Move existing mail into a mailbox

An import copies mail into a mailbox from another mail server or from a file. It runs on our side, so it carries on after you close the page. Messages keep their folders, their read and flagged state and their original dates, and nothing changes on the other server.

The mailbox's own user can start the same imports from webmail; see Import mail into webmail.

• A mailbox to copy the mail into, with room for it: an import pauses when the mailbox is full. To make room, change the mailbox's quota.
• For another server: the address and password of the old mailbox, and IMAP turned on there. Many providers want an app password made in their own settings rather than the account password; the hint under Provider says what each one needs.
• For a file: a copy of the mail as an mbox file, a single .eml message, a zip or tar of mail files, or a cPanel backup.

1. In the dashboard, go to Email, open the Mail Hosting service, then the Mailboxes tab.
2. Open the menu at the end of the mailbox's row and select Bring mail in….
3. In Provider, choose where the mail is now, such as Yahoo Mail or iCloud Mail. For a server that is not listed, or a cPanel host, choose Another IMAP server or cPanel, then enter its name in Server.
4. In Username, enter the old mailbox's sign-in name, usually its full address. In Password, enter its password or app password.
5. To copy the old Trash or Spam folders too, turn on Also bring Trash or Also bring Spam.
6. Select Import from the server.

We sign in to the old server first, so a wrong password shows at once. The import then appears in the list under the form, and the list updates by itself while it runs.

The server must offer IMAP over TLS on port 993. We use the password only for this import and forget it when the import ends.

When the Provider list offers Gmail: sign in with Google or Microsoft 365 or Outlook.com: sign in with Microsoft, you can sign in on the provider's own page instead of giving us a password.

1. In Bring mail in, choose one of those two in Provider.
2. Optionally, turn on Also bring Trash or Also bring Spam.
3. Select the button that continues to the provider, and sign in there.

You come back to the Mailboxes tab with the message Signed in. The import has started, and goes on with this page closed. If the sign-in did not work, the message says why.

Microsoft 365 no longer accepts passwords over IMAP, so signing in is the only way to import from it. For Gmail without signing in, choose Gmail with an app password and make an app password in your Google account.

1. In Bring mail in, select a file in Or a file.
2. Select Upload and import. The button shows how much has uploaded; keep the page open until it finishes.

When the upload ends, the import appears in the list. We tell what the file is from its name and first bytes:

Mail from a file that has no folders, such as an mbox or an .eml, goes into a folder named Imported. A Google Takeout mbox is the exception: its messages go where their Gmail labels say, as they would from Gmail itself.

• The old Inbox, Sent, Drafts and Archive go into the mailbox's own folders of the same kind, and Trash and Spam too when you turned them on. We recognise them by the flags servers put on them, or by their usual names in several languages.
• Any other folder is made in the mailbox with the same name and path.
• From Gmail, each message is copied once and placed in every folder its labels name. Starred and Important become flags, and a message with no label goes to Archive.
• We leave out messages marked deleted, messages larger than 50 MB, and messages already in the mailbox from an earlier import.

Each import in the list shows its source, a status, and its counts: how many messages were imported, how many were already there, and how many were left out.

When the old server does not answer, an import tries again on its own, up to five times, a few minutes apart. When Gmail stops handing over mail for the day, the import tries again every six hours until it finishes.

• To pause a waiting or running import, select Pause on its row.
• To go on with a paused import, select Resume.
• To stop one for good, select Cancel…, then Cancel import. The mail already copied stays in the mailbox, and we forget the password or delete the file.

Running the same import again is safe: messages already copied count as already there and are not copied twice.

… refused that username and password.

The old server did not accept the sign-in. Check the username, and whether the provider wants an app password or needs IMAP turned on first. The hint under Provider says which.

… did not answer

We could not reach the server on port 993. Check the name in Server, and that the server offers IMAP over TLS.

3 imports are under way into this mailbox; wait for one to end

A mailbox takes three imports at a time, counting waiting and paused ones. Wait for one to finish, or cancel one.

Too many requests for this action. Please wait and try again.

A mailbox takes up to 20 import attempts a day, counting those the old server refused. Try again later.

That file is not an mbox, an .eml, a zip or a tar of mail, or a cPanel backup

We could not tell what the file is. Check that it is one of those, with its usual file name ending.

Imports take files up to … MB

The file is larger than an import takes. Split it into smaller files, or import from the server instead.

This backup holds no mailbox …

The cPanel backup has no mailbox with this mailbox's address. The message lists the mailboxes it does hold. Import into a mailbox with one of those addresses, or choose the one you want with the API's cpanel_mailbox field.

The import is Paused and the mailbox is full

The import stops when the mailbox reaches its quota. Raise the quota or delete mail, then select Resume.

• Create and manage mailboxes
• Add a domain to Mail Hosting
• Import mail into webmail

All the paths below sit under /client/mail/{service_id}/mailboxes/{account_id}/imports.

Start an import from another server:

curl -X POST https://api.coritan.com/api/v1/client/mail/4812/mailboxes/5120/imports \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CORITAN_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"preset": "other", "host": "imap.example.net", "username": "alex@example.net", "password": "old-mailbox-password", "since": "2024-01-01"}'

The body takes these fields:

preset

The provider, as an id from the presets list in GET .../imports: cpanel, gmail, yahoo, icloud, zoho, fastmail, aol, gmx, yandex or other. Defaults to other.

host

The server's name, for cpanel and other. A preset with its own host ignores it.

username, password

The old mailbox's sign-in, 1–254 and 1–512 characters.

folders

Optional, up to 200 folder paths to import. Leave it out to import every folder.

since, until

Optional dates such as 2024-01-01. We leave out messages dated outside them.

trash, spam

Optional, false by default. Whether to import the Trash and Spam folders.

The answer is 201 with the import:

{
  "id": 77,
  "kind": "imap",
  "status": "queued",
  "source": {"host": "imap.example.net", "port": 993, "username": "alex@example.net", "preset": "other"},
  "options": {"trash": false, "spam": false, "since": "2024-01-01"},
  "imported": 0,
  "duplicates": 0,
  "skipped": 0,
  "failed": 0,
  "total": null,
  "error": null,
  "started_by": "the Mail Hosting panel",
  "folders_done": 0,
  "folders": 0,
  "created_at": "2026-09-16T11:20:05.201344+00:00",
  "started_at": null,
  "finished_at": null
}

Upload a file as multipart/form-data:

curl -X POST https://api.coritan.com/api/v1/client/mail/4812/mailboxes/5120/imports/upload \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CORITAN_TOKEN" \
  -F "file=@backup-example.com.tar.gz" \
  -F "kind=cpanel" \
  -F "cpanel_mailbox=alex@example.com"

The form takes file, and optionally kind (cpanel or eml, when the file's name does not say), folder (where mail from a file with no folders goes, Imported by default), cpanel_mailbox (which mailbox of a cPanel backup to import; this mailbox's address by default), trash and spam. The answer is 201 with the import.

The other operations:

A refused request answers with a detail object that holds a code and a message:

An import_id that is not on the mailbox answers 404 Import not found, and the 21st attempt in a day answers 429.