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Regardless of how many users affected, it's time to reclaim your emails. Have heard horror stories of users locked out and not able to restore just because they

Regardless of how many users affected, it's time to reclaim your emails. Have heard horror stories of users locked out and not able to restore just because they don't remember when they created the account or some facts like that. Good time to download all my emails complete with attachments into a Outlook .pst file. Would just take 4-5 hours for my 2GB of emails. I would never want 99% of my emails but that does not make a strong point not to backup. Any one else know a better way? Backupify is one good option but they're also a cloud provider susceptible to go down any time.

46Bit 16y ago
I've been really looking for good alternatives to Google Apps recently - ideally, self-hosted with backup (highly encrypted) to S3 or such. I'd use my server for this, but I've yet to find an email interface which even approaches Hotmail, let alone Gmail. I've been considering doing a clone of part of the gmail interface, but need time to read up on making sure email is less likely to go to spam.
- wtn 16y ago
  Since I've moved my email to my mobile device, I've switched back to using regular IMAP on my computers. Google refuses to release optimized versions of Talk or Gmail for iOS, I suppose so Android can have exclusivity, but it seems like an insane strategy. The Google app for iOS is Webkit garbage. Now I use Lavabit for email. Their web interface is garbage but their security and support are top notch, and they will host mail for third party domains if you ask them to.
  - dantheman 16y ago
    I think the lack of a gmail app is due to apple not letting them release one since it duplicates the functionality of apples mail.
  - techsupporter 16y ago
    If you want to do e-mail syncing on most mobile devices, NuevaSync[1] provides an ActiveSync interface for any IMAP-capable e-mail account. I'm using them to do calendar sync to a device that doesn't do iCal and the service has performed quite well. Nueva even offers device wipe as an included feature. 1 - http://nuevasync.com/ http://nuevasync.com/ .. I have no affiliation other than being a customer at $15/year.
    - dstorrs 16y ago
      I use them too. Been a customer with them for something like 5-6 years, never had a single issue. Absolutely flawless service.
  - jonknee 16y ago
    Google offers push email for iOS that works really well, did you ever try that? It also supports contacts and calendar, which is pretty slick.
thought_alarm 16y ago
Any POP3 client will backup your Gmail account. I just use Mail.app. My Gmail account is not only backed up but also indexed in Spotlight and always available for off-line access. You just need to remember to start up your mail client every once and a while.
- bdhe 16y ago
  Doesn't mail.app make it difficult for you to export your mails to non-mail.app email clients? Wouldn't Thunderbird or Evolution be better?
  - eggnet 16y ago
    Not really. If google somehow loses your mail, it's not like you'd switch to using mail.app. You'd use it to upload your mail back to google or another provider.
  - thought_alarm 16y ago
    No, Mail.app imports and exports standard mbox format.
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
    - bdhe 16y ago
      I didn't know that. I presumed wrongly that Mail.app wouldn't allow me to re-export my stored mail. Now I have the dilemma of choosing to go back to Mail.app (which I really liked) and lose my Thunderbird customization, or stick to Thunderbird :-)
    - andresmh 16y ago
      So Thunderbird doesn't import/export in a standard format?
  - ryannielsen 16y ago
    Mail.app quite easily saves messages (or groups of messages) as standard mbox files. Select the messages you wish to export, go to "File -> Save As..." and select "Raw Message Source" as your desired format. If you're just looking to move messages to another server though, it's almost certainly easier to add a different mail server and drag/drop your messages to the new server.
paul9290 16y ago
I back up my gmail by forwarding it to a comcast email address, which i then forward all that mail to a yahoo email address(double in cloud back ups). Unfortunately, my chat history is not being backed up, but my emails and all my SMSs(google voice) are.
rapind 16y ago
It would be easier to keep a backup if you could delete attachments (but not the messages) from your old emails. Feel free to suggest it here: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=suggestions.cs http://mail.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=suggestion...
cookiecaper 16y ago
I have Thunderbird set to download my inbox for offline usage and I periodically delete all mails from my account and store encrypted archives in safe offline locations. Sometimes I will email important mails back to my gmail in encrypted format so I can still access them from the outside wherever I have gpg. I think with things like the HBGary hack this is only becoming more and more vital, and it's really not that hard to handle since Thunderbird already saves all my mail locally. You just move it from the IMAP folder to a local folder, export that local folder (there's a great TB extension called ImportExport that gives you lots of options here), encrypt it and upload it to multiple backup sites. What would have happened if HBGary had a policy like this? A lot of embarrassment would have been saved, even if not all of it (much more would have been saved by sending mails encrypted in the first place).
aneesh 16y ago
That saved chats folder in Gmail doesn't seem to be available to IMAP clients. Anyone know a way back up chats?
- 1880 16y ago
  This may be useful: http://martinml.com/en/how-to-download-and-backup-your-gtalk-gmail-chat-logs/ http://martinml.com/en/how-to-download-and-backup-your-gtalk...
relix 16y ago
Some time ago I wrote a commandline tool that made a back-up of all the Gmail mails including labels, but using links instead of copies, in a Maildir format that's compatible with any IMAPd. I use it to have a running "clone" of Gmail on my own server, alway accessible in case Gmail goes down and I need an important mail. The sparseness of the links means each mail is saved only once, regardless of how many labels you attach to it. If anyone's interested: https://github.com/relix/gmailcc https://github.com/relix/gmailcc
dmoo 16y ago
Opera has a built in mail client, I just browse with opera on occasion and mails are downloaded in the background.

