How to Migrate iCloud Email to Gmail in Easy Steps
Summary: If you want to keep all your emails in one place, moving your iCloud Mail to Gmail is a great idea. Both of the emails are good and provide features to their users. However, most technical users prefer Gmail instead of iCloud because of its features and integration with other Google applications. In this blog, we outline some manual processes, including the iCloud Email Backup Tool, to migrate iCloud email to Gmail smoothly and without any hassle. Whether to fully transfer or just access iCloud emails to Gmail can be relatively easy with these methods.
Why Do We Transfer iCloud to Gmail?
Before the methods are introduced, here’s why you may want to do this transition:
- Gmail provides a simple interface with highly developed organizational capabilities.
- If you access other Google services, having all your emails together in Gmail integrates all the tools nicely.
- Gmail generally offers much more storage capacity than iCloud Mail, especially if you need to deal with large quantities of email.
- Gmail is more compatible with various email clients and apps, which makes it easier to access your email from many devices.
After knowing the benefits of using a Gmail account instead of iCloud, we are going to move on to solutions to migrate iCloud mail to Gmail without losing any data.
How to Change iCloud to Gmail?
There are numerous methods to transfer iCloud mail to Gmail. In the following section, we are going to discuss both manual and professional solutions to complete the task efficiently. If you have technical knowledge, you can go ahead with the manual solution. On the other hand, we will also suggest the easiest solution to do the same without having any technical expertise.
Method 01: Manual Way to Migrate Emails from iCloud to Gmail
Gmail has an in-built feature called Mail Fetcher, and it allows you to import emails from other accounts. Here is how you can do it to transfer your iCloud Mail to Gmail.
- Open your defined web browser and search your Gmail account.
- Choose “See all settings.” from the gear icon.
- Select Accounts and Import tab >> Import Mail and Contacts.
- In the “Check mail from other accounts” section, tap on “Add a mail account.”
- It will open a popup window. Put in your iCloud email address, then click Next.
- Select “Import emails from my other account” and then click Next.
- Enter the following:
- Username: Your full iCloud email address.
- Password: Your iCloud Password.
- Choose Forever and use a secure connection (SSL) when retrieving mail.
- Click on “Add Account.” You can choose whether to send emails using your iCloud address through Gmail.
Limitations to Migrate iCloud email to Gmail via Manual Methods
The process of manually migrating iCloud email to Gmail is pretty simple, but there are several limitations and challenges that the user might face. Some of the key limitations are:
- Both accounts need to be configured manually, and email transfers are dependent on the IMAP settings.
- It can be tough to move a lot of emails in bulk.
- If your iCloud email has complex folder structures or custom labels, they might not map properly in Gmail.
- Some emails may lose formatting and inline images.
- Large attachments may not transfer properly if they are larger than the maximum file size allowed for either service.
- Users have to manually export and import data if they wish to completely shift from iCloud to Gmail.
- Sensitive email content and attachments may be exposed during the migration if proper precautions are not taken.
It is possible to manually transfer an iCloud email to Gmail, but the process has several limitations. Maintaining sync and transferring contacts or calendars also poses a challenge. Therefore, users might have to find professional services to ensure a more seamless migration experience.
Method 02: Professional Solution to Migrate iCloud Email to Gmail
The iCloud Email Backup Tool is multifunctional software that can assist users in creating a backup of their iCloud emails and migrating the same. The tool can be used to convert iCloud to PDF, MBOX, EML, or even image formats like PNG or JPG. The tool supports migrating emails to a platform like Gmail, G Suite, Office 365, or Thunderbird. It also deletes duplicate emails at the time of backup or migration. Except for migration, this software also supports the backup of multiple iCloud accounts at a time. It is user-friendly, and both Windows and Mac work on it. The interface is easy and smooth to use, from a beginner to a professional.
Simple Steps to Migrate iCloud Email to Gmail Account
- Launch and run the iCloud Email Backup Tool on your system.
- Log in to iCloud with valid credentials >> Sign In.
- Now, select the desired iCloud email from the above tree structure of iCloud data.
- In the following panel, select Gmail and input the ID and password >> Sign In.
- In addition, users can choose the additional features of the software according to their needs.
- Click on the Convert button to convert iCloud data to Gmail.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are various simple ways to migrate iCloud email to Gmail. This depends on your needs and what you feel is easy for you. The first one is doing it manually through the “Import Mail and Contacts” feature by Gmail. You can opt for the recommended software, which ensures your emails stay in sync. Along with that, there are special programs that offer additional features. Besides, you may try the demo version, limited to 50 emails per folder for testing​.