You can use the same email account in Ubuntu as you have done in Windows. If you have a Web-based email account, then you should simply be able to access it using the a web browser as you would have done in Windows. Otherwise, please note down the following information so that you can re-create your account settings on Ubuntu:
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Email address
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Password
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POP3 or IMAP server
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SMTP server
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Authentication method
The instructions on exporting emails and email account settings are specific to particular applications. Instructions for some popular email clients are given in the following sections; users of other applications may find instructions relevant to their mail application from the Ubuntu Ubuntu community support website.
These instructions are intended for users of Microsoft Outlook Express 6. If you are a user of a different version of Outlook Express, you may find instructions specific to that version from the Ubuntu Ubuntu community support website.
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Open Outlook Express and press → →
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The Address Book Export Tool will start. Select the option Text File (Comma Separated Values) and then press .
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Save the file in a memorable location. Give the file a descriptive name, such as
mail_address_book.csv, and press . -
Select the details from the address book which you would like to export. If you are unsure, tick all of the options. Then, press .
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You should receive a message stating that the Address book export process has completed. Press and then . Your address book should now have been exported successfully.
Because Microsoft Outlook Express is unable to export its mail messages to an intermediate format, you must install another piece of software in order to export your email.
Please see the section called “Preparing email for export using Mozilla Thunderbird” for instructions on importing your email into the Mozilla Thunderbird application, which will allow the exporting of your messages.
These instructions are intended for users of Microsoft Office Outlook 2003. If you are a user of a different version of Outlook, you may find instructions specific to that version on the wiki.
![[Caution]](images/admin/caution.png)
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This method may be unreliable and should be used for backup purposes only. |
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Open Outlook and press →
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Select the Mail Setup tab and press
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A screen called Outlook Data Files will be displayed. Select the first file in the list, make a note of its name, and press
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A folder will open. Find the file you just selected. If you have difficultly finding the file, it should be of type Office Data File or have the file extension
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Copy the file into the location you are using to store your exported settings.
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Repeat this process for all of the files which were listed on the Outlook Data Files screen.
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Open Outlook and press →
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The Import and Export Wizard will start. Select the option Export to a file and then press .
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Select Comma Separated Values (DOS) and press
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Select the Contacts folder and press . Then, choose where to save the file and press .
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A screen listing Actions to be performed will be shown. Press to export your contacts to the location you selected in the previous step.
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Open Outlook and press →
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The Import and Export Wizard will start. Select the option Export to a file and then press .
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Select Comma Separated Values (DOS) and press
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Select the Calendars folder and press . Then, choose where to save the file and press .
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A screen listing Actions to be performed will be shown. Press to export your contacts to the location you selected in the previous step.
Because Microsoft Outlook is unable to fully export its mail messages to a usable intermediate format, you must install another piece of software in order to export your email.
Please see the section called “Preparing email for export using Mozilla Thunderbird” for instructions on importing your email into the Mozilla Thunderbird application, which will allow the exporting of your messages.
Because some mail clients (such as Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Outlook Express) do not store their mail messages in a standard format, an additional piece of software must be used to convert the mail before export. Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open-source application which is able to do this.
The following instructions explain how to obtain Thunderbird and then use it to prepare mail messages for export:
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Open a web browser and navigate to the Mozilla Thunderbird website. Follow the link to download Mozilla Thunderbird.
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Once the download has completed, run the installer package. Follow the instructions to install Thunderbird.
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Once the installer has completed, start Mozilla Thunderbird. You should be greeted with the Import Wizard. Follow the instructions to import all settings - this should import your mail and some other data.
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If the Import Wizard does not appear, press → and choose the Mail option. Follow the instructions to import your mail.
Once all of your mail has been imported, you must now make a copy of it for exporting. Please see the section called “Exporting email messages from Mozilla Thunderbird” for instructions on how to do this.
These instructions are intended for users of Mozilla Thunderbird and users of Outlook and Outlook Express who imported their mail into Thunderbird (see the section called “Preparing email for export using Mozilla Thunderbird”).
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Press → , type %AppData%\Thunderbird\Profiles\ into the box provided, and then press . A folder will open.
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In the newly-opened folder, you should find another folder with a name made up mostly of random characters, for example fyhsxlr3.default. Open this folder.
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In this folder, locate a folder named
MailorImapMail. Select this folder and copy it to a safe location. -
When you switch to Ubuntu, make a back-up copy of the folder you just made a copy of. This folder contains all of your mail folders from Thunderbird, in the mbox format.
