Migration From Windows Mail/Calendar to “New” Outlook

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[280park]

After months of warning that the Windows Mail, Calendar, and People apps would be replaced by “New” Outlook, Microsoft has blocked access to those three apps on my Windows 10 machine. The dialog box included on the following Microsoft web page is displayed when I attempt to access any of those three apps.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/export-emails-and-contacts-from-windows-mail-or-people-and-import-to-new-outlook-7ced6135-3d1d-409b-b2da-4282a69c151b

Has anyone followed the instructions on the above referenced web page for exporting emails, events, and contacts and subsequently importing them into “New” Outlook? If so, have you had any problems in the process?

• This topic was modified 3 months, 1 week ago by 280park.
• This topic was modified 3 months, 1 week ago by 280park.
• This topic was modified 3 months, 1 week ago by 280park.
• This topic was modified 3 months, 1 week ago by 280park.

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Has anyone migrated from the Mail/Contacts/People app to the “New” Outlook by following Microsoft’s instructions referenced in my post above?

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I followed Microsoft’s instructions (see link in my January 26 post above) for exporting my emails, calendar, and contacts from the Mail and Calendar app on my Windows 10 machine. A contacts.csv file was created that contains my contacts and a folder was created that should, according to the instructions, contain .eml files for my emails and an .ics file for my calendar events. However, the folder is empty. (Just in case the missing files were hidden files I checked the “hidden items” box in File Explorer.)

Any thoughts about these missing files?

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I got the same result and am equally mystified. 🤷‍♂️😕

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280park

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b- Thank you for the reply. Now I know that the lack of any files in the folder created by the above referenced Microsoft instructions is not due to a problem with my computer.

According to those instructions, “Certain account types connected to the Mail, Calendar, and People applications only save data locally. When you move to new Outlook, that data can be left behind (emphasis added) unless you take specific actions to bring your data with you. This article shows you how to save data from the Mail, Calendar, and People applications and use it in new Outlook or any other email client (emphasis added).”

In view of the fact that Microsoft has locked me out of the Mail, Calendar, and People apps, the exporting of my data should be easy and work flawlessly. Obviously, that is not the case.

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Perhaps it depends on exactly what is meant by “local events” and “local messages”?

Note: Only messages and events that are local to your device will be exported. Any messages or events that require online access (for example, the entire message hasn’t downloaded yet), won’t be exported. This is because those message are available online and accessible via your existing POP or IMAP email account​​​​​​​.

E.G. For an IMAP account, nothing is “local” and so doesn’t need to be exported then imported?

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b- My email account is a non-Microsoft POP3 account set up to retain a copy of every email on my email provider’s server. As you suggested, maybe the export software in Microsoft Mail does not consider my emails to be “local” because they are also on that server.

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The emails are stored in your local PST so there should be no need to export, just connect / import the PST.

Contacts are different, but I can’t remember how to collect them.

cheers, Paul

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280park

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Paul T – What is my local PST and where should it be located?

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280park wrote:

My email account is a non-Microsoft POP3 account set up to retain a copy of every email on my email provider’s server.

If your Windows Mail account is POP3 then the default location of your emails kept on your PC is:

C:\User\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Mail

(replace username with your user name)

Must have Explorer set to view hidden files.

If not there, then search for a folder named Windows Mail.

Inside the Windows Mail folder will be another folder named Mail.  Inside the Mail folder will be folders with the names of the folders that are in Windows Mail such as Inbox, Sent Items, etc.  Inside these folders are your email (.eml) files.

Hope this info is still good as I haven’t used Windows Mail in a long time.

Not sure of the import features of new Outlook and if can import .eml files into its data base.

