so you’ve got yourself a gmail account – now what? backup!
September 17, 2008
Gmail. It’s cool. You can use it anywhere. It has great search functionality built-in. It has a great spam filter. It will even do your taxes for you.
Okay, I made that last part up.
But one thing I won’t make up is this – all your base are belong to Google.
So if Gmail goes down, or if Google decides one day, “Don’t be evil? Frak that!”, then your email is not your email at that moment.
Unless you’re smart.
And you are smart, because you’ve enabled IMAP in Gmail and you have a locally synchronized copy of your mail. Monika talked about wanting something like this in her Office Setup post.
(What’s Brett been smoking, you ask? I don’t have a clue what he’s talking about!)
Backups are very important – as Harry and Melissa have shown us this year. (Sorry guys, I’m not picking on you, honest!) And if you use Gmail, a good way to backup everything is to enable IMAP and use an email program on one of your computers as a local mirror.
Here’s what you do.
Just go and visit “Getting started with IMAP for Gmail” – read through it, and start by clicking on “enable IMAP in Gmail” – that part is really easy.
Once IMAP has been enabled in your Gmail account, then go back and follow the “configuration instructions” for your email program of choice. Really, just about any email program will do. I chose to use Mail on my MacBook Pro as it came with the machine, and I’ve never used Mail before. I wanted to try something new and learn about it.
If you don’t know what to use, you could use whatever is on your computer right now (Outlook Express, or Outlook, or Windows Mail if you have Windows, or Mail if you have a Mac like me). Or you could download Thunderbird and try that (it’s the email program from the folks who make Firefox). I used it for many years and it is very good.
In any case, just follow the instructions for what you are using, and before you know it, you’ll have an IMAP-enabled email program on your computer with a local backup of your Gmail.
Just remember to start up the email program once in a while to synchronize everything!
What if you don’t use Gmail, but Hotmail, for example? I’m not sure if Hotmail allows IMAP, but I do believe if you use Windows Live Mail you can pull mail down from your Hotmail account that way.
As always, if you have any questions about this, email me at brett DOT legree AT gmail DOT com and I’ll be here to help.
I’ve been in the Gmail Google Groups forums, and many people complain about technical difficulties that wiped out all their email, but since it’s a free thing, Google couldn’t/wouldn’t help (so they say).
This is a pretty smart idea. I’m thumbs up for that.
Oh, Brett (Sniff).
When I read this, my eyes watered, my chins quivered, and I sobbed a breath of gratitude.
No longer will I have to worry about Google and gmail. All my thoughts, aspirations, my very DREAMS can now be backed up on a synchronized copy of my Gmail.
(Whispering: You truly ARE an inspiration.)
God-Speed, Young Man. God-Speed.
Oprah-Mom’s last blog post..Motivating Yourself with More Inspirational Quotes
I do this, and it’s delicious.
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@James,
I think it becomes more important in light of the 1 or 2 outages they’ve had this year, especially if you’re running a business and might need to get to your mail archives. They are apparently working on getting Gears to work with Gmail for offline access, but I’d still like to know I have the mail in a format I can move around myself!
@Oprah-Mom,
@Writer Dad,
I had a feeling you would already know this – it is good, isn’t it.
OK, I am going to work on this today so don’t be surprised if you see a big HELP flashing at you later on!
Wendi Kelly’s last blog post..Dirty Dishes in the Sink
OMG, I did this all by myself and it worked. The total non-techie Panther!!!!!
Urban Panther’s last blog post..Half light
@Wendi,
Oh, I’m sure you’ll get it done no problem – but I’ll be around in any case!
@Panther,
Well, you’re obviously not that much of a non-techie then
@Brett – I can do it, I just have no desire to. And if I run across a glitch? Oh, you don’t want to be within 100 miles of me. However, this went off without a glitch, which I attribute to your excellent instructions. Okay, there is one glitch in the instructions…you are walked through all the steps and then told to hit the ‘run a test’ button. I didn’t have a ‘run a test button’ so wasn’t sure if I had done everything correctly. Apparently I had despite not being able to test.
Urban Panther’s last blog post..Half light
@Panther,
Luckily I live about 120 miles from you, so I’m safe… ah, no ‘run a test’ button. Hmm. Have to have a word with Google… (or give them a knuckle sandwich)
Brett, do you take the time to go through all the emails you don’t need to keep before storing?
Thanks for this helpful post!
Harmony’s last blog post..Are You a “CONTROL FREAK”?
Hi Brett – I’d just been thinking about this yesterday. I like GMail a whole lot more than AOL but if something goes wrong, I don’t have a backup. I’ll check out Imap. Thank you.
Cath Lawson’s last blog post..Why You’re Not Making Lots Of Money
@Harmony,
Myself, I tend to Archive everything (but I delete Spam) – I still have so much storage space, and I figure if I need to search for it… so I just kept everything. And I’m happy that this has helped you out!
@Cath,
You’re welcome! I thought about this quite a bit just based on all the folks I know who use Gmail, and it seemed a good thing to share, and a good idea for a “tech” blog post. Now your email can be *your* email!
How did you know I just got a gmail account??