46Bit 16y ago

I've been really looking for good alternatives to Google Apps recently - ideally, self-hosted with backup (highly encrypted) to S3 or such. I'd use my server for this, but I've yet to find an email interface which even approaches Hotmail, let alone Gmail. I've been considering doing a clone of part of the gmail interface, but need time to read up on making sure email is less likely to go to spam.

wtn 16y ago
Since I've moved my email to my mobile device, I've switched back to using regular IMAP on my computers. Google refuses to release optimized versions of Talk or Gmail for iOS, I suppose so Android can have exclusivity, but it seems like an insane strategy. The Google app for iOS is Webkit garbage. Now I use Lavabit for email. Their web interface is garbage but their security and support are top notch, and they will host mail for third party domains if you ask them to.
- dantheman 16y ago
  I think the lack of a gmail app is due to apple not letting them release one since it duplicates the functionality of apples mail.
- techsupporter 16y ago
  If you want to do e-mail syncing on most mobile devices, NuevaSync[1] provides an ActiveSync interface for any IMAP-capable e-mail account. I'm using them to do calendar sync to a device that doesn't do iCal and the service has performed quite well. Nueva even offers device wipe as an included feature. 1 - http://nuevasync.com/ http://nuevasync.com/ .. I have no affiliation other than being a customer at $15/year.
  - dstorrs 16y ago
    I use them too. Been a customer with them for something like 5-6 years, never had a single issue. Absolutely flawless service.
- jonknee 16y ago
  Google offers push email for iOS that works really well, did you ever try that? It also supports contacts and calendar, which is pretty slick.

thought_alarm 16y ago

Any POP3 client will backup your Gmail account. I just use Mail.app. My Gmail account is not only backed up but also indexed in Spotlight and always available for off-line access. You just need to remember to start up your mail client every once and a while.

bdhe 16y ago
Doesn't mail.app make it difficult for you to export your mails to non-mail.app email clients? Wouldn't Thunderbird or Evolution be better?
- eggnet 16y ago
  Not really. If google somehow loses your mail, it's not like you'd switch to using mail.app. You'd use it to upload your mail back to google or another provider.
- thought_alarm 16y ago
  No, Mail.app imports and exports standard mbox format.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - bdhe 16y ago
    I didn't know that. I presumed wrongly that Mail.app wouldn't allow me to re-export my stored mail. Now I have the dilemma of choosing to go back to Mail.app (which I really liked) and lose my Thunderbird customization, or stick to Thunderbird :-)
  - andresmh 16y ago
    So Thunderbird doesn't import/export in a standard format?
- ryannielsen 16y ago
  Mail.app quite easily saves messages (or groups of messages) as standard mbox files. Select the messages you wish to export, go to "File -> Save As..." and select "Raw Message Source" as your desired format. If you're just looking to move messages to another server though, it's almost certainly easier to add a different mail server and drag/drop your messages to the new server.

paul9290 16y ago

I back up my gmail by forwarding it to a comcast email address, which i then forward all that mail to a yahoo email address(double in cloud back ups). Unfortunately, my chat history is not being backed up, but my emails and all my SMSs(google voice) are.

rapind 16y ago

It would be easier to keep a backup if you could delete attachments (but not the messages) from your old emails. Feel free to suggest it here: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=suggestions.cs http://mail.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=suggestion...

cookiecaper 16y ago

I have Thunderbird set to download my inbox for offline usage and I periodically delete all mails from my account and store encrypted archives in safe offline locations. Sometimes I will email important mails back to my gmail in encrypted format so I can still access them from the outside wherever I have gpg. I think with things like the HBGary hack this is only becoming more and more vital, and it's really not that hard to handle since Thunderbird already saves all my mail locally. You just move it from the IMAP folder to a local folder, export that local folder (there's a great TB extension called ImportExport that gives you lots of options here), encrypt it and upload it to multiple backup sites. What would have happened if HBGary had a policy like this? A lot of embarrassment would have been saved, even if not all of it (much more would have been saved by sending mails encrypted in the first place).

aneesh 16y ago

That saved chats folder in Gmail doesn't seem to be available to IMAP clients. Anyone know a way back up chats?

1880 16y ago
This may be useful: http://martinml.com/en/how-to-download-and-backup-your-gtalk-gmail-chat-logs/ http://martinml.com/en/how-to-download-and-backup-your-gtalk...

relix 16y ago

Some time ago I wrote a commandline tool that made a back-up of all the Gmail mails including labels, but using links instead of copies, in a Maildir format that's compatible with any IMAPd. I use it to have a running "clone" of Gmail on my own server, alway accessible in case Gmail goes down and I need an important mail. The sparseness of the links means each mail is saved only once, regardless of how many labels you attach to it. If anyone's interested: https://github.com/relix/gmailcc https://github.com/relix/gmailcc

dmoo 16y ago

Opera has a built in mail client, I just browse with opera on occasion and mails are downloaded in the background.