This article is intended for cPanel users who want to download and archive their emails from a mailbox (e.g. user@example.com) either to their local computer (offline) or to an online service such as Gmail, or by using our professional Email Archiving add-on.
Archiving your email ensures you have a backup of important messages and makes it easier to migrate to a new service if needed. There are multiple methods to archive your emails, depending on your preference.
Offline Archiving: Downloading Emails to Your Computer
You can use a desktop email client such as:
-
Microsoft Outlook
-
Mozilla Thunderbird
-
Apple Mail (for macOS)
1. Add your cPanel email account to your chosen email client using the IMAP protocol (recommended, as it keeps your email folders in sync).
To obtain the configuration of your email account, please see:
You can also find various email client setup guides at the end of this article.
2. Download emails to your computer.
Once your account is set up, your client will download all emails. To keep a permanent archive:
-
In Thunderbird or Outlook, export your mailbox to a local file (e.g., .eml, .pst, or .mbox formats).
-
Keep this file as your email archive.
-
Optionally, delete messages from the server once you have confirmed your backup.
For step-by-step export guides:
Online Archiving: Transferring/Importing Emails to Gmail (or Similar Services)
You can copy or move your cPanel emails to an online email service, such as Gmail.
Step 1: Prepare Your Online Account
Gmail Example:
-
Log in to your Gmail account.
-
Go to Settings > See all settings > Accounts and Import.
Step 2: Import Emails from Your cPanel Account
In Gmail:
-
Under the “Check mail from other accounts” section, click Add a mail account.
-
Enter your cPanel email address (e.g. user@example.com).
-
Choose Import emails from my other account (POP3).
-
Enter the required POP3 details:
-
These can be found in cPanel:
-
Username: Your full email address
-
Password: Your email account password
-
POP Server: Typically mail.example.com (replace with your actual domain)
-
Port: 995 with SSL
-
-
Optionally, select Leave a copy of retrieved messages on the server. This is not recommended if you want to archive and free up space, but please be aware that enabling this option will directly remove all existing emails from our server once they are retrieved.
-
Click Add Account.
Gmail will start downloading all emails from your cPanel account and add them to your Gmail inbox or a label you specify.
Professional Email Archiving (Recommended for Business & Compliance)
We offer an Email Archiving add-on as well as Incoming and Outgoing Email Filtering for domains hosted with us. This powerful service automatically preserves and protects all inbound and outbound email messages for later access. With Email Archiving, you benefit from:
-
Secure, automatic backup of all emails (incoming and/or outgoing)
-
Easy recovery of lost or deleted emails
-
Audit support and fast eDiscovery for legal cases
-
Legal and industry compliance for data protection regulations
-
Improved IT system performance and continuity
-
User-friendly management of archived emails
If you’re interested in enabling Email Archiving for your domain or want more information, visit our service page:
- Add-on: E-mail Services
Additional Notes
-
POP3 vs IMAP:
-
POP3 downloads and (optionally) removes emails from the server—good for archiving and clearing space.
-
IMAP keeps email folders in sync between devices but does not download local copies unless you export or back up using your email client.
-
-
Archiving Attachments: Attachments are normally included when you download or import emails.
Need More Help?
If you have questions or need assistance with the process, please contact our support team.
Related Articles:
Updated by SP on 04/07/2025