Well, I’m happy to report I had the intention of doing this (yay for me). But I’m using Windows Live Mail and it ain’t working! Plus I think if I got it working there might be a problem with trying to *send* mail from ‘Gmail’ in your mail thingy. Just a little FYI (I have the same issue with my blog mail and have to use another account to reply with).
Anyhoo, I don’t know what the problem is, but I’m going to try again because my instincts were right to do it. Thanks Brett.
(and I just got on Twitter…hopefully some of you will follow me back so I don’t look like such a loser)
Karen JL’s last blog post..Which Animation Student Are You?
@Karen JL,
I must be psychic (now, about those lotto numbers…)
Thanks for letting us know about that Windows Live Mail thing. The Google site seems to say that regular old Windows Mail will work, so perhaps they’ve not set it up yet for WLM, or WLM is different enough from WM to not work quite right.
If nothing else you could always try a different program like Thunderbird to do it.
Oh, and you’ve been followed!
I got it working but now something else is wacky. I may just email ya.
(and your follow isn’t showing up so I can’t direct message you…hmm)
I’m just full of technical difficulties today…
Karen JL’s last blog post..Which Animation Student Are You?
@Karen JL,
Yes, feel free to email me (or IM me tonight at home, I can’t do that here though…) – I followed you but via Twhirl so maybe that’s why it didn’t show up…
One of my goals this month is to restructure my emails. I have way too many accounts so I want to streamline everything and start using Gmail more. So I’m going to bookmark this post and make sure I set up in a way that allows me to backup (lesson learned!). However, I think I can pull my Gmail into Entourage (or Outlook) and store the files on my hard drive. So I might do that instead. In any case, thanks for the tip, and the link love
Melissa Donovan’s last blog post..Behind the Scenes: Writing as a Business
@Melissa,
I know what you mean – I wish that MS would let Gmail pull in Hotmail accounts (Google lets Hotmail pull in Gmail accounts!) – but I can pull down the Hotmail via a mail client.
Entourage should be able to pull down Gmail and it should be able to pull down Hotmail also I imagine.
Oh, and you’re welcome! I just didn’t want anyone to think I was picking on you & Harry (which is why I wrote that!)
Thanks for the link Brett.
Now to the GMail/IMAP thingy. I currently forward my GMail to my desktop through Windows Mail. Does this mean I’m already using IMAP, or is this entirely different from what you are saying here? Sorry, I’m a noob in this regard?
Monika Mundell’s last blog post..Do You Diversify?
Done! Thanks Brett! I hadn’t thought about backing up Gmail because I assumed they would do that, but it’s true – if they go all evil, then I’d be screwed…
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome’s last blog post..Relying on Memory
Yeah, better backup your gmail to be safe. Gmail is still in beta after all. Very strange.
I also use thunderbird because I have a couple of different addys and I can check them all at once in thunderbird.
I never use webmail anymore.
sean’s last blog post..City-Bay Fun Run and finish line photo
@Monika,
What you are doing isn’t quite the same but it is a good way to do it. The IMAP method works a bit differently and everything should be sync’d up – your Inbox and your Sent items, for instance – or any special folders you might have in Gmail.
If what you have now works for you, probably no need to change it.
@Alex,
Glad to be of service! No doubt they back it up for their own “non-evil” purposes, but if they have a major service outage… yikes!
@sean,
That’s the old Google trick… keep it in beta forever so no one can complain. “It’s beta software, you knew that, didn’t you?”
T-bird is a pretty good program, I agree – I may start using my dedicated email client more (Mail) because it does give a good separation from the browser. I still need the web interface to use it when I’m traveling, and the IMAP sync gives me the best of everything.
Thanks Brett for clarifying this with me. I guess for now i leave it as is, but will keep this post handy bookmarked if I ever feel the urge to stuff around with your IMAP suggestion.
On another note, would this work if I’m not at home with my laptop too. Could I still download the emails to my computer, say from a hotel room, or would I have to logon to GMail directly?
Monika Mundell’s last blog post..Anal Reader Behavior
Monika,
It should work even if you’re traveling for sure, since it sounds like you’re just forwarding your Gmail to your Windows Mail account. Of course you’d have to use Windows Mail on your laptop.
Dear Brett,
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
All my base,
are belong to you
I love that you used that “base” quote
@RL,
Thank you
I always liked AYB myself…
This is a wonderful resource! I have to do something with my overall email strategies soon,,since I now have so many web sites and blogs that I need to have a central place.
Would you recommend also using Outlook or Thunderbird in addition, or just doing backup on the gmail?
Thanks.
Nancy
Nancy Boyd’s last blog post..Your Hidden Link to Create Whatever You Want In Life
Nancy,
I am happy that you found this useful – it can be a lifesaver for some folks.
Really, I suppose it is up to you depending on how you work. I use Mail (comes with Mac OS X) to backup my Gmail this way, and I normally leave Mail open when I’m working so the sync is immediate. I don’t send things via Mail, but I always have the option to do that – at least if I am offline, I have my mail and can write messages that will then be sent once I have a network connection.
So that might be something to consider if you want to use Outlook or Thunderbird – until Google enables Gears so that local copies of your mail can be stored on your machine and you can work offline without using this sync method.