HTH, Dana:))

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280park

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Drcard:)) Below is a link to the Microsoft instructions for exporting emails, contacts, and events from Windows Mail.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/export-emails-and-contacts-from-windows-mail-or-people-and-import-to-new-outlook-7ced6135-3d1d-409b-b2da-4282a69c151b

Those instructions include the following statements:

“The file explorer will open to a new folder created on your device. Within that folder will be an .ics file that contains all your local events, and one or more folders containing your local .eml messages. Make note of this location to import your files to a new email application.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​”

I followed Microsoft’s instructions and file explorer opened to the following location:

Windows (C:)/Users/{username}/AppData/Local/Packages/
Microsoft.Windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe/
LocalState/Exported/

The only thing in this location is a folder titled “Mail”. This Mail folder contains just two folders, one for each of my two email accounts. Within each of those two folders are additional folders, all of which are empty, for all of the email folders (inbox, sent, drafts, etc.) associated with those two email accounts.

The location of the .eml and .ics files referenced in Microsoft’s instructions remains a mystery.

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280park wrote:

b- My email account is a non-Microsoft POP3 account set up to retain a copy of every email on my email provider’s server. As you suggested, maybe the export software in Microsoft Mail does not consider my emails to be “local” because they are also on that server.

1. have you already configured Outlook (new) for your email account and does it show any emails in the Inbox?
2. Are you able to log into your email account via a browser and see that the emails are still there?
3. Have you looked in the default location DrCard mentioned above C:\User\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Mail  to see what is in there?

 

 

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Vincenzo –

Vincenzo wrote:

have you already configured Outlook (new) for your email account and does it show any emails in the Inbox?

Outlook (new) is not configured for my email account. When Microsoft locked me out of the Mail, Calendar, and People apps, I started the process of migrating from Windows Mail to Outlook (new) by following the Microsoft instructions in the link in my first post to this thread. After following the steps to export my data I continued the Outlook (new) setup process. However, at one point in the process a screen stated that it was necessary to save my emails to iCloud before I could continue. That reminded me of what Peter Deegan wrote in his article in the March 3, 2024 AskWoody Newsletter,

“The huge issue with Outlook (new) is the built-in privacy breach for any non-Microsoft-hosted accounts such as Gmail, Yahoo, Apple, or email service from an Internet service provider (ISP).

Classic Outlook for Windows/Mac connects directly to each mailbox, using POP, IMAP and SMTP protocols. Your login details, including password, are shared only with that mailbox. Newer Outlooks give the mailbox login details to Microsoft, who uses that info to connect with the mailbox. All email and other traffic go through Microsoft servers.

It’s not just email that’s exposed. For many people, their Gmail login is their main Google account login, which gives access to a lot of other personal info.

That is the main reason why I do not recommend Outlook (new) for non-Microsoft mailboxes. The same warning applies to the mobile Outlook apps and the new Outlook for Mac.” (italics added)

In my very simple computer setup there is no need for my emails to be on Microsoft’s servers. Consequently, I am checking out other email clients, starting with Thunderbird and eMClient.

Vincenzo wrote:

Are you able to log into your email account via a browser and see that the emails are still there?

Yes, I can still access my emails by using a browser to log into my email account at my email provider’s website. However, it is a slow and clunky process to write emails there.

Vincenzo wrote:

Have you looked in the default location DrCard mentioned above C:\User\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Mail  to see what is in there?

I have looked for the default location that Drcard mentioned but there is no Windows Mail folder in C:\User\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft.

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Are there any PST files? Dates of them?

cheers, Paul

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I am wondering if your emails are really IMAP, which would explain why they are not stored anywhere on your device.

In the past, if you deleted a message on your computer, did it automatically get deleted from your phone or other devices?

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Vincenzo wrote:

I am wondering if your emails are really IMAP

My email account is a POP3 account. When I set it up many years ago I manually set the parameters for the account including type of account (IMAP or POP3), port numbers, password, whether to leave a copy of my emails on the email provider’s server, etc. all as specified by my email provider. To confirm that the email account is a POP3 account before writing this post, I logged into my email account at my email provider’s website using a browser and deleted a couple of emails, logged out, and then checked the emails on my phone. The two emails that I had deleted at the website were still on my phone.

