Switching from your current hosting provider
What you need
- Access to your email at your current hosting provider (address and password) and to your domain's control panel (for the DNS/MX records).
- A new mailbox on your own domain at Mailflux (with address and password).
- A mail program like Thunderbird or Outlook, or the tool ImapSync for larger mailboxes.
- The server settings: IMAP on port 993 with SSL, SMTP on port 465 with SSL. You'll find the Mailflux server name in your Mailflux account or at IMAP and server settings.
Switching hosting provider: your email step by step
- Request your mailbox on your own domain at Mailflux and note the address and password. Use the same email address as at your old host, so your address stays unchanged.
- Look up the IMAP details of your current host (server, port, SSL). These are usually in the customer panel or the email instructions of your provider.
- Copy your messages by putting your old and your new mailbox together in a mail program and dragging your folders over, or with ImapSync for large mailboxes. The full explanation is at copying your IMAP mailbox.
- Check whether all folders and counts match on both sides.
- Test sending and receiving on your new mailbox with a few trial messages.
- Switch the MX records of your domain to Mailflux in your domain's control panel, once everything checks out. From that moment new mail comes in on your new mailbox.
- Keep your old mailbox open until the change has propagated everywhere (that can take up to a day). That way you still catch late messages on the old server.
Without missing mail
The order is what makes it safe: first copy, then test, and only switch the MX records at the end. As long as you're just copying, your original messages stay on the old server. And because you keep the old mailbox open a while after the MX switch, you can run in parallel and miss nothing during the transition. Want to see the whole route, then read how to move email without loss.
Not working?
- Connection to the old host fails. Check the exact IMAP server, port and SSL setting in your provider's customer panel.
- No connection to the new mailbox. Check whether you're using port 993 with SSL (incoming) and port 465 with SSL (outgoing) and whether the server name is correct.
- New mail still comes in on the old server. The MX change hasn't propagated everywhere yet. Wait it out and keep the old mailbox open until things settle.
Done, and need help?
If messages come in and go out neatly on your own domain, the switch has succeeded. Only clear out the old mailbox once you're sure you're not missing anything. Ready to get started? Request your mailbox with no obligation, or just let us handle your migration. We'll help you get going personally.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Does my email keep working during the switch?
Yes. Your current mailbox simply keeps receiving and sending until you switch the MX records. You copy your messages first and test your new mailbox, and only once everything checks out do you switch the mail over. After the switch you keep the old mailbox open a while to catch late messages.
Can I keep my email address in the switch?
Yes, as long as you use the same domain. At Mailflux you create the same addresses as at your old host, for example jij@jouwzaak.be. After the MX switch your mail comes in on exactly the same address, now on your new mailbox. Your contacts notice nothing of the move.