How to Migrate From Gmail to Proton Mail Step by Step?

So you want to migrate Gmail to ProtonMail, but dont know where to start? Don’t worry, I made the switch pretty recently, so I know every route and can explain to you which one to use for best results.

Table of Contents

There are both manual and automated solutions available. Before we begin, let’s first do a one-on-one comparison of the two email service providers. It will help us determine why people choose ProtonMail over Gmail despite the latter’s superior storage in the free tier.

Is Proton Mail a Better Email Service than Gmail?

There might be many users who want to migrate their email data to Proton Mail because of its benefits, like –

Feature	Proton Mail	Gmail
Privacy & Tracking	No tracking, no IP logging	Tracks activity & IP
Encryption	End-to-end + zero-access encryption (even Proton can’t read emails)	No default E2EE; Google scans metadata
Data Ownership	Data stored in privacy-friendly Switzerland	Data subject to U.S. data laws
Storage	Generous plans; encrypted storage	Free plan limited to 15 GB pooled storage
Targeted Ads	No ads. No profiling.	Shows personalized ads

Manually Migrate Gmail to ProtonMail

We combine auto forward + one-time import to bring all emails.

Step 1. Log in to your ProtonMail account.

Step 2. Click on the Settings cog.

Step 3. Then choose All settings.

Step 4. On the left side pane, click on Import via Easy Switch.

Step 5. Then click the Set up auto-forwarding from Gmail.

Step 6. Click on Sign in with Google.

Step 7. Perform the sign-in procedure.

Once complete, all new emails sent to your Gmail account will be auto-forwarded to your ProtonMail account. However, we still have to bring all of the existing messages from Gmail to ProtonMail, so let’s continue.

One-Time Import

Step 1. Just below the Auto forwarding section, you will see a one-time import box; scroll to it.
Step 2. Click on the  Import from Google button.

Step 3. Mark checkboxes for what data items you would like to import (emails, contacts, and calendar).
Step 4. Then click on Start import.
Step 5. Sign in and grant ProtonMail access to your Gmail account.
Step 6. ProtonMail will start to gather all the data; once that is done, hit the Start import button.
Step 7. Import begins and finishes on its own; you can close the browser, and it will continue in the backend.

Alternative Method

You can also set up both your Gmail and ProtonMail accounts in a single email client and then drag and drop emails across the two accounts manually with your cursor. It is a feasible yet time-consuming process with a lot of scope for user-induced errors.

Expert Suggested Solution to Migrate Gmail to ProtonMail

I suggest you choose the professional & Smart IMAP Server Migration Tool. Using this solution, you can migrate bulk Gmail emails with attachments to a ProtonMail account on a desktop.

 

Furthermore, it will transfer all email data to Proton Mail in the same format without the help of an import assistant or anything.

What Makes this Software Better than Others?

Some of the benefits this tool provides for secure migration on a Mac or PC are-

1. It helps directly with Gmail email migration to ProtonMail in minutes.
2. Besides, it can also migrate Gmail to Proton Mail for bulk emails or specific emails. When the user wants to transfer emails of a specific period only, he/she can use the date filter option. This option allows you to set the required date range for the migration.
3. The Delta Migration feature is here to help all Mac users systematically migrate only the emails that have been received recently to their Gmail mailbox. So, in short, it will prevent all possibilities of email duplicates.
4. With this software, you can keep the same folder hierarchy and email attributes in the destination Proton Mail account. Also, there will be no need for any third-party application installation, as it only asks for account credentials.

How to Transfer Emails from Gmail to Proton Mail? Complete Guide

To perform the migration, download the tool. Then, install and run the tool, follow the given step-by-step guide for migration-

• On the Setup screen, all you have to do is apply a date filter, as both the IMAP endpoints and the Email workload are preset.

• Then, select the Gmail option as the source IMAP account and tap Validate for server validation.

• Similarly, on the next screen, select the Others option as a destination from the dropdown. For verification, provide your active Proton Mail account User name and Password, and click Validate.

• After that, Map Users, with the help of a CSV template.

• Validate the user list and Start Migration to transfer Gmail account emails and attachments to ProtonMail on Mac or Desktop.

Last Words of the Article

For any email data migration, users prefer to consider safe and secure platforms. For this, Gmail is one of them for most users. But, still, migration from Gmail may be required in different situations. So, in this article, we have shared the easiest way to migrate Gmail to a ProtonMail account. Using the suggested solution, one can easily transfer bulk emails from a Gmail account to a destination Proton Mail without data modification.

Common Asked Questions & Answers

Q. In what order does ProtonMail’s built-in import feature pull my email?
A. Emails arrive in descending order of the date they came into your original Gmail account; there is no way to change this setting.

Q. How long does the migration take to complete?
A. This depends on how fast your bandwidth is and how many emails are in your source account. If it’s just a few MB of mail, it won’t take more than a few minutes. However, accounts where historical mail data goes into certain GB have to wait for a while before the migration completes.

Q. Can I keep using my account while the import is being done?
A. Yes, you can keep using both your Gmail and ProtonMail accounts while the transfer takes place. Make sure you perform a Delta run after the first instance finishes to capture all the emails that were made after you hit start.

Q. Is it possible to stop the import midway or put a filter so that only a specific set of emails from my Gmail account get to my new Proton account?
A. No, this is one of the major limits of ProtonMail’s import feature. You have no option to stop the process once it’s begun; the only thing you can do is let the import complete and then manually delete all the newly arrived emails.

Moreover, there is no option to put a date filter; you either pull everything or nothing.