CenturyLink Backup: How to Back Up Emails and Attachments

If you want to back up your CenturyLink emails, you have several options. You can use an email client such as Outlook (configure it with CenturyLink and export emails in PST file format), save emails manually, export your contacts, or use a dedicated backup tool to back up the entire mailbox.

In this guide, I’ll explain these CenturyLink backup methods step by step, along with the required set of instructions. Let’s start our discussion with the basics. 

What Is CenturyLink Backup?

Backing up CenturyLink emails means making a local copy of cloud or server data and saving it to a USB flash drive, NAS, hard drive, external drive, or another storage location.  

Depending on the backup method, you can preserve:

• Emails
• Email attachments
• Inbox messages
• Sent Items
• Drafts
• Custom folders
• Contacts
• Email metadata
• Mailbox organization

The main purpose of having a backup is to safeguard mailbox data from accidental data loss and data breaches. 

One thing I want to clarify is that most users confuse backup and synchronization as the same thing. But this is not reality. 

When you configure CenturyLink using IMAP, your email application (like CenturyLink, Outlook, etc. ) synchronizes mailbox data with the server. But you can’t access your data without the internet or any email service. 

If you want to access your data anytime without depending on any email service, the best option is a local backup in MBOX or EML file format. 

Why Should You Back Up CenturyLink Email?

I know you are here to learn how to backup CenturyLink, so you already know the reasons behind it, but still, here are some reasons users may want to create a CenturyLink backup:

1. Want to make data accessible even if it is deleted from the server. 
2. Archiving is also a reason to make a local data replica.
3. A backup is necessary to confidently move to another service like Gmail, Outlook, etc. 
4. Users can access data even if the CenturyLink account is hacked. 
5. Want a proper local backup for legal records. 
6. Want to reduce the mailbox size by moving older emails to local storage.
7. Need to keep emails before closing or changing the CenturyLink account.

I guess that for any of these reasons, you are here to explore the procedure to back up. Without wasting any time, let me explain what data can be backed up. 

What Data Can Be Backed Up From CenturyLink?

This data category you can back up easily, but let me clarify one thing: this all depends on the method you choose:

#1. Emails include messages from folders such as:

• Inbox
• Sent
• Drafts
• Deleted/Trash
• Custom folders

#2. Attachments contain documents, images, invoices, spreadsheets, or other files.

#3. Contacts: CenturyLink Webmail supports exporting contacts to CSV. Its official instructions specify that contacts can be exported by opening Contacts, selecting the Import or Export Contacts option, and choosing Export to CSV. That’s it!

#4. Folder Structure: Depending on the backup approach, mailbox folders will also be preserved. 

Methods to Backup CenturyLink Email

There is no single backup method that is ideal for every user. The most suitable approach depends on how much data you have and what format you want for the backup.

The main approaches are:

1. Back up through an email client using IMAP
2. Download individual emails manually (time-consuming)
3. Export CenturyLink contacts separately
4. Use a dedicated CenturyLink Backup Tool

Let’s understand each method.

#Method 1. Back Up CenturyLink Email Using an Email Client

Our first approach is to connect CenturyLink email to a desktop email client such as Outlook or another application that supports IMAP.

CenturyLink officially provides IMAP settings for configuring the account in other email programs, so there is no issue with this technique. But let me clear one thing: IMAP has a limitation that you can’t sync contacts and calendars. So, this approach is suitable only for CenturyLink email export. 
CenturyLink IMAP Settings

When you verify this exact settings in your CenturyLink account, then only move to the steps to configure, and export:

Step 1: Open your preferred email client.

Step 2: Choose the option to add a new email account.

Step 3: Enter your complete CenturyLink email address and password.

Step 4: Choose IMAP if the application asks you to select an account type.

Step 5: Enter:

• IMAP server: mail.centurylink.net
• Port: 993
• Encryption: SSL/TLS

Step 6: Configure outgoing mail:

• SMTP server: smtp.centurylink.net
• Port: 587
• Encryption: TLS

Step 7: Complete authentication and allow the application to synchronize the mailbox.

