Switch from Outlook.com to StartMail: step by step

How to move your mail, contacts and address from Outlook.com to StartMail without losing anything. Most moves take an evening to set up, then a few weeks of forwarding.

Moving fromGmailOutlook.comiCloud MailProton MailFastmailTutamailbox.orgPosteoZoho MailGoogle WorkspaceMicrosoft 365 BusinessMailfenceStartMailRunboxAnother providerMoving toGmailOutlook.comiCloud MailProton MailFastmailTutamailbox.orgPosteoZoho MailGoogle WorkspaceMicrosoft 365 BusinessMailfenceStartMailRunboxAnother provider

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1. Before you start

   • Check where your address lives. If it ends in @outlook.com, it belongs to Outlook.com and stays there: you'll forward your mail and tell people your new address.
   • Check the space you need. See how much mail you have in Outlook.com, and compare it with StartMail's plans (the cheapest is Personal, $4.99 a month, with 20 GB).
   • Read the small print. StartMail's page covers exporting, cancelling and refunds under "Before you sign up".

2. Open your StartMail account

   Sign up on StartMail's website (7 days free), and turn on two-step sign-in straight away. You'll find the link on StartMail's page: StartMail.

3. Bring your mail across

   Copy it with a mail app. Add both accounts to a mail app over IMAP (Thunderbird is free, for Windows, Mac and Linux), then drag your folders from Outlook.com to StartMail. It's slow for a big mailbox, but it works with almost any provider. Thunderbird ↗

   Your old mail stays where it is while it's copied, so nothing is lost if you need to start again.

4. Move your contacts and calendar

   Export your contacts as a .vcf file and each calendar as an .ics file from Outlook.com, then import them into StartMail. Most providers have both options in their contacts and calendar settings.

5. Keep your @outlook.com address working

   1. Forward new mail. In Outlook.com, open Settings, then Mail, then Forwarding, and add your new address. You'll be asked to turn on two-step verification if it isn't on already. Outlook.com's guide ↗
   2. Tell people. Send your new address to the people who matter, and add it to your email signature.
   3. Update your sign-ins. Change the email address on your bank, shopping, social and work accounts. A password manager's list of saved sign-ins is the quickest checklist.
   4. Keep the old account open for a while. Mail will keep arriving there for months. Sign in now and then so it isn't closed for not being used.

6. Check everything arrived

   • Compare the number of emails in each folder on both sides.
   • Send a test email to your new address from another account, and reply to it.
   • Check that mail forwarded from Outlook.com is arriving, and isn't going to spam.

7. Close Outlook.com, when you're ready

   Wait at least a month, until nothing new arrives there. On a free account you can leave it open with forwarding on instead. Before you close a paid account, download a last copy of your mail.

   • Cancelling: Cancel Microsoft 365 from your Microsoft account. You keep using it until the date you've paid up to. If you bought it through Apple, Google Play or a shop, cancel with them.
   • Refunds: A refund if you cancel within 30 days of first buying, or before your first renewal, whichever comes first. You can also get your latest renewal back if you cancel within 30 days of paying, once per account.

   From Outlook.com's page: Outlook.com.

I checked the providers' help pages on 24 October 2026. Menus move, so if a step doesn't match what you see, tell me and I'll update it.

Moving to StartMail from somewhere else? Gmail to StartMail · iCloud Mail to StartMail · Proton Mail to StartMail · Fastmail to StartMail · Tuta to StartMail · mailbox.org to StartMail · All switching guides