How to Import MBOX Files in Gmail Account & Add All MBOX Data

Approved By Anuraag Singh

Published On November 21st, 2024

Reading Time 7 Minutes Reading

Category Gmail

import mbox to gmail in bulk

Any user who has to ask themselves how to import MBOX files in Gmail is surely confused. As there is no straightforward import button in Gmail many nontechnical users need help to make their online MBOX files active again in a Gmail environment. If you are one among that crowd then you need not worry as this tutorial contains all the guidelines. First up let’s go through the reasons

Why do Users Want to Bring MBOX files to Gmail?

Gmail Users can get MBOX files from a variety of places, Like when they close an old account and use the Google Takeout service to keep an offline copy of emails.

Or organizations want users to reattach the MBOX data that they got from an e-discovery operation in Google Vault.

Moreover, many email clients like Apple Mail, Thunderbird, etc allow to keep the emails in this format.

As MBOX files in themselves are of little to no use, it is only when they are part of a live email account that can users work with them. So forwarding MBOX data as an email and not an attachment, reading the content directly in the GMail application, etc are all genuine causes for users to seek out a remedy.

Before we tutor you on the methods perform a specific check if it does so happen you might be able to skip the process entirely.

Skip the Transfer of MBOX to Gmail in a Specific Scenario

In scenarios where you are not really concerned about the metadata of MBOX files but rather just want the content and attachments to be accessible with a click in your mail then you might want to try self-mailing the MBOX file.

However, this is not a great idea as Gmail lacks any native method to process these files so they are pretty much useless, as you can’t preview them to see what content is inside the files. They just end up occupying space inside your Gmail account.

Moreover, you won’t see any benefit even if you add these MBOX files to Google Drive.

If you really want to use some internal Gmail mechanism to get those MBOX files perform a check at your end.

The only way you can avoid transferring MBOX to Gmail is to have access to the original account from where these MBOX files are from. After, verifying that look if the files are still inside the source inbox.

If both of these checks are positive then you can use the same process as the one we used to pull AOL emails in Gmail. Here are the steps in brief.

Go to Gmail, Click on Settings Cog, All settings, Accounts and Import, Import Mail and contacts

After this follow the on-screen instructions as they appear on the small window at the top left corner till you gain access to mails on Gmail.

On top of bringing in the old data, you can set up auto-forwarding and add the source as an alias in Gmail to get every mail directly into your Gmail account.

Don’t worry even if you only possess a large amount of orphan MBOX files we will provide you with sure-shot approaches to put them in the Gmail account.

Use ThunderBird and Transfer MBOX to Gmail

Step-1: Install the Thunderbird client

Browse (https://www.thunderbird.net/en-GB/) and click “Free Download”.
Run the executable.
Click “Yes” to allow system changes then “Next”.
Pick a setup type and click “Next”.
Select the installation location then “Next”.
Keep default components then “Next”.
Choose shortcut options then “Next”.
Confirm installation location and click “Install”.
Wait 2-3 minutes for installation.
Click “Finish”

Step 2: Enable IMAP and add Gmail in Thunderbird

Enable IMAP in Gmail:

- Inside Gmail click cog (upper-right corner).
- Select “See all settings”.
- Click the “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” tab.
- Enable IMAP in the IMAP Access section.
- Click “Save Changes”.

IMAP Account Settings:

Incoming Mail:

- Server: imap.gmail.com
- Port: 993
- SSL: Yes

Outgoing Mail:

- Server: smtp.gmail.com
- Port: 465 (SSL) or 587 (TLS/STARTTLS)
- SSL/TLS: Yes
- Authentication: Yes

Add Gmail in Thunderbird:

- Open Thunderbird.
- Select File > New > Existing Mail Account.
- Enter your Gmail account information.
- Click “Continue”.
- Thunderbird will configure the server details.
- Click “Done”.
- Sign in with your Google credentials.

Step-3: Install the ImportExport NG

Download ImportExportTools NG from Add-ons and Themes.
Select Tools > Add-ons and Themes.
Click Gear > Install Add-on from File.
Select downloaded file > Add.
Restart Thunderbird.

Step-4: Use Extention & Import MBOX Files in Gmail

You can’t directly add MBOX files to your server-connected Gmail account as the option is greyed out. So, do this

Right-click on Local Folder in the left side pane.
Hover over the ImportExport NG extension.
Select Import MBOX files and then the secondary option.
Browse for MBOX files, select, and add.
Once inside Thunderbird drag and drop the MBOX items from the local folder to your Gmail mailbox.
Login to your Gmail account to see the results.

This is a hefty procedure for a single account, so during bulk operations organizations can go with the following.

How to Import MBOX Files in Gmail For a Large Number of Users in an Organization

For organizations dealing with a mass movement of MBOX to G Suite(Gmail) setting up an email client for each user and performing a manual upload is not feasible at all. Therefore, a better approach would be to first bulk convert MBOX to EML or convert MBOX to PST en mass, and.

Then, use the SysTools G Suite Import Tool to Add the now transformed MBOX files into the respective user account.

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The following two-stage process teaches you how it is done.

Stage One: MBOX Conversion to Suitable File Format For Gmail Upload

Step 1. Click “Add File” and select MBOX file(s).

Step 2. Choose the file upload option: Default Profile or File(s)/Folder.

Step 3. Then, hit “Export” or “Export Selected”.

Step 4. Select EML/PST as the export format.

Step 5. Configure Advanced Settings: Naming Convention (Splitting in case of PST) and Date Filter.

Step 6. Browse and select the destination location.

Step 7. Ensure “Maintain Folder Hierarchy” is checked.

Step 8. Click “Export”.

Step 9. Check the now converted MBOX files in the destination folder.

Stage Two: Uploading the Transformed MBOX in Gmail/GSuite/Google Workspace Account

Step 1. Install the software on the machine where you have the MBOX in its new state.

Step 2. Then, select the Source as (PST/EML) and the Destination as G Suite.

Step 3. Scroll to the Workload area to mark the Checkbox Next to Email. You may also apply the Date filter if need be.

Step 4. Perform the Source Validation by selecting the Path where the files are kept.

Step 5. Likewise during Destination validation type the Admin details and Press Next.

Step 6. In the Mapping screen pick any one option out of the 3 i.e. Fetch, Imort, or Download.

Step 7. Use the Preview Secrren to select, add priority, validate, and begin the Import process.

Soon you will see that the previously orphan MBOX files are inside the user’s Gmail account. The most surprising part is that this is done without using Thunderbird or any other email client.

Conclusion

So now users know how to import MBOX files to their Gmail account. Moreover, there are two routes through which that task can be done. The first one is using Thunderbird. However, as many users dont want to go through the lengthy process of setting up an email client for just a basic import we also include a couple of professional tools that can help you complete the process in no time.

Moreover, if by any chance you still retain access to the email account from where you got these MBOX files using the inbuilt Gmail import mechanisms can also be considered.