Step 8: Wait for your folders and messages to synchronize.

Step 9: Lastly, create a local archive or backup of the synchronized mailbox using the email application’s available export/archive functionality. 

If you want to have a backup in PST file format, then you can sync your CenturyLink with Outlook, and then export Outlook to PST using its built-in export/import wizard. 

#Method 2. Backup CenturyLink Email by Downloading Messages Manually

For a small number of important emails, you can save messages individually. I know this is time-consuming, but this can be useful if you want to back up 15-16 emails, rather than an entire mailbox.

For this, follow this step-by-step procedure:

1. Sign in to CenturyLink Webmail.
2. Open the email to preserve.
3. Use the available download, save, print, or export option.
4. Save the message or its contents to your computer.
5. Save attachments separately if required.

For a complete mailbox backup, a dedicated CenturyLink Backup Tool is preferable, which I’ll share further. 

#Method 3. Use a Dedicated CenturyLink Backup Tool

For users who need to back up an entire CenturyLink mailbox rather than manually saving individual emails, a specialized email backup application can simplify the process.

For this, I would recommend SysTools Email Backup Tool. It can back up your complete mailbox, including Inbox, Sent, Spam/Junk, and Drafts, along with attachments and the complete folder structure.

You can use this for free on Windows 10/11 (64-bit) or macOS:

This approach is particularly useful for users who need to:

• Backup CenturyLink emails to PST, MBOX, EML, MSG, and PDF
• Back up large mailboxes
• Download multiple folders
• Preserve attachments
• Maintain a local archive
• Perform recurring backups
• Migrate email data
• Save emails in commonly used formats

I tried this tool; you don’t need to do so much work with this, as everything is automated. Within 5 steps, you can backup CenturyLink emails:

#Step 1. Open the tool and select the file format in which you want the backup.

#Step 2. You can leverage the “Date Filter” option if you need to back up specific email data. 

#Step 3. Now, select your IMAP Server as CenturyLink and validate it. 

#Step 4. Afterwards, press the Backup Folder Path option and choose the folder where you want to save your resulting data. 

#Step 5. Hit the Start backup button to initiate the CenturyLink backup process. 

Now, if you want to export CenturyLink contacts, consider the next solution.

#Method 4. Export CenturyLink Contacts

Your CenturyLink account may contain an important address book containing personal, business, customer, or vendor contacts, which also needs to be backed up. 

For this, CenturyLink provides a dedicated contact export option that saves contacts as a CSV file. To do so, the steps are as follows:

• Step 1. Sign in to CenturyLink Webmail.
• Step 2. Open Contacts from the top navigation bar.
• Step 3. Select the Add Contact drop-down menu.
• Step 4. Choose Import or Export Contacts.
• Step 5. Under the Export Contacts section, select Export to CSV.
• Step 6. Choose where you want to save the CSV file.
• Step 7. Confirm the download.

CenturyLink Email Backup After the Q.com to Myctl.net Transition

This is an important point for users with older CenturyLink/Qwest email accounts.

CenturyLink’s current documentation says that Q.com email addresses were switched to Myctl.net addresses. The old Q.com address stopped sending and receiving messages after the transition, although forwarding continued through December 31, 2025.

The current settings are:

If an older email client still uses the retired Q.com server configuration, it may no longer retrieve the mailbox correctly.

Therefore, before beginning a CenturyLink backup:

1. Confirm that you can access the account.
2. Check whether your address has transitioned to @myctl.net.
3. Update old email-client configurations.
4. Use the current CenturyLink IMAP settings.
5. Confirm that messages and folders are visible.
6. Then begin the backup.

Author’s Verdict

Backing up CenturyLink emails is important if you want to keep your emails safe or move to another email service. You can use an email client and IMAP settings for this, but the process can take time when you have a large mailbox.

For a simple and faster way to back up CenturyLink emails, I recommend using the SysTools utility. It can back up the complete mailbox, including Inbox, Sent, Spam/Junk, Drafts, attachments, and the folder structure.