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I can’t understand why pop3 emails are nowhere to be found on your computer.
Maybe try searching your whole computer for “Windows Mail” folder and for *.eml files.
Not sure if those are hidden files or not, maybe tell File Explorer to temporarily show hidden files before you search.

 

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I suspect you have set your POP server to keep all email.
When you delete them from the server, your phone will not match the deletion as the mails are downloaded only – POP does not sync, IMAP does.

cheers, Paul

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280park wrote:

I have looked for the default location that Drcard mentioned but there is no Windows Mail folder in C:\User\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft.

My research indicates the default location to store emails has changed since I last used it.  My research indicates the emails are save at the following location

C:\Users\{myname}\AppData\Local\Comms\Unistore\data\2\o\

the 2 and 0 folders in the data folder may be different on your PC so look in all the folders you find in the data folder

The emails will be in stored in the .dat format with names like

e000090e0000000201b5.dat

You should be able to open these .dat files in Word and verify they are an email.

 

HTH, Dana:))

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Drcard:)) wrote:

My research indicates the emails are save at the following location

C:\Users\{myname}\AppData\Local\Comms\Unistore\data\2\o

I located the following folder:
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Comms\Unistore\data. Within this folder are four folders with single digit names. Within each of those folders are numerous folders with single alpha names. Within those folders are many .dat files with names in the format you indicated. Most of these files contain gibberish when I try to open them. Just a few contain small legible bits of calendar entries.

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You won’t be able to read those files, but they are your email – as shown by the scraps you can read.
How many file are there?

cheers, Paul

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Paul T wrote:

Are there any PST files? Dates of them?

What are PST files and where should I look for them?

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Files ending in PST. (Like Word docs used to end in DOC.)
Search your entire C drive.

cheers, Paul

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Paul T wrote:

You won’t be able to read those files, but they are your email – as shown by the scraps you can read.
How many file are there?

There are at least one hundred files, maybe more.

Recapping What I Am Trying To Accomplish:

I would like to install a new email client for my non-Microsoft POP3 email account because (a) Microsoft has locked me out of Windows Mail and (b) Outlook (new) insists that I save my emails to iCloud. After installation of a new email client (I am reviewing Thunderbird and eMClient) I would like to get all my historic emails and future emails onto the new email client so that I do not have to work with them on my email provider’s clunky website.

Question: After installing a new email client will I be able to download to the new email client all of my historic emails? There are approximately 1,000 emails in the inbox and 300 in the sent box on my email provider’s server. These emails were previously downloaded to Windows Mail but a copy was retained on my email provider’s server.

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280park wrote:

will I be able to download

Yes. POP3 only has 2 options, download header or full email. As long as you have left the mail on the server you will be fine.

“Account Settings” in Outlook should allow you to set the local storage location.

cheers, Paul

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Paul T wrote:

“Account Settings” in Outlook should allow you to set the local storage location.

Just to clarify, I am not using any version of Outlook. I aborted my migration from Windows Mail to Outlook (new) once I realized that Outlook (new) insists on saving emails to iCloud.

Just two more questions:
1. Which email client would you suggest, Thunderbird or eMClient, for someone who has simple email needs.
2. Will either of those clients struggle to download the approximately 1,300 emails on my email provider’s server?

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MS is hardly going to force you to use an Apple service. It will be a setting on your machine.

I use Thunderbird because I have lots of email services, but I don’t think much of the way the client handles my different services. On the other hand, it doesn’t care how many services or emails I have, it just works.

I considered eM Client, but I have to pay for the full version – not really an issue – and can’t be bothered converting / testing / reverting etc.

cheers, Paul

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Paul T wrote:

MS is hardly going to force you to use an Apple service.

I agree. I meant to write Microsoft Cloud not iCloud.

I am leaning towards Thunderbird too.

Thanks for your help.

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