Email Migration to Hostmate

1

Choose the Migration Type

First work out how the current email is hosted.

The best migration method depends on where the existing mailboxes are stored.

cPanel to cPanel If the whole hosting account is being transferred from another cPanel provider, the email accounts and stored mail can normally be moved with the cPanel account.

Standalone IMAP email If only email is moving, create the same mailboxes on Hostmate and copy the existing folders and messages from the old IMAP server.

Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace If your email stays with an external provider, do not migrate those mailboxes to cPanel. Preserve that provider's MX, SPF, DKIM and other DNS records instead.

A full cPanel migration is usually simpler when everything is already in cPanel.

If your website and email are both hosted in the same cPanel account at the old provider, see cPanel Migrations. Moving the complete account can preserve mailboxes and stored mail together with the rest of the hosting account.

2

Prepare Hostmate

Create the destination mailboxes before changing DNS.

If you are moving email separately, create each required email account in Hostmate cPanel before any MX or nameserver change is made.

Create the same email addresses that exist at the old provider.
Set suitable mailbox quotas and make sure the Hostmate plan has enough storage for the mail being copied.
Record or reset the new mailbox passwords.
Check aliases, forwarders and autoresponders that may also need to be recreated.
Make note of any special spam filtering, mailing lists or application-generated mail settings.

See Create an Email Account if you need the cPanel steps.

3

Copy Existing Mail

Use IMAP when you need to copy mailbox folders and messages.

For a standalone migration, both the old mailbox and the new Hostmate mailbox can be connected using IMAP. Messages and folders can then be copied from the old account to the new one.

Keep the existing mailbox connected to its old mail server.
Add the new Hostmate mailbox as a second IMAP account in a mail application that can display both accounts.
Copy or move folders and messages from the old account into the matching folders on the Hostmate account.
Allow time for large folders to upload completely to the Hostmate server.
Check the new mailbox through Webmail or another IMAP connection to confirm the messages are stored on the server.

Be careful with POP accounts.

POP can download mail to a computer and remove it from the server, depending on how the account was configured. Messages that exist only on a computer will not appear in an IMAP server-to-server copy. Keep the old mail program and local mail data until you have confirmed everything important is retained.

4

DNS Cutover

Change mail routing only after the new mailboxes are ready.

New incoming mail follows the domain's active MX records. Depending on the DNS setup, you may change individual DNS records or change the domain to Hostmate nameservers.

DNS Records Use this if DNS remains with Cloudflare, the registrar or another external DNS provider and you only need to update the mail-related records.

Change Nameservers Use Hostmate nameservers if you want the full DNS zone to be managed through cPanel.

Do not change nameservers casually.

A nameserver change moves authority for the entire DNS zone, not just email. Website, mail, verification, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and other records must exist in the new DNS zone before the change.

See DNS Propagation for why different networks can temporarily use different mail servers after a DNS change.

5

During Propagation

New messages can temporarily arrive at either server.

DNS changes are cached. During the transition, some senders may still deliver mail to the old server while others have already started using Hostmate.

Leave all old mailboxes active during the propagation period.
Continue checking the old server for newly received messages.
After DNS has changed, perform a final copy of any messages that arrived at the old server during the transition.
Do not delete the old mailboxes immediately after the first successful test.

This final check is important.

Copying the mailbox before the DNS change only captures mail that existed at that time. A final check of the old server helps catch messages delivered there while cached DNS information was still in use.

6

Update Devices

Check Outlook, phones and other mail applications.

If your existing mail application was configured with settings that no longer point to the correct mail server, update or recreate the account using the Hostmate mailbox settings.

Set up Outlook Configure a Hostmate mailbox in Microsoft Outlook.

iPhone / Apple Mail Set up the mailbox on iPhone, iPad or Apple Mail.

Set up Android Add the new Hostmate mailbox to an Android device.

Webmail Use Webmail to confirm the mailbox works directly on the Hostmate server.

Test both sending and receiving. If outgoing mail works but incoming mail does not, check the MX records. If incoming mail works but outgoing mail does not, check the SMTP settings and authentication.

7

After the Move

Confirm everything before cancelling the old service.

Send a message from an outside address to each important mailbox.
Reply from the Hostmate mailbox and confirm the message is delivered.
Check Webmail to confirm new incoming messages are stored on Hostmate.
Check the old server one final time for messages received during propagation.
Confirm folders, Sent mail and other required historic messages are present.
Check aliases, forwarders and autoresponders.
Only cancel the old email service after the migration and DNS cutover have been confirmed.

Keep a copy of important local mail data.

If you previously used POP or stored archives locally in Outlook, Apple Mail or another application, those local messages are separate from the server migration. Do not remove the old account or local data until you know what has been retained.

Move your email to Hostmate.