Knowledgebase: Tutorials
How to make a local copy of my messages?
Posted by Olivia Rust on 21 June 2018 12:58

When your email account is going to be canceled soon or your space on the server is getting filled up, you might want to create a local backup of your messages or download them from your server.
This applies mainly to IMAP and EWS accounts.

Here are steps to follow to copy your messages and/or folders to Local folders:

Make sure to have the option to ‘Show local folders’ enabled in Menu > Settings > General > General.

To copy folders:

  1.        Right-click the folder you want to copy
  2.        Select the ‘Copy folder...’ option
  3.        In a new window select the ‘Local folders’ as the destination where you want to make a copy
  4.        Confirm
  5.        Wait for eM Client to copy the folder with messages
  6.        Continue with other folders from the top

You can select the 'Local folders' directly if you want the folder to be at the same level as the ‘Local Inbox’, ‘Sent’, etc. If you select any of the folders directly, the folder you are copying will be a subfolder of that folder.

To copy just messages:

  1.        Open the folder with messages
  2.        Click one of the messages to bring focus to it
  3.        Press Ctrl+A to select ALL the messages in this folder (or select the ones you want specifically using the Shift or Ctrl button)
  4.        Right-click one of the messages (with all messages still selected)
  5.        Use the ‘Copy to Folder…’ option in the drop-down menu
  6.        Select the exact folder where you want to copy these messages to
  7.        If you are copying from Inbox, select the Local Inbox, etc.
  8.        Confirm
  9.        Wait for eM Client to finish copying these messages
  10.        Continue with other folders from the top

If you have a large number of messages that have not been previously downloaded for offline use, the copying can take some time. In that case, eM Client is downloading the messages fully for the first time so it takes longer than copying a message that is already downloaded in eM Client.

After the messages are safely copied, you can remove the originals from your account folders, in case you need to free up space on your email server.
The copies in eM Client's Local folders are safe from any external force.

Note: We do suggest enabling automatic database backups if you keep local copies of important messages, in case the files in your computer got corrupted or if your computer crashed.
You can backup manually using the Menu > Backup option or enable Automatic backup in Menu > Settings > General > Backup.

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