Easy-Email

This article explains how to setup Windows Mail for email synchronization. You will be guided through modifying your existing accounts (if you have any) and configuring Windows Mail to synchronize with Gmail.

At this point you should have completed the setup of Gmail for email synchronization.

At the end of the article you will find references to more information which is relevant for working with Windows Mail and Easy-Email.

Important! Backup your emails before you start! Easy-Email does not accept responsibility for any data loss under any circumstance.

Synchronize your Windows Mail on all your computers! Automatically!

Watch the quick video at synchronize Windows Mail.

 

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Modify existing accounts (POP)

If you already have email accounts setup in Windows Mail we need to ensure they leave new email in the mailbox on the mail server for one day.

Gmail is also downloading email from the same mailbox, so Windows Mail will have to leave the email on the mail server long enough for Gmail to get hold of a copy too. Gmail automatically checks your mailboxes for new mail once every hour. If a new email arrives in your mailbox and Windows Mail downloads and removes the email from the mailbox before Gmail gets to it you will not see that email in Gmail and it will not be synchronized with your other email clients.

This modification does not change the way your current email setup works.

Do the following for each Windows Mail account that downloads email from a mailbox:

Note! Click on the images to see a larger version.

• Go to Tools → Accounts...

• Select your existing email account.
  Click Properties.
  

• Go to the Advanced tab.
  Check Leave a copy of messages on server.
  Check Remove from server after 5 days.
  Change the setting to 1 day.
  1 day is more than sufficient for Gmail to pick up new emails.
  Click OK.
  

• To close the account settings window again:
  Click OK.
  Click Close.

Create a new email account in Windows Mail to access Gmail

Gmail will now pick up your email for you. This step tells Windows Mail to synchronize with Gmail so you can download copies of your emails.

Note! If you have more than one email address, work with the email address you use most often. For John Doe this is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Setting up multiple email addresses is explained in the Advanced Guides.

Follow these steps:

• Open Windows Mail.

• Click Tools → Accounts
  

• Click Add.
  

• Select E-mail Account.
  Click Next.
  

• Modify your display name if needed.
  Click Next.
  

• Modify your email address if needed, for John we leave it at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
  Click Next.
  

• Change the Incoming e-mail server type to IMAP.
  For Incoming mail (POP3 or IMAP) server enter imap.gmail.com.
  For Outgoing email server (SMTP) name enter smtp.gmail.com.
  Check Outgoing server requires authentication.
  Then click Next.
  

• For E-mail username enter your Gmail address.
  For john this is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
  Enter your Gmail password.
  Then click Next.
  

• We need to change a few settings before we can download emails and folders.
  Check Do not download my e-mail and folders at this time.
  Otherwise you will get an error because Windows Mail cannot connect to Gmail.
  Click Finish.
  

• The newly created account is named imap.gmail.com.
  Select it and click Properties.
  

• Give the mail account a more descriptive name, for instance My Mail (IMAP).
  

• Click the Advanced tab.
  First check the This server requires a secure connection (SSL) checkboxes. There are two.
  Then change the Outgoing mail (SMTP) port to 465.
  When the checkbox is clicked this value is reset, which is why you need to check the checkbox first.
  Verify the port is still 465 before continuing.
  

• Click the IMAP tab.
  For the special folders enter the following values:
  Sent Items path: [Gmail]#Sent Mail
  Drafts path: [Gmail]#Drafts
  Deleted Items path: [Gmail]#Trash
  Junk path: [Gmail]#Spam
  
  
  These values have to be the same as in your Gmail account with [Gmail]# in front:
  Note! If you use a language other than English in Gmail you need to adjust these values accordingly.
  
  

• Click OK.

• Set My Mail (IMAP) to be the default mail account by selecting it and clicking Set as Default.
  

• Click Close.

• We have a few more changes to make before we can download email from Gmail.
  Click No to download folders now.
  
  

• Click No to refresh the folder list.
  
  

• There is a bug in Windows Mail.
  This is the reason we could not enter the correct paths to the special folders above. We have to exchange the # character to a / character in a configuration file. Unless we make this change, draft emails and handling of deleted emails will not work correctly.
  This next section is simply a workaround for the bug in Windows Mail. You do not need to understand it, simply follow the steps as outlined.
  
  

• Click Tools → Options.
  

• Click the Advanced tab.
  Then click the Maintenance... button.
  

• Click the Store Folder... button.
  

• Make a note of the location of the message store folder. You will need this later.
  For John this is C:\Users\John Doe\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Mail.
  

• Click OK to close the window.

• Important! Close Windows Mail completely.

• Open Windows Explorer (NOT Internet Explorer).
  Navigate to the folder of the message store you made a note of above.
  For John this is C:\Users\John Doe\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Mail.
  

• Open the imap.gmail.com folder.
  

• The file we are looking for is called account{random numbers}.oeaccount.
  Make a backup copy of the file now.
  

• To edit the file click the Windows Start button.
  Then type notepad in the search box and press Enter.
  

• Position the Windows Explorer window and the Notepad window so you can easily drag the account{random numbers}.oeaccount file on to the Notepad window to open it.
  

• Once you drop the file on Notepad it opens for editing.
  Don't worry about the content of the file. You do not need to understand it.
  

• Click on Edit -> Replace. Find # and replace it with /. Click Replace All.
  

• Close notepad and Save the file.
  

• Start Windows Mail again.

• When Windows Mail starts you might get this message.
  This is perfectly normal because we have changed the folder names. Click OK.
  

• In the next window Windows Mail asks which folder the messages are stored in.
  Windows Mail is just a little bit confused – everything is actually fine.
  Simply click OK.
  

• The next message asks you to refresh the folder list. This time click Yes.
  

• The list of folders from Gmail is shown.
  Click OK.
  

Windows Mail is now setup for email synchronization.

More stuff you can do

In the appendix you will find more interesting information on how to get the most out of your email:

• Backup and restore your emails
  We strongly recommend you backup your emails before you setup Easy-Email.
  This section explains how you do this. And it explains how you restore your emails if you should need to do that.

• Download emails to Windows Mail for offline use
  This section explains how to make your emails available for use without an internet connection. You will be able to read and respond to emails on a plane or train for instance. Once you get an internet connection again your emails will be sent.

• Copy old emails to Gmail from Windows Mail
  This section explains how you can copy your old emails from Windows Mail to Gmail. This will make the emails available to any client you synchronize with Gmail.

• Turn off your old email account
  You have setup email synchronization without making changes to your old email setup. This allows you to try out Easy-Email without affecting the way you manage your email today.
  This section explains how to phase out your old email setup once you are comfortable with Easy-Email.

• Export contacts from Windows Mail
  If you have contacts stored on Windows Mail that you want to copy to other email clients this section explains how you do this.

• Import contacts into Windows Mail
  If want to copy contacts stored on other email clients to Windows Mail this section explains how you do this.

• Create a signature in Windows Mail
  This section explains how you create a signature in Windows Mail

• Group messages by thread in Windows Mail
  If you like the way Gmail organizes emails in threads or conversations this section explains how you can get a similar view in Windows Mail.

• How to find your mail server settings
  If you do not know your mail server settings this section explains where you can locate this information in your current setup.

And that completes the setup of Windows Mail for email synchronization.

If you would like help with synchronizing Windows Mail on multiple computers you can download and follow the Easy-Email Essential Guide. See how this brilliantly simple solution will simplify your life by watching the quick video at sync windows mail.