Close a mailbox or switch providers without losing your email

When you close a mailbox or move your domain to another provider, your existing email does not move with it. Copy your messages to your new mailbox over IMAP or export them to a file on your computer first, and only delete the mailbox after that. Deleting a mailbox in the customer portal or in Plesk is permanent, so this order keeps every folder, sent message and attachment.

This guide explains what happens to your email when a domain or mailbox leaves, which way of keeping your mail suits you, how to close a mailbox safely and why you may see duplicate emails after a migration.

What happens to your email when a domain or mailbox leaves?

Your email has two parts: the messages already in your mailbox, and the new mail that is still coming in. The MX record of your domain decides where new mail arrives. Your existing messages stay where they are until you copy or delete them.

A domain transfer only moves the registration. The right order for moving your domain, website and email to another provider together is in get your EPP code and transfer your domain. The notice period and what happens when you cancel are in cancel a subscription.

Keeping your website with us and moving only your email? As long as email for your domain is switched on with us, our server delivers mail that goes from the same server to your domain, such as messages from your website's contact form, to your old mailbox with us. Once your email is safely with your new provider, create a support ticket and we switch off email for your domain on our side. That removes every mailbox of the domain with us, so only do it after your messages have been moved.

Keeping your email: which option suits you?

If your email app used POP3, it usually removed your mail from the server and it now only exists on your computer. Check LJPc webmail first to see what is still on the server. Mail that only exists in your email app is copied or exported from that app. The difference between IMAP and POP3 is explained in IMAP vs POP3 vs SMTP.

Copying your email to a new provider

Most email providers offer an import tool that reads your old mailbox over IMAP and puts everything into your new one. In Microsoft 365 this is an IMAP migration in the Exchange admin center; in Google Workspace it is the data migration service in the Admin console. For a personal Gmail account, see the one-time import in using your own email address in Gmail. The import tool asks for these details of your mailbox with us:

Forgot the password? Set a new one in the customer portal, as described in create an email address in the customer portal, and update it on your devices too. All settings of your mailbox, including those for sending, are in set up email on your phone and computer.

A clear order for the switch:

1. Create the same addresses at your new provider.
2. Start the import with the details above. If your new provider has no import tool, add both your old and your new account to one email app and drag the folders from the old account to the new one. Both routes, plus the imapsync tool, are covered in migrate email to a new server.
3. Check in your new provider's webmail that every folder is there and that the number of messages per folder matches.
4. Only then point the MX records to your new provider. How to change records is in manage DNS records.
5. If mail still arrived with us during the switch, copy only those messages across. Most import tools offer a follow-up sync that skips messages that are already there.

Exporting your email to a file

To keep your email as an archive on your own computer or an external drive, export it from your email app or from webmail. An email app exports what it has stored on your computer, so wait until it has finished syncing.

Outlook

1. In classic Outlook for Windows, choose File, Open & Export and then Import/Export.
2. Choose Export to a file and then Outlook Data File (.pst).
3. Select your email address, keep Include subfolders ticked and use Browse to choose where the file goes.
4. Click Finish. You can leave the optional password for the file empty.

In the new Outlook for Windows, go to Settings, Files and Export, then pick the whole mailbox or separate folders. Microsoft keeps the current steps in export emails to a .pst file. To remove the address from Outlook afterwards, see how to set up and remove an email account in Outlook.

Apple Mail on a Mac

Select the mailboxes you want to keep and choose Mailbox, then Export Mailbox. Mail saves them as mbox files, which Apple Mail and many other apps can read again. More in how to set up email in Apple Mail on your Mac.

Thunderbird

Install the ImportExportTools NG add-on (for Thunderbird 140 and newer). Then right-click a folder, choose ImportExportTools NG and export the folder as an mbox file or all its messages as separate .eml files. Setting up Thunderbird is covered in set up email in Thunderbird.

Webmail

1. Sign in at ljpc.email with your email address and password and open the folder you want to keep.
2. Click Select above the message list and choose All, or select the messages you want.
3. Click More and then Export.
4. Choose Mbox format (.zip) for one file per folder, or Maildir format (.zip) for a separate .eml file per message. With a single message selected, choose Source (.eml).

Each download holds up to 50 MB of messages. Download a larger folder in parts, for example per year, or export it from your email app.

Backup in Plesk

In Plesk, Backup Manager creates a backup that includes your mailboxes (tick Mail messages). That backup uses Plesk's own format: ideal for restoring a single mailbox or your whole domain in Plesk later. To read your email in an email app, use one of the options above. Creating, downloading and restoring a backup is explained in back up your website. You open Plesk with one click from the portal, as described in open Plesk from the customer portal.

How to close a mailbox safely

1. Check whether the address is still in use. In the customer portal, go to Services, Sites and your site. In the Email addresses block, Last accessed shows when the mailbox was last used. Also ask who still reads the address.
2. Keep the email you need with one of the options above, and check that everything is there.
3. Remove the account from every phone, tablet and computer. A device that keeps signing in to an address that no longer exists gets your IP address blocked by the mail server: after 5 attempts within 30 minutes, that block can last 7 days, for everyone on the same network. How that works is explained in what is fail2ban. On an iPhone or iPad, follow how to remove an email account from your iPhone or iPad.
4. Delete the address. In the Email addresses block, click the bin icon next to the address and confirm "Are you sure you want to delete this email address?". In Plesk, tick the address under Mail, click Remove and confirm.
5. Keep the address reachable if you like. To keep receiving mail sent to the old address, add it in Plesk as an alias of another mailbox, for example info@jouwdomein.nl. The steps are in email forwarding and aliases.

Email counts towards the storage of your hosting plan, so closing a full mailbox also frees up space. How much your plan uses is shown in check your storage usage.

How can you tell whether a mailbox still holds email?

• In webmail. Sign in at ljpc.email with the address and look through every folder, including Sent and Archive. This is the most reliable check.
• In Plesk. Under Mail, each address shows how much space its mailbox uses. An empty mailbox is never exactly 0: the server keeps a few small housekeeping files in it. A few kB almost always means it holds no messages.
• For a forwarding address. An address that only forwards has no mailbox, so no email is stored on the server for it.

Why do I see duplicate emails after a migration?

If messages show up two or more times after a migration, the same email was copied to your new mailbox more than once. That mostly happens when:

• The import tool of your new provider copied everything, and the folders were then also dragged across by hand in an email app.
• An export, such as a .pst file, was imported into an account that already had the email. With IMAP, your email app uploads everything you import to the server again, including messages that were already there.
• A copy in an email app was started twice, or run a second time without skipping existing messages.

Prevent it by choosing one route and finishing it. Check what is already in your new provider's webmail before you copy anything yourself, and keep an export as an archive rather than importing it into your new mailbox.

If the duplicates are already there, clean them up per folder. In Thunderbird, the Remove Duplicate Messages add-on finds duplicates in a folder and deletes them in one go, on the server too when you use IMAP. In other apps, sort the folder by date or subject so the duplicates line up.

Need help?

Not sure which route fits, or is the copy not working? Create a support ticket with the address it is about, and we will look into it with you. Moving your email to LJPc hosting instead? Migrate email to a new server shows how to bring your mail to us.