IMAP Import
If you’re coming from a provider other than Google (Microsoft, Fastmail, Hetnet, iCloud, your own server, or anywhere that speaks IMAP), you can bring your mail across with an IMAP import. Unlike Google Sync, an IMAP import does not keep running in the background: it copies your old account into Cirrux when you start it. You can run it again as often as you like to pick up new mail. It only covers email. Calendars and contacts come across as files with ICS and VCF file import.
How it works
Set up an import#
Go to Settings → Sync & Import, click Connect IMAP account, and enter the IMAP host, port, username and password (or app password) of the account you’re leaving. Cirrux discovers the folders. You pick the Cirrux mailbox to import into and which folders to import, then click Start import.
Each folder goes into the matching Cirrux label, and a label is created if it doesn’t exist yet. Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Trash, Junk and Archive map to the built-in Cirrux folders. You can also tag all imported emails with an extra label. Cirrux only reads from your old server and never changes or deletes anything there.
Re-run to catch up#
IMAP imports don’t run continuously. Once the first full import has finished, open the import and choose Import new emails to fetch what arrived since the last run. Messages are matched on their Message-ID, so a message Cirrux already has (including one that reached Cirrux directly) is not added twice. If a duplicate came from another folder, it just gets that folder’s label added.
If something looks off, the easiest fix is to delete the IMAP connection and create a fresh one. Deleting the connection keeps the mail you already imported, and the duplicate check is per message, not per connection.
Read, unread, and starred state#
IMAP import preserves the read/unread flag and starred flag on each message, so your old inbox doesn’t suddenly look full of unread mail after the import.
Source rate limits#
Some providers (Fastmail in particular) enforce strict per-minute IMAP limits. When the old server pushes back, the import waits and retries, so a large mailbox can take a few hours. Each run shows how many messages were imported, labeled, skipped as duplicates or failed. Running the import again retries the failed ones.
If you see a large number of failures or ignored messages, drop us a note at help@cirrux.info and we’ll take a look.
During the cutover: forward at the source#
Because an IMAP import only runs when you start it, anything that arrives at your old address between runs won’t appear in Cirrux until you run it again. While you’re still flipping DNS and telling people about your new address, the simplest way to avoid missing mail is to set up an automatic forward at your old provider, pointing at your Cirrux address. New mail then flows into Cirrux in real time, and you can keep the import around for one final catch-up sweep when you’re ready to retire the old account.