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I have exported all my contacts and emails from my Gmail account (as ZIP file) and want to import them into another Gmail account. How can I do it?

I only found solutions using POP3/Imap and it doesn't work on my case, I couldn't find any "import" feature so far either.

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    Your contacts should be in a CSV which should be easy to import. From what I recall, Gmail is going to be in MBOX format, which will require a third-party email client to import.
    – ale
    Commented Sep 25, 2016 at 14:00
  • @AʟE. Indeed, for the contact it was pretty easy to set up. For the emails themselves, a bit tricky. I just found another solution using a 3rd party software. But I'm still interested in a proper solution using the ZIP file.
    – Vadorequest
    Commented Sep 25, 2016 at 15:17
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    I don't think there is one. Gmail doesn't have an "import" feature. The solution to get email messages from another mailbox has always been to hook up an IMAP client and use that to migrate the messages. I think you should write up the solution you've found as an answer.
    – ale
    Commented Sep 25, 2016 at 15:19
  • In that case, will do!
    – Vadorequest
    Commented Sep 25, 2016 at 15:20

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The purpose was to transfer both Gmail contacts and Gmail emails. I didn't find a proper magic all-in-one solution so I used the following workaround.

Contacts

I had to use two different solutions to do so. I'll start by the easiest one: The contacts.

  • You have to export them as "CSV Google", pretty straightforward:
    1. Go to your contacts: https://contacts.google.com/preview/all
    2. Click on "More" then "Export", if you're using the newest version of Gmail, it will ask you to go to the oldest, ex: https://www.google.com/contacts/u/0/?cplus=0#contacts
    3. Click on "More" then "Export" and select what contacts you want to export and the format (CSV Google in our case)
  • To import them:
    1. Go to your other Gmail account and do the same steps, except you must select "Import" this time. The importation is pretty fast.

Pretty simple and quite fast.

Emails

This workaround has some limitations based on the amount of emails, explained in detail at the end.

The emails are quite more touchy. I tried to export them as ZIP using the Google Dashboard and it worked, but now way to import them that way. (so far, I haven't found one!)

I used Hiver for Gmail, a browser extension that brings several tools to Gmail. It's a free (14 fremium days, then ask for payment, but can still be used for free with limited features)

Note: I am not related to Hiver in any way, just a tool I discovered a year ago, quite useful IMO.

Website: https://hiverhq.com

Chrome extension link: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/shared-mailbox-shared-gma/fcinnggknmdfkilogcndkgpojpfojeem/related?utm_source=chrome-app-launcher-info-dialog

Anyway, install the extension depending on your browser and follow those steps:

  1. Once Hiver is installed as an extension, go to your Gmail account. You should see a link with Hiver on the top header of Gmail. (On the screenshot, it should be on the top-right, where I have 3 green icons (because I'm already authenticated)) enter image description here

  2. Log in (it uses the current Gmail account to create a Hiver account and log you in automatically, no password)

  3. Repeat the same thing with the other Gmail account.

  4. Now you should have Hiver installed on both your Gmail accounts, and logged in.

  5. Take any of your account and create a Shared label. (Please follow Hiver official documentation https://hiverhq.com/tour), share the label with your two gmail accounts. I called my label "Duplicated", name it as you like it.

  6. Refresh both your gmail tabs. (you never know)

  7. Try it around, apply the "Duplicated" label on one email and see if it gets duplicated in the other account (it won't be duplicated in the "Inbox", but in the "Duplicated inbox"). Duplication may take up to 1 mn, usually faster.

  8. If everything is smooth, then select all the emails you want to duplicate and add them the "Duplicated" label all at once. (In my case, I selected all email (50), then Gmail proposed me to select all emails from the inbox and I clicked on the link, it selected more than 1100 emails, and I applied the label)

  9. See the magic in action. Emails start to get duplicated on your other Gmail account. It takes time. (I think about 45mn for 300 emails, in my case. So probably a few hours to get everything duplicated) It's fast enough IMO.

  10. You can close all windows, shutdown the computer, whatever, the process is done server side and you can forget about it and see the result in a few hours. I haven't tried to mess with it by removing "Duplicated" label or anything, I don't know how it may behave if you do so :)

And here we are. If you enjoyed the software you can buy a premium account. Hiver has much more features like email reminders, scheduled emails, email templates which I find pretty useful.

N.B: The email workaround has some limitations (I wasn't aware when writing), it only allow up to 250 emails to be shared each 24h as a Trial plan)

As a result, only 293 of my emails were shared today. I believe the process will take several days and hope it's gonna synch what's left in the following days automatically. I don't care if it takes several days in my situation.

If you need them to be sync fast, then you can buy a Starter (1000) or Plus (5000) plan. See this automated email I got once reaching the limit:

Hi,

You have consumed over 50% of your daily quota limit of 500 emails per day in your Trial plan. Syncing of emails would stop for the day once the limit is reached. You can learn more about Hiver's usage limits at https://www.hiverhq.com/usagelimits

You can Upgrade your account to enjoy uninterrupted services. Please reply to this email if you have any questions.

Thanks, Hiver Team

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