How to Migrate to Proton Mail from Any Email Provider

Everything starts on the Import via Easy Switch page. From your inbox:

1. Click the Settings gear in the top-right
2. Choose All settings
3. In the sidebar, open Import via Easy Switch

On the Import via Easy Switch page, connect the account you're moving from:

1. Under Choose your service to connect with, click Google, Yahoo or Outlook
2. Sign in with your existing email and password
3. Review the permissions and click Allow so Proton can copy your data across

Once your provider is connected, you can now customize your import to your preferences.

On the Customize and confirm screen, click Customize under Emails to open the options.

We generally suggest giving your import a custom label — usually the specific email address you are importing is a good idea.

Click the edit (pencil) icon beside the label to rename it, pick a memorable colour for easy reference, and click Save.

Next, open Manage folders to decide which folders you want to import. This is a good time to omit older folders, trash, and any folders generated by other programs, like sync failures.

Untick anything you'd rather not bring across, then click Save. If you're unsure, just keep everything ticked; you can always delete folders at a later point.

Happy with your selection? Start the transfer:

1. On the Customize and confirm screen, check that emails, contacts and calendars are selected
2. Click Start import
3. The import runs on Proton's servers — you can close the tab and it keeps going

The import may take some time and will slowly start showing your selected emails within your mailbox. Proton imports methodically, so don't expect your folders to appear right away.

The manual route begins on the same Import via Easy Switch page. From your inbox:

1. Click the Settings gear in the top-right
2. Choose All settings
3. In the sidebar, open Import via Easy Switch

Before Proton can pull your mail across, you'll need your current provider's IMAP connection details. You'll usually find these in your provider's settings or help pages.

There are four things to gather:

• IMAP server (host) — e.g. imap.yourprovider.com
• Port — almost always 993 (SSL/TLS)
• Username — usually your full email address
• Password — your account password, or an app-specific password if you use two-factor authentication

Common IMAP servers (all on port 993):

• AOL — imap.aol.com
• GMX — imap.gmx.com
• Mail.com — imap.mail.com
• Fastmail — imap.fastmail.com
• Zoho Mail — imap.zoho.com
• iCloud — imap.mail.me.com

This is essentially the same information you'd use to connect your email to a desktop mail app — so if your account is already set up in something like Apple Mail or Outlook, you can often copy the IMAP details straight from there and save yourself some hunting.

Back on the Import via Easy Switch page, connect over IMAP using the details you just gathered.

1. Click More import options
2. Select your provider from the Choose a provider dropdown — or Custom if yours isn't listed — make sure Emails is selected, then click Continue
3. On Start a new import, enter your email, password, mail server (IMAP) and port from the previous step, then click Next
4. Proton verifies the connection and shows your folders — pick what to import, then click Start import

After Proton connects over IMAP, it fetches your mailbox and presents a Customize and confirm dialog — your chance to shape exactly what gets copied over.

Hit Customize beneath Emails to expand the settings.

It's worth tagging the import with a recognisable label; the address you're moving from usually works well.

Use the pencil icon next to the label to edit its name, give it a colour you'll remember it by, and confirm with Save.

Then head into Manage folders and choose which folders make the trip. Skipping things like archived mail, deleted items, or auto-generated folders (sync failures and the like) keeps your new inbox tidy.

Deselect whatever you don't need and Save. Not sure? Leave it all ticked — folders are easy to clear out later.

Once everything looks right, kick off the transfer:

1. Give your label and folder choices a final once-over on the Customize and confirm screen
2. Press Start import
3. From here it all happens on Proton's side — feel free to close the tab and walk away

Larger mailboxes can take a while, and messages tend to trickle in rather than appear all at once. Proton works through your mail in an orderly fashion, so don't be alarmed if folders are slow to fill up.

Your contacts come across from a file — export your address book from your old provider, then import that file into Proton.

Export from your current provider

• Most webmail: open your contacts or address book and look for an Export option — choose vCard (.vcf) or CSV
• Apple iCloud: icloud.com/contacts → Select All → Export vCard

Import into Proton

1. On the Import via Easy Switch page, click More import options
2. Choose your provider (or Custom), select Contacts, then click Continue
3. When prompted, make sure your CSV or vCard file is ready and click Continue
4. Upload the file and click Import

After your file uploads, Proton shows a field-matching screen. It reads the columns in your file and tries to line them up with the right contact fields automatically — but it doesn't always get every one right, so it's worth a quick check.

Use the first contact as a sample and confirm the values land in the right place:

• The contact's name maps to Display Name
• Their email address maps to Email
• Their phone number maps to Phone

If anything's mismatched, fix it with the vCard field dropdown, then click Import to finish.

Calendars come across as a file too — export your calendar as an ICS (.ics) file, then import it into Proton Calendar.

Export your calendar

• Most providers: open your calendar settings and look for an Export option — choose iCalendar (.ics)
• Apple iCloud: icloud.com/calendar → share the calendar → copy the public link and download the .ics

Import into Proton

1. On the Import via Easy Switch page, click More import options
2. Choose your provider (or Custom), select Calendars, then click Continue
3. When prompted, make sure your ICS file is ready and click Continue
4. Upload the file and click Import — there's no field matching to do, so your events come straight across