Switching Email Setup in Zoho CRM without Losing Existing Emails
Requirement Overview
Existing emails sent or received via IMAP/POP must remain intact when updating the Email Configuration in Zoho CRM.
Use Case
Previously, users from HA Car Showroom configured their personal email addresses in the IMAP settings (e.g., ha****room@gmail.com). They now wish to update their configuration to use business email addresses (e.g., ha****room@companydomain.com). However, they want to retain access to all existing email data from their personal email accounts after switching to the business email configuration.
Both mailboxes can be hosted on different email services. For example, your personal email might be hosted on Gmail, while your business email could be on Zoho Mail. Alternatively, you might use Yahoo Mail for personal communication and Outlook for your professional email.
Challenge in achieving this directly:
If we remove the IMAP/POP configuration in Zoho CRM, all the email available in the record's related list will also get removed. These emails will not be stored in Zoho CRM. Also, under the "Zoho Mail Add-on Users" option, the backup file will be available only when the user is inactive. However, in this case, all the users are active users.
Solution
To preserve existing emails when changing the email configuration from one address to another, you will need to export the emails from the current mailbox and import them into the new mailbox. Once the import is complete, the new mailbox can be configured in Zoho CRM using IMAP or POP.
For example, let’s say Harry has initially configured his personal email address—ha****roomcrm@gmail.com (i.e., mailbox: Gmail)—and has a significant number of email conversations that are associated with the various records over time. Now, Harry would like to configure his business email address—ha****room@partnersuppot.shop (i.e., mailbox: Zoho Mail).
In this scenario, Harry has to export the emails from Gmail. Then, import the exported email file in Zoho Mail. Once all the emails are imported within Zoho Mail, Harry can proceed with deactivating the current email configuration—ha****roomcrm@gmail.com—and then configure the email address—ha****room@partnersupport.shop—as IMAP/POP in Zoho CRM.
Export from Gmail and Import in Zoho Mail
Below are the detailed steps to export emails from Gmail and import them into Zoho Mail
Step 1: Download the Email Backup file in existing mail account configured in Zoho CRM
-> Steps to download the email backup file from Gmail:
b. Search for Gmail >> Select it >> Next Stepc. Select the file type and then click "create export"d. You will receive an email to verify that the export was initiated by you.
e. If you have selected the export type as "Send download link via email", then you will receive an email in your mailbox with the data file.
Step 2: Changing the File Format based on destination mail account
Now you need to change the file format because Gmail exports the email file in the MBOX format. However, Zoho Mail only accepts the import file in the EML format. Hence, we need to change the file format.
Step 3: Importing Converted file to destination mail account
Once converted, you could follow the below steps to import into Zoho Mail.
a. Go to mail.zoho.com >> Settings >> Import and Export >> Import from EML.
b. Select the EML file that you have converted. Then select the folder under which you want to import, and then proceed to click Import.
-> Once the emails are successfully imported, you will receive an email. You could then check the imported emails. When all the emails are imported, you could proceed with reconfiguring the email configuration in Zoho CRM.
Note:- This procedure is applicable not just for Gmail and Zoho Mail, but for any email service that supports the Import/Export functionality.Export from IMAP account and import into Zoho Mail
If your mailbox does not support the export option, you could first configure it in Zoho Mail using IMAP sync. Once the mailbox is synced, you can export the emails as EML files from Zoho Mail and then import them into your business Zoho Mail account.
Let's take an example: The user Harry has configured his personal email address, harish****002@yahoo.com (Yahoo mailbox), and his professional email address is ha****room@partnersupport.shop (Zoho Mail). Now Harry can follow the below steps.
1. To configure your personal email address as IMAP/POP in his Zoho Mail, you could refer to the following Help LINK.
2. Once configured, close the settings page and switch to the harish****002@yahoo.com account in Zoho Mail. You could find the switch option at the bottom left corner.
3. Once all the emails are synced, you could then proceed to export the EML files. Go to Settings >> Import/Export emails >> Export as EML >> Select the folder and export range that need to be exported. We recommend you to select the "Export all emails in the folder" option.
Ensure that all required emails are exported from the configured IMAP mailbox.
4. When the export file is ready, you will receive an email with the file link. You can access it and download the file.
5. Once you have downloaded it, you could switch to the Zoho Mail account and import the file.
When you have exported and imported all the emails from the IMAP account to the Zoho Mail account, you could proceed to reconfigure the email configuration.
Reconfiguring Email configuration
Now that you have imported all emails to your Zoho Mail, you could proceed with changing the email configuration in Zoho CRM. Follow the below steps to remove and reconfigure the new email address:
a. Go to setup >> Channels >> Emails >> Email configuration >> Email.
b. Click on the Deactivate IMAP/POP option in your configured IMAP/POP sync to proceed with deactivating.
c. Now, you need to configure Zoho Mail as IMAP/POP in Zoho CRM. You could refer to the following Help Link for configuring IMAP/POP with Zoho Mail.
d. Once the email sync is completed, all the emails will be mapped to their respective records. You could then check the records in your Zoho CRM.
NOTE: Emails that were manually associated with Deal records will not be re-associated after reconfiguring the IMAP sync.
Custom Solution Created by Harish K | Zoho Partner Support
If you need any further clarifications, please don’t hesitate to contact partner-support@zohocorp.com.
Additionally, we kindly ask all Europe and UK Partners to reach out to partner-support@eu.zohocorp.com.
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