now http://www.e-eeasy.com/mailforwarding.aspx

    ReplyDelete
  100. AnonymousJanuary 3, 2010 at 11:45 PM

    Is there a way to forward messages received in Gmail to Hotmail?

    ReplyDelete
  101. AnonymousJuly 7, 2010 at 3:16 AM

    Its working great! Moving over to gmail from office live.

    ReplyDelete
  102. AnonymousJuly 9, 2010 at 11:29 AM

    thankman!! Copying/moving messages over right now ^^

    0!!!__!!_000o

    ReplyDelete
  103. AnonymousJuly 21, 2010 at 12:58 PM

    Adam's trick perfectly worked for me..I have provided my office address instead of gmail : )

    Thanks Adam.

    ReplyDelete
  104. prefabrikJuly 29, 2010 at 5:31 AM

    I dont understand for gmail's error type. I want to add hotmail account for outgoing mail account. But gmail display this error : You mail server is too slowly. Please report it to your domain administrator.

    Please can anyone help me?

    ReplyDelete
  105. AnonymousAugust 3, 2010 at 3:22 AM

    Very good tip. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  106. AnonymousOctober 28, 2010 at 8:27 PM

    Yes! This is tremendous! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  107. prefabrikDecember 22, 2010 at 6:20 AM

    It's great way. Thanks to Gmail.It's the best.

    ReplyDelete
  108. jfly62March 6, 2011 at 5:56 AM

    i'm also trying to get my windows live (online) emails out of windows live (online) and back to Gmail (where they used to be...)
    BUT...
    my windows live online ID is not actally a hotmail account. when i first created it i had an old ...@eircom.net account which i used as my windows live ID. i no longer have the password for this eircom.net account so its now basically just a windows Live ID.
    how can i get the emails from Windows Live ID (Online) into Windows Live Mail (offline) so i can IMAP them up to Gmail

    ReplyDelete
  109. Joe LonsdaleApril 9, 2011 at 2:44 PM

    Wow - a perfect solution, perfectly explained and it worked perfectly - PERFECT!

    ReplyDelete
  110. prefabrikJuly 7, 2011 at 3:49 AM

    You can now specify these parameters that Piwik will then filter out of the statistics. Piwik automatically filters out common session parameters.

    ReplyDelete
  111. Greg TurnerAugust 11, 2011 at 7:04 PM

    Doesn't work for me at all because they never send the verification code whether I click on "Send Verification Instructions" or "Resend Email." Google doesn't love me. sniffle

    ReplyDelete
  112. Blank NamesSeptember 26, 2011 at 6:21 AM

    Good identify... You can use a similar method in Thunderbird, if you install the add-in "Webmail" and the corresponding add-ins for Yahoo! and Hotmail accounts.
    This is what I used to migrate some of my old messages from Yahoo! to Gmail.

    ReplyDelete
  113. Baby GamesJuly 20, 2012 at 12:39 AM

    Copy all messages you want to migrate from your Windows Live Hotmail Deleted and Junk folders to the Windows Live Hotmail Inbox (or another folder).
    Follow the Settings link in Gmail.
    Go to the Accounts and Import tab.

    ReplyDelete
  114. Richard CarrollAugust 20, 2016 at 9:28 AM

    Nice Post, have you any problem with your gmail account? Gmail Support Phone Number USA is an independent technical support company. Call us at Help Number USA for any kind of technical assistance.

    ReplyDelete

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