How to Migrate AOL Mail and Contacts to Gmail?

Once the most famous email service, AOL began to experience its downfall due to its failure to adapt to the changing needs of the Internet, causing its users to migrate to a more valuable service like Gmail. Gmail is now a service where almost everyone has at least one account. If you are one of those users who finally decided to migrate AOL email to Gmail and need a correct measure for it, we invite you to join us.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, AOL had its golden age with nearly 26 million subscribers. Its leadership in instant messaging, easy-to-use platform, and famous “You’ve got email” notification introduced millions of users to the Internet for the first time. However, over time, it failed to deliver new features to users. In addition to the high subscription cost, inconsistent user experience, and lack of adaptability, users were forced to look for alternatives.

Whereas Gmail was launched in 2004, it has made constant changes to its services and attracted users with its revolutionary storage limit and Google-like search experience This valuable user-centricity makes it the first choice for users leaving AOL.

How to Transfer AOL to Gmail?

Exporting AOL email folders to Gmail is a simple process but requires a bit of technical knowledge from users. Since Gmail is a feature-rich service that allows integration with other email accounts, it allows you to export emails and contacts from the AOL service.

We will guide you through the complete steps to make settings in Gmail to import directly from AOL email and contacts. Follow each step in the process carefully to avoid data loss.

Manually Migrate AOL Email to Gmail 

• Sign in to Gmail and go to “Settings”, and select “See all settings.”
• Now, go to the “Account & Import” tab.
• Then, under the “Import Mail & Contacts” section, click on the “Import Mail & Contacts” link.
• Then, a pop-up box will open asking you to sign in to your other email account.
• Here, you need to enter your AOL email address and then click on the Continue button.

• Then, you will be redirected to the login page to log in to the AOL and allow Gmail to access AOL data.
• Check the item you want to import from AOL to Gmail – email, contacts, etc.
• Then, click on the “Start Import” button.

Gmail will start the process of importing email and contacts from AOL. When the procedure is completed, you will get a notification. The process is simple and free, but it also has some drawbacks that we think you should be aware of. We have tested this process and had some issues that we would like to share with you so that you don’t have the same problems we had.

Limitations of the Manual Method

• The processing time will depend on the size of your inbox and contact list.
• The process can take hours or even couple of days.
• If the process is interrupted due to internet connectivity, you will need to start it again.
• There is no option to export specific email folders from AOL to Gmail with a manual process.
• You may encounter duplicate emails once imported to Gmail

If you are not sure whether you should take this approach or not, we have the best alternative for you. Our next method, unlike the manual method, will not take several days to transfer AOL folders to Gmail. Check it out.

Steps to Bulk Export AOL Email Folders to Gmail

• Download, install and launch the software on your Windows computer.
  
• Then click the Open menu, go to Email Accounts and click the Add Account option
  
• Now, enter your AOL email address and password and also the server and IMAP settings
  
• The tool will verify your account and load all the folders in the left panel.
  
• Next, click the Export menu and select the Gmail option
  
• Enter your Gmail credentials and then click on the Save.
  
  

The software will only take a few minutes to migrate AOL email to Gmail. Once the process is completed, you will be alerted.

Why Expert Method instead of Manual?

• This method is time-saving and transfers AOL folders to Gmail in bulk.
• Export AOL mail and contacts to Gmail while preserving data integrity.
• Migrate AOL emails to Gmail from a specific sender, recipient, and subject.
• Transfer emails from a specific time period and date with a single click.
• Migrate data from multiple AOL accounts to a single Gmail account without any hassle.

In Conclusion

Migrating from AOL to Gmail is the best decision as AOL is no longer a valuable service. In the above content, we have helped you with the right procedure to migrate AOL email to Gmail. There are basically two approaches – manual and automated. The manual process is completely free and is subject to some limitations. Alternatively, we have proposed you the best software that allows you to transfer AOL folders to Gmail in bulk and in a few minutes.