Backup GoDaddy Email to Hard Drive – A Complete How-to Walkthrough

Written By Tej Pratap Shukla

Approved By Anuraag Singh

Modified On January 15th, 2026

Reading Time 7 Minutes Reading

GoDaddy is a cloud-hosted email service that doesn’t include a built-in full-mailbox export or local backup feature. Therefore, you must use Outlook, IMAP, or a professional email backup wizard to backup GoDaddy email to hard drive.

I’ll explain all these methods in this complete step-by-step guide. So, don’t skip any section if you want precise information related to this query.

Why Always Export Emails from GoDaddy Locally

I personally don’t rely on GoDaddy’s servers because of these issues:

Domain expires = email access is blocked
User is deleted = mailbox is permanently removed
Mailbox-level export not available
No recycle bin once an account is removed
No full backup or restore option
No built-in troubleshooting for IMAP authentication failed
Billing failure can instantly lock email access
No archiving included, and long-term data retention

In simple words, when you store your emails only on GoDaddy, you don’t truly own them, even though the data is yours. But when you backup GoDaddy email to hard drive or PC, you fully own that data and can use it in any email client or keep it for long-term archiving.

This is a major benefit of having a local backup of your GoDaddy account.

What GoDaddy Email Actually Is?

GoDaddy email runs on:

Microsoft 365 (Exchange Online)
IMAP-based Workspace Email

The backup method depends on which one you have.

If you don’t know the same, don’t worry, just:

Open the GoDaddy Admin.
Then click on Email & Office.
Now, hit the My Products option, where you get the knowledge of which service you are using.

Remember:

For Microsoft 365 = Exchange tools
For Workspace Email = IMAP

How to Backup GoDaddy Email to Hard Drive?

However, there is no built-in option provided by GoDaddy to export data, but still, there are four practical approaches that help you in this. Before I’ll explain them, let’s first have a look at the prerequisite points, which need to be validated without failure; otherwise, you will be unable to take the backup:

Active GoDaddy email login
Mailbox not deleted
Outlook or Thunderbird is installed for manual downloads
Enough disk space
Admin access
Microsoft 365 license
External backup drive

When you ensure all these points are validated, then only move to these methods one by one:

#Method 1. Export Emails from GoDaddy Using Outlook

If you’re using desktop-based Outlook, then this is the most straightforward and practical method for you. For the same, follow these guidelines:

Step 1. If you don’t have Outlook first, install it, and connect GoDaddy Email with it:

Open Outlook > Add Account
Enter GoDaddy email
Sign in via Microsoft 365 login

All mailbox data syncs locally. Now, if you export your Outlook, then you are exporting your GoDaddy account also, as they are configured. To do so:

Open Outlook
File > Open & Export > Import/Export
Export to a file
Outlook Data File (.pst)
Select the mailbox
Enable “Include subfolders”
Choose a destination to backup GoDaddy email to hard drive
Hit Finish

Now you have all these items in PST file format:

Inbox
Sent
Drafts
Attachments
Contacts
Calendar

This is the same format used in enterprise email archiving. So, if you want to export GoDaddy email to PST, then this method works fine, but if you want the output file format to be MBOX, PDF, or other, then move to the next sections.

#Method 2. Backup GoDaddy Workspace Email Using Thunderbird

If you’re using GoDaddy Workspace Email, Outlook will not work properly. In that case, you can use Thunderbird.

To do so, add a GoDaddy email to Thunderbird:

IMAP Settings:

Server: imap.secureserver.net
Port: 993
Security: SSL
Username: full email
Password: email password

SMTP:
smtpout.secureserver.net
Port 465
SSL

Once connected, all folders sync locally, export mail to hard drive:

Install Add-on: ImportExportTools NG

Right-click Inbox > Export all messages > EML or MBOX
Choose your hard drive folder

Now you have:

Each email as EML
Or a full mailbox as MBOX

This works even if GoDaddy shuts down the mailbox later.

#Method 3. Backup GoDaddy Email to Hard Drive Using Microsoft 365 eDiscovery (Admin-Level)

If you manage the GoDaddy Microsoft 365 admin, you can use Microsoft’s own legal-grade export:

Log in to Microsoft 365 Admin
Open Purview > eDiscovery
Create a case
Add mailbox
Export data
Download to the hard drive

This produces:

PST files
Full mailbox data

This is how to back up terminated employee mailboxes with admin-level access.

#Method 4. Export Emails from GoDaddy Automatically

If you are handling multiple users or 50GB+ mailboxes, manual methods fail. In that case, you have to use a professional and reliable automated approach, i.e. SysTools GoDaddy Backup Tool. This solution helps you to backup GoDaddy email to hard drive in the most preferred formats, i.e. PST, MBOX, EML, MSG, and PDF.

Download Now Purchase Now

Why do I recommend this?

Export entire GoDaddy mailboxes without any size limitation
Back up multiple users at the same time
Preserves folder hierarchy, email headers, attachments, and metadata
No dependency on Outlook or local email clients
Zero data loss guarantee
24/7 support

So, try this for free now, and backup GoDaddy email to hard drive hassle-free.

How to Export Emails from GoDaddy Via this Solution?

When you download this, open it, and follow the simple steps for IMAP backup:

Step 1. Select IMAP, and select any preferred format in which you want a backup.

select export format

Step 2. Leverage the date filter if needed, and select the IMAP Server as GoDaddy.

Select IMAP Server as GoDaddy

Step 3. Now, click on the Backup folder path to select the target location where you want to save the resultant files.

Backup Folder Path

Step 4. After permission validation, hit the Start Backup button.

Start Backup

That’s all, within 4 quick steps, you downloaded your complete GoDaddy emails without any Outlook or complex settings.

What Gets Backed Up

All methods preserve:

Inbox
Sent
Drafts
Deleted
Folders
Attachments
Email headers
Read/unread status

Outlook and Microsoft exports also include:

Contacts
Calendar
Tasks

Where the Backup is Stored

The backup lives permanently on your PC:
D:\GoDaddy-Mail-Backup
External drive
NAS
Cloud sync

You now control the data without any restrictions.

Author’s Verdict

I hope you have learned how to backup GoDaddy email to hard drive, and related queries. I personally used these 4 methods, so you can opt for any of them without any doubt. Still, if you are wondering which is the most reliable and quick option to save data without any IMAP-related issues, like IMAP server timeout, or can’t sync data with Outlook or Thunderbird.

Then I recommend you to leverage the automated solution (Method 4), which is easier than manual methods and ensures a complete email download, while preserving data hierarchy.