Switch from Runbox to Mailfence: step by step

How to move your mail, contacts and address from Runbox to Mailfence 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 @runbox.com, it belongs to Runbox and stays there: you'll forward your mail and tell people your new address. If it's on your own domain, like you@yourname.co.uk, it comes with you: you'll change a few DNS settings.
   • Check the space you need. See how much mail you have in Runbox, and compare it with Mailfence's plans (the cheapest is Entry, €3.50 a month, with 10 GB).
   • Read the small print. Mailfence's page covers exporting, cancelling and refunds under "Before you sign up".

2. Open your Mailfence account

   Sign up on Mailfence's website (Free plan), and turn on two-step sign-in straight away. You'll find the link on Mailfence's page: Mailfence.

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 Runbox to Mailfence. 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 Runbox, then import them into Mailfence. Most providers have both options in their contacts and calendar settings.

5. Keep your @runbox.com address working

   1. Forward new mail. Look in Runbox's settings for automatic forwarding, and add your new address.
   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. If you use your own domain

   Your address moves with you. Do this after your mail has been copied:

   1. Add your domain in Mailfence's settings, and create the same addresses there.
   2. A day before, lower the TTL on your domain's MX records (to 300 seconds, say), so the change takes effect quickly.
   3. Replace the MX records with Mailfence's, and swap Runbox's entry in your SPF record for Mailfence's.
   4. Add Mailfence's DKIM record, and keep your DMARC record.
   5. Check the result with a free DNS checker before you rely on it.

   Not sure what these mean? See my email glossary.

7. 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 Runbox is arriving, and isn't going to spam.

8. Close Runbox, 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 during the free trial, or simply don't renew when your subscription ends.
   • Refunds: No refund when a subscription ends. A refund for the rest of the period only if Runbox seriously breaks the agreement and doesn't put it right within 30 days.
   • Renewal: Doesn't renew by itself: you renew before it ends to keep your account.

   From Runbox's page: Runbox.

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 Mailfence from somewhere else? Gmail to Mailfence · Outlook.com to Mailfence · iCloud Mail to Mailfence · Proton Mail to Mailfence · Fastmail to Mailfence · Tuta to Mailfence · All switching guides