Simple Methods to Import MBOX Files into Gmail

Aug 13

5 min read

The MBOX is a file format that is supported by more than one email client among which are Thunderbird, Gmail, Apple Mail and Postbox. Thunderbird is an open-source email client and hence it has no cost for downloading. Perhaps you have saved your emails in Thunderbird and at some moment decided to move MBOX to Gmail.

The process of migrating MBOX to Gmail is rather complex, but fortunately, there are several techniques that can help you. In this guide, you will discover how to import MBOX files into Gmail with or without the Thunderbird application. This will also highlight the circumstances under which MBOX files are required to be imported to Gmail mailboxes. Stay tuned, continue your reading and finish your migration work.

Below are some of the commonly provided factors to import MBOX to Gmail.

Certainly today Gmail dominates the Emailing market, for some people Email is Gmail only, nothing more of it. Below are the modern-day working abilities that Gmail offers for free.

Today, Gmail has more than 1 billion active users worldwide and it is ranked first among other email services. 5 billion users globally, and there is an excessive increase in the numbers all over the world. Some of Gmail’s features that attract users into Gmail are as follows:

Some of Gmail’s features that attract users are as follows:

Thunderbird is also a free email client as is Gmail provided by Google. But if we try to compare both regarding productivity than we can see Gmail which is miles ahead.
Gmail also has a cloud facility that provides Gmail’s data to be accessed anywhere in the world that has internet connection at any given time.
Nowadays, for login in to different platforms, having a Gmail account is mandatory and for doing ITR and other govt. Other platforms require users to sign up with a Gmail account.
Gmail provide benefits of Google Meet and hangout for video calling and chat to clients, colleagues, and family members. Everything mentioned above is free of charge.
Other than these features there are several utilities that exist in Gmail and make G-mail to be the most used email client now a days. century. Now let’s move to our main topic:

Import MBOX to Gmail with or without Thunderbird.

Therefore, Switching emails to Gmail from MBOX email client is a very simple process and it is very easy to perform the operation. However, to avoid any mishap in the transferring process of the mail accounts and the email addresses, one is required to follow certain procedures.In the following section, you will get to know two ways through which MBOX can be imported to Gmail.

The first option is with the help of Gmail import option and the second option is through Thunderbird. So, let us begin with the first of them.

How to Import an MBOX File into Gmail without Using Mozilla Thunderbird

It is a very easy option, and anybody, including non-technocrats can use this feature with lot of ease. However, there are some disadvantages of this method which I will also discuss after the process is complete.

Sign in on Gmail and select your inbox.
From the Setting tab, choose the Account and Import option.

Now click the Import mail and contacts option.

After a pops-up, just input your Thunderbird email address and click Continue.

Now enter the password related to that respective account and click on Continue.

In the next wizards, select the data you want to import to your application.

Following that, hit on the Start import button.
From now on, Thunderbird files (MBOX) will begin migrating into your Gmail account.

This method is useful when the user is still using Thunderbird and he wants to get the MBOX emails and directly imported.

Import MBOX to Gmail with Thunderbird

In this method, the first step is to setup Gmail address to Thunderbird then drag the emails from the Thunderbird folder to the Gmail folder. Let’s discuss the steps:

Open Thunderbird.

Now right-click in the list of your accounts and click on the Thunderbird Menu button that appears and then choose Account Settings.

Now click the Account Action option and choose Add Mail Account option.
After that, enter the password of the Gmail account in which you wish to import the MBOX files.

Next, select whether you wish to configure it as IMAP or as POP and then, click on done.

In the next wizard, login to your Gmail account and grants the permissions asked for.

When now completed with all the above said steps, you should click on the finish button, and you will see your Gmail account listed on Thunderbird.

The last thing that you must do is to tick all the emails that you want to transfer in your Gmail account. And then right-click and in the menu select the ‘Move to’ option and choose the Thunderbird account.

Drawbacks of the method mentioned above:

There is no way one can filter out unwanted items from out of the list. As a result you will find yourself having a Gmail account full of unwanted emails.
It is a time-consuming process and can indeed take up to 2 days to synch a single Thunderbird account with Gmail.
A weakness of the method is that the process of importing does not support multiple Thunderbird accounts import at once.

Direct Method to import MBOX Files to Gmail:

Both are sometimes effective but have issues of data loss and slow speeds, so I will not recommend these. Many organizations and businesspersons are adopting advanced software like WebbyAcad MBOX converter Tool, which is an ideal solution for the users, which provides the feature of exporting their MBOX files into Gmail mailboxes with other features such as Filtration, Incremental Export, Source, Target etc.

Detailed Step-by-Step Process to Migrate MBOX to Gmail:

Download and install the WebbyAcad MBOX Converter tool from the official website.
Open the tool on your computer.

Import your MBOX files by selecting them within the tool.

Double click on the MBOX File hierarchy to see the email messages.

Click on the mails to preview the email messages

Set Gmail as the destination email service.
Log in to your Gmail account to authorize the tool.

Adjust any additional settings if required.
Initiate the conversion process by clicking the appropriate button.
Track the progress of the conversion as it happens.
Check your Gmail account to confirm that the emails have been successfully imported.

Conclusion:

Users are regularly migrating to Gmail from other platforms, particularly Thunderbird. Here, I have mentioned a few solutions that can help in importing .mbox files in Gmail account without/with Thunderbird. WebbyAcad MBOX Converter Tool offers the professional solution of the task in an easier and effective way. Users can also install the free version of the software in order to have test on the software efficiency and feasibility.