A guide on how to transfer email accounts from one cPanel to another cPanel

When moving accounts between servers, the process of transferring email accounts differs significantly. Whether you are transferring a complete website, email accounts, or databases, the act of moving data from one server to another is technically referred to as migration. Fortunately, when conducting a complete website migration for a cPanel account, there is no need to manually migrate the emails. The cPanel transfer process takes care of migrating the email accounts seamlessly. However, it’s important to note that during the DNS propagation period after a DNS change during the website migration, some emails may be directed to the previous server and some to the new server. It is imperative to ensure that no valuable emails are lost in the process. This is what sets email migration apart from other types of migrations. Now, let’s explore how email account transfer is performed for both cPanel and non-cPanel accounts.

Migration of Email Accounts

There are two methods of conducting email migration: utilizing the cPanel interface or using the command line prompt. In this article, we will focus on how to perform the migration within cPanel. Follow the steps below to navigate through this process:

Step 1: Backing up Email Directories

The first step in the email migration process is to back up the email directories present on the old server.

1) Log in to the cPanel interface for the account in question on the old server.

2) Navigate to the ‘Files’ section and open ‘File Manager’.

3) Go ‘Up One Level’ above the public_html directory.

4) Locate and enter the mail directory.

5) Right-click on the directory and select the option to compress the directory.

6) Proceed to download the compressed file to your computer.

Step 2: Restoring Email Backups

1) Log in to the cPanel interface of the new server.

2) Recreate the email accounts, following the same process as in the old server. You can create email accounts from the ‘Mail’ category in the ‘Email Accounts’ section.

3) Access ‘File Manager’ in the ‘Files’ section.

4) Navigate ‘Up One Level’ above the public_html directory. You should find the mail directory there. Enter the directory.

5) Upload the email backup file to the respective directory.

6) Unzip the backup file and delete the zip file afterwards.

7) Access Webmail and configure it to display the new email folders.

If you require further assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out to our support department.