How to change email account type
A question frequently asked is “How to change the email account type once configured?” or “How do I convert my POP account to an IMAP account?” or “How do I change my Outlook.com EAS account to an IMAP account” or any variation in between.
Short answer: You don’t.
Once an email account is configured, you cannot simply “change/convert” it to use another protocol. Instead the account has to be re-added to the profile using the correct settings that are applicable for the desired protocol. Accessing an email account using different protocols, doesn’t create a new email account, there is only one set of data for a single email account but what gets retreived and sync’d depends on the protocol used to access the information. For more detailed info on email protocols, see: Understanding Email Protocols
Summary of data accessed by protocol
POP3 – uni-directional one-time download of the <Inbox> folder only per device accessing it. Email data is stored locally once downloaded unless option is used to “Leave Messages on Server”. Contact/calendar data is stored locally only
IMAP – a bi-directional sync of email-folders where the local data file is a mirror of what is contained on the server. If the data file gets deleted or is inaccessible, Outlook creates a new one. Like POP3, contact/calendar data is stored locally only. Multiple email folders can be created at the server level to store email data which can then be sync’d to the local device (if using OL’2013/’2016 see: How to Protect Outlook ‘2013/’2016 Imap Contact/Calendar Data )
Exchange/Exchange ActiveSync – a bi-directional sync of all data types (email/contacts/calendar etc)
The “change” process
Note: there is no requirement to delete any existing account from your Outlook profile when configuring the same account using another protocol until you have successfully configured the account using the desired profile ensuring that any data involved has been properly copied/moved (if required).
The first step in any of the following processes is:
#1 – Add the account to the profile using the desired protocol. The original account should only be removed from the profile after all data has been successfully copied. (Note: Any POP3 accounts that are added must be configured manually). I f unfamiliar with email account configuration see:
Understanding Outlook Email Account Configuration
Also for the sake or simplicity and brevity, this description assumes that only one email account has been configured in the profile and as such the “default data file” for the profile is configured as per expectations for that kind of configuration. If there are multiple email accounts and/or multiple data files involved see: Understanding Outlook Migration – Part 3 – Email Account Creation regarding how the creation of data files and folders is impacted based on a given sequence of events
From POP to IMAP
#2 – If additional folders have been created in the PST file containing the <Inbox> and the desire is to copy all of this data to the IMAP account, simply copy/move all the desired folders to the IMAP folder tree.
#3 – If copying folders to the IMAP folder tree, strongly suggest setting Outlook to “work-offline” so that the sync to the server doesn’t initiate until after everything is copied especially if there is a lot of data involved. Once the copy process has been completed, set Outlook to “work online” so that the sync process starts. For info on how to quickly copy items from one folder to another see: How to Copy-Move Folders-Items in Outlook (a PST Import alternative)
#4 – After the copy is completed, log into the email account using webmail and verify that all data has been sync’d. Once that has been verified, the POP email account can be removed which will NOT automatically remove the associated PST file for the account and will remain in the Outlook Navigation Pane.
#5 – In terms of contact/calendar info, suggestion is to continue to use the PST file associated POP account as the default data file which in turn is the data file containing the default contact/calendar folders. While there will be a duplicate set of email folders (i.e. <Inbox>, <Outbox> etc) which can’t be deleted from within Outlook.
From POP to EAS
(*** this would only apply to non-migrated Outlook.com accounts using Outlook ‘2013/’2016 or Outlook.com accounts that have been migrated but not manually re-added to the profile in order for Outlook to configure the account using the <Exchange> protocol
#2 – You cannot move/copy email items directly into folders for an account using EAS (Exchange ActiveSync) – in order to move this data, the account must first configured as an IMAP account following and follow the instructions described above.
#3 – Once the copy has been completed, both the POP and IMAP accounts can be removed from the profile
From IMAP to POP
#2 – any additional folders created in the IMAP account should be moved to the POP3 folder. Highlight the folder in the IMAP folder tree –> right-click –> <Move or Copy> folder –> select the root of the PST folder tree
#3 – once all data is successfully moved/copied, the account can be removed from the Outlook profile
#4 – log into the email account via webmail and remove any extraneous folders no longer required to reduce space used on the server
From IMAP to Exchange/Exchange ActiveSync (only applies to Outlook.com accounts)
#2 – There is no need to move/copy any email data, everything will appear in the Exchange/EAS folder tree
#3 – Since contact/calendar info is sync’d using the Exchange/Exchange ActiveSync protocol, contents from any contact folders can be moved to the Exchange folder tree however if Exchange ActiveSync is the protocol in use, only one contact folder is supposed with this protocol.
Category: Outlook - How To
