Import Old Mail

When migrating to RemarkableCloud, you can bring your existing email history with you. This guide covers three methods from easiest to most powerful.

Method 1: IMAP sync via mail client (easiest)

If you have a small to medium mailbox and access to the old account, this works well:

Configure both your old and new email accounts in a desktop mail client (Thunderbird recommended for this).

In the client, open your old account and select all messages in each folder.

Drag and drop (or copy) to the corresponding folder in your new account.

The client uploads the messages to your new server via IMAP.

Repeat for each folder.

Best for: Mailboxes under 5 GB with a reliable internet connection. Slow for large mailboxes: runs at upload speed.

Method 2: imapsync (command line, large mailboxes)

imapsync is a tool that syncs one IMAP account to another. Run it on your server or local machine.

# Install on Ubuntu/Debian
apt install imapsync

# Sync old account to new account
imapsync   --host1 mail.oldprovider.com --user1 you@olddomain.com --password1 "oldpass"   --host2 mail.yourdomain.com  --user2 you@yourdomain.com --password2 "newpass"   --ssl1 --ssl2   --automap   --syncinternaldates

Options explained:

• --automap: automatically maps folder names (e.g. “Sent Items” → “Sent”)
• --syncinternaldates: preserves original message dates
• --ssl1 --ssl2: use SSL on both connections
• Add --dry to preview what would be synced without actually syncing

Best for: Large mailboxes, bulk migrations, or when you need to preserve exact folder structure and timestamps.

Method 3: Export/import via cPanel (cPanel to cPanel)

If migrating between cPanel servers:

1. On the old server: cPanel → Backup → Download a Full Account Backup (includes email)
2. On the new server: WHM → Account Functions → Restore a Full Backup/cPMO File

Or if you have WHM access to both servers, use Transfers → Transfer Tool to copy accounts directly server-to-server.

Verifying the import

After importing, verify in your mail client:

• Message count matches the old account
• Oldest messages are present (check the Sent folder, which is often forgotten)
• Attachments are intact
• Folder structure is correct

# Check mailbox size on the server
du -sh /home/cpanelusername/mail/

Don't close or delete your old email account until you're sure all mail has been migrated and your MX records have fully propagated to the new server. New incoming mail should already be arriving at the new server, but you want the history safely moved first.