4 ms·

Currently have over 90,000 emails (~9 GB worth) archived in my GMail account. Any idea how long it would take to transfer it all to my desktop via IMAP?

nodata 13y ago
It'll take a little over 2 hours on a 10 mbit line.
skorgu 13y ago
Unscientifically I've seen between 1-3 messages per second via imapsync so ~a day. The bottleneck seems to be the IMAP protocol or rate limiting on google's side, I've certainly never seen it approach wire speed.
- 3825 13y ago
  Google has published total "bandwidth limits" where they say[1] "To address migration needs, you can download your entire mailbox approximately 3 times per month." [1] https://support.google.com/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1071518 https://support.google.com/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=...
  - sp332 13y ago
    Those limits only seem to apply to Google Apps for Business accounts.
    - 3825 13y ago
      I believe it also applies for anyone grandfathered into the free Google Apps standard. I'd like to know the limits on free accounts if that is not true.
droopyEyelids 13y ago
Furthermore, you have to jump through several difficult-to-recognize hoops to get that 9GB on your disk. IMAP will only sync what the sever feels are recent emails, and envelope information for the rest.
- nodata 13y ago
  offlineimap will do it without hoops.
  - jedbrown 13y ago
    OfflineIMAP crashes a lot. I have been using it for many years and with each upgrade, I'm optimistic that stability and/or performance will improve, but it still sucks a huge amount of CPU and hangs several times per day.
    - nodata 13y ago
      I haven't had a problem. Have you reported the crashes and hangs?
- ValentineC 13y ago
  Depends on your email client. Thunderbird downloaded full copies of two of my Gmail accounts when I added them and selected the "Keep messages for this account on this computer" option.
- lips 13y ago
  See also: https://github.com/rgrove/larch https://github.com/rgrove/larch - "Larch is a tool to copy messages from one IMAP server to another quickly and safely. It’s smart enough not to copy messages that already exist on the destination and robust enough to deal with interruptions caused by flaky connections or misbehaving servers."

nodata 13y ago

It'll take a little over 2 hours on a 10 mbit line.

skorgu 13y ago

Unscientifically I've seen between 1-3 messages per second via imapsync so ~a day. The bottleneck seems to be the IMAP protocol or rate limiting on google's side, I've certainly never seen it approach wire speed.

3825 13y ago
Google has published total "bandwidth limits" where they say[1] "To address migration needs, you can download your entire mailbox approximately 3 times per month." [1] https://support.google.com/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1071518 https://support.google.com/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=...
- sp332 13y ago
  Those limits only seem to apply to Google Apps for Business accounts.
  - 3825 13y ago
    I believe it also applies for anyone grandfathered into the free Google Apps standard. I'd like to know the limits on free accounts if that is not true.

droopyEyelids 13y ago

Furthermore, you have to jump through several difficult-to-recognize hoops to get that 9GB on your disk. IMAP will only sync what the sever feels are recent emails, and envelope information for the rest.

nodata 13y ago
offlineimap will do it without hoops.
- jedbrown 13y ago
  OfflineIMAP crashes a lot. I have been using it for many years and with each upgrade, I'm optimistic that stability and/or performance will improve, but it still sucks a huge amount of CPU and hangs several times per day.
  - nodata 13y ago
    I haven't had a problem. Have you reported the crashes and hangs?
ValentineC 13y ago
Depends on your email client. Thunderbird downloaded full copies of two of my Gmail accounts when I added them and selected the "Keep messages for this account on this computer" option.
lips 13y ago
See also: https://github.com/rgrove/larch https://github.com/rgrove/larch - "Larch is a tool to copy messages from one IMAP server to another quickly and safely. It’s smart enough not to copy messages that already exist on the destination and robust enough to deal with interruptions caused by flaky connections or misbehaving servers."