How to Transfer iCloud Email to Another Account Step by Step?

Are you planning to switch to a new Apple ID and want to move all your old emails with you? You’re not alone; that’s why I have written this blog to help you and all those like you who want to transfer iCloud email to another account.  It could be because they are moving to a different region, upgrading to a new iCloud+, or separating work and personal mailboxes.

The main problem is that nowhere in your iCloud mail will you find a direct “move mailbox” button. That’s why here I compile all the methods that I have tried out myself. Before I tell you about the methods, let’s go over the reasons for combining two iCloud mail accounts.

Why Transfer iCloud Email to Another Account?

Here are the most common reasons; see if your situation matches any of these. Don’t worry, if your reason is entirely different, the methods I describe are independent of the reasons to switch.

• Switching to a new Apple ID for a new region or country.
• Separating personal and professional email accounts.
• Creating a fresh account because the old iCloud email is full.
• Replace an Apple ID that got locked or compromised.
• Moving away from a shared family ID to a personal account.

How to Transfer iCloud Email to Another Account the Default Way?

These are the official steps as per Apple’s own website. For your safety, download iCloud messages to your Mac before proceeding.

• Step 1. Visit icloud.com/mail & log in to your account (you may have to sign in to the Apple ID).
• Step 2. Click the Settings option (you will find it at the top of the Mailbox list).
• Step 3. Press the Settings again.
• Step 4. Check the sidebar; there will be an Import Messages option. Select it and click Import.
• Step 5. Click the “Choose a provider” button, select iCloud, and hit continue.

However, this only works up until the messages you have received till now. And lack of filtering options means that the next time you start an import, you will instead end up redoing the entire import again.

So it would be better that you set up an email forwarding; here’s how to set it up.

• Step 1. Sign in to your source iCloud account on icloud.com/mail.
• Step 2. On the top of the Mailboxes list, select the Settings option, and then click Settings.
• Step 3. Look for Mail Forwarding in the sidebar and click on it.
• Step 4. Then, mark the “Forward my email to” and type your destination iCloud.

You may want to enable the “Delete messages after forwarding” checkbox. As the extra copies of unwanted mail fill your iCloud and take up space, way from photos, files, etc.

This isn’t the only way to move emails across iCloud accounts; let me introduce another way.

Use Apple Mail Client to Move iCloud Email to Another Apple ID

Mail client is preinstalled on all Macs, so you can use it to transfer iCloud email to another account.

• Step 1. Once you have the Apple Mail client ready, open it.
• Step 2. On the top menu bar, you should see the Mail option. Click it and choose “Add Account.”
• Step 3. Then you have two ways to proceed: either add your iCloud mail address directly in the field or use the “choose from a list” to select the iCloud domain. Press continue.
• Step 4. Fill in the account information when prompted via the on-screen instructions and set up your account.
• Step 5. Then repeat the process for the second iCloud Mail account as well.
• Step 6. Select a bunch of mail from the source account and scroll till you see the target account, and drop all the selected messages there.

However, this simultaneous scroll/selection might not work, and you may end up putting the emails in the wrong folder. Don’t worry, there is a way to simplify this drag and drop. Just open two instances of the same Apple Mail app.

If you are not able to open another instance via the Dock, then use this trick.

Launch the Terminal (Press Space + ⌘, type Terminal, and press Enter)

In the Terminal, paste the following command:

open -n -a "Mail"

This will launch a new duplicate instance of the Apple Mail client. Now arrange both side by side in a split-screen setup. Keep the source iCloud ID on the left and the destination on the right.

Then select a few emails from the side, hold your cursor, and move it till you are on the second instance, and release the cursor.

Repeat this process till you successfully move all of the emails.

Best Way to Move iCloud Email to Another Apple ID?

The SysTools IMAP Migration Tool is the most obvious choice for any scenario where mass mail migration is the primary goal. This tool is purpose-built to take each and every email from your iCloud account and put it into a different iCloud account.

 

The best part about it is that even if you are on a Windows PC, you can still migrate mail between your iCloud Mail account using this software. So download a free copy today.

Steps to Use the Professional Tool on any Mac Device

If you want to know how to transfer iCloud email to another account with this tool, install it on your Apple computer. This tool works with a wide range of macOS, all the way from X to the latest Tahoe.

Step 1. Launch the tool on your system. The IMAP endpoints will be preselected, and so will the email workload. Just set the start and end and press Next.

Step 2. On the source screen, you will have to toggle the dropdown and select the iCloud Mail option. The tool will fill the IMAP URL and port number on its own; you need not worry about it. Just validate and press Next.

Step 3. Likewise, on the destination screen, your intended recipient account is also iCloud. So, select it from the dropdown; the rest of the details are immutable, so hit Validate and Next.

Step 4. Then, on the user mapping screen, download the CSV template; there, replace the placeholder values with your actual credentials. Generate the iCloud app passwords for both the source and destination and use them instead of your original passwords. The iCloud mail ID will remain the same. Upload the CSV back into the tool.

Step 5. Finally, view the user list inside the tool’s UI, select the account, validate, and start.

Conclusion

Now you know how to transfer iCloud email to another account. You can use any of the approaches that I have described, but if you choose a manual method, please be careful. They tend to be error-prone and slow. That’s why it is better to choose a tool that can perform email migration across multiple accounts simultaneously.