How to Transfer Emails from BT Internet to Gmail Easily

If you want to learn how to transfer emails from BT Internet to Gmail, you are at the right place. We will tell you why to switch, how to do it, and the best way to make the switch.

Without further ado, let’s jump straight into the reasons.

Why Users Get Frustrated with Their British Telecommunication Email ID?

Britons love to travel. However, their vacation turns sour as their email provider, BT, flags overseas logins as suspicious and locks down the account.

This is followed by a series of unsuccessful password resets and email unavailability. Even when users get a VPN with a UK IP address, access is not guaranteed.

The BT to Gmail transfer becomes desirable to people who have tried to unlock their accounts with BT’s password reset mechanism. Many users report that the links don’t work and are only able to get back the account access when they are within the UK territory.

BT follows the UK time zone and provides support accordingly. So you must call at odd hours and pay for a premium‑rate phone call, which is often £2.60/minute or more.

All these lockouts and struggles with support happen because, for some reason, the security triggers in BT are overly sensitive. To the point that they are detrimental to the user experience.

So let’s see how you can get off BT and go to Gmail.

Pull BT Data into Gmail Account

If you really want a free option, your best bet is that Gmail’s IMAP data pull feature works.

• Step 1. Go to the See all settings(click on the top right cog to access it).
  
• Step 2. Switch over to the Accounts and Import tab and click on the “Import mail and contacts” link.
  
• Step 3. From here on, follow the on-screen instructions, make sure you double-check all details; any mistake means you have to redo the process from scratch.
  

Why Normal Forwarding of BT Emails to Gmail Fails?

They don’t fail, as in you are able to forward emails, but there have been complaints from the users where emails sent are not received in the target account. Plus, there are no NDR alerts, making it quite a confusing scenario. Regardless, here are the steps:

• Step 1. Log in to BT Internet Mail and click the Settings icon.
  
• Step 2. In the left menu, click Mail.
  
• Step 3. Then, choose “Auto forward” from the drop-down.
  
• Step 4. Then, tick the option “auto forward all incoming emails”, and enter your new Gmail address in the box.
  
• Step 5. You can make it a true transfer or check the “Keep copy” if you want to retain emails in BT Mail. Click Save.
  

Once you do all of this, send a test mail to see if the re-routing is working or not.

Also, the auto‑forward is only available on Standard or Premium BT Email. So, if you’re on Basic (the free tier), you can’t forward mail or use IMAP/POP—your only option is to download emails from webmail and use an email client with an import facility to add these emails.

Even if you forward successfully, it is limited to one email at a time. So deploy a professional solution and let it migrate for you.

Steps to Professionally Transfer BT to Gmail

Download a copy of the SysTools IMAP Migration utility. With the trial version, you can move up to 100 emails. Use this to test out the tool and understand why it’s touted as the best.

There is a list of steps that you would have to perform to transfer emails from BT Internet to a Gmail account.

We had previously moved the BT email to Outlook using the same tool, so you can be sure that it works in this scenario as well.

Step 1. On the setup screen after you activate, keep the default selections as it is. The only thing you should toggle is the Date filter, that too is optional.

Step 2. The source screen is where you will have to select the Others option from the dropdown. Then fill in the correct server name and port number. Which will be mail.btinternet.com and 993, respectively. Validate these details and press Next.

Step 3. Then, on the destination screen, use the dropdown and select Gmail, which should be the first on the list. You won’t have to fill in any other details; the tool does it for you. After that, press the validation button and hit Next.

Step 4. The mapping screen is where you get to add your user accounts. Start by downloading the template, then edit it to remove placeholder values and replace them with actual account values. All of this can be done on any spreadsheet program. Once done, upload the CSV back into the tool.

Step 5. At last, preview the user list, edit any details you think are wrong, and mark the check box next to the user ID to select them. Apply priority setting to the most important accounts, validate the details, and then start migration.

Conclusion

Now that you know how to forward BT email to Gmail, start the transfer process ASAP. You must leave the broadband-tied email service behind and start using a free-to-access, objectively better email service. Here, you saw that if you use Gmail’s internal settings to get the emails from their original location, it tends to misbehave.

You won’t even know that some critical emails are missing, and by the time you find out, it’s already too late. So it’s just better that you use the professional service that is designed from the ground up for scenarios like this. We have included a video tutorial that you can watch and use the tool on your device.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Is there a limit on how many emails I can bring over from BT Mail to Gmail?

The tool we propose in this has no such limits. The only limit is how much storage you have left in your Gmail account. If it is nearing capacity, then you have to delete old emails or risk restriction.

Q. What is the difference between BT Mail and BT Internet?

Only the domain, the rest of all the details are the same; the POP, IMAP, and SMTP server names, along with the port number, are identical. It is just like how Hotmail and Outlook have become the same.

Q. Will I lose access to my BT Mail email account if I change the service provider?

No, BT Mail offers options to continue accessing your email after dropping your BT Broadband connection, but with some changes. You can retain a basic version of BT Mail for free or choose to subscribe to their Premium Mail service.

Q. Can I get a new BT internet account?

If you are a new subscriber, then unfortunately, BT no longer provides an email account (it ended the program in 2022). Old subscribers may make one if their quota allows.