After nearly 15 years, my Google account has reached its 15 GB storage limit across Gmail and Drive. I'd like to move everything to a new account rather than delete old messages and files. What is the simplest free method, and how can I make sure my email remains accessible in the new account?
4 Answers
For a more automated Gmail migration, Google Takeout can be paired with a tool such as Got Your Back. That can restore exported mail to the new account, although it is command-line based and less beginner-friendly than Thunderbird.
A practical free approach is to install Mozilla Thunderbird, sign in to both Gmail accounts, and copy messages from the old account’s folders into the matching folders on the new account. Leave Thunderbird running while it uploads everything, since a large mailbox can take quite a while.
Start with Google Takeout to export your data. Gmail messages are usually saved as MBOX files, while Drive files can be downloaded separately. Takeout is straightforward for creating a backup, but importing the email into another Gmail account takes an additional step.
For Drive files, download or transfer them separately. Google Drive’s desktop sync application can copy the files to your computer, after which you can upload them to the new account. Check the new account’s storage before starting, since the same 15 GB limit will apply there too.
You can open the MBOX files in Thunderbird and then copy the messages into the new account. For very large archives, Thunderbird may need an add-on or a workaround because of its file-size limits.