Email import

[armhub]

As a user I want to import my existing mailbox from a different provider into my Tutanota mailbox, so that I do not lose my old emails and do not have to maintain a second email account.

Acceptance criteria

• Single user email import #4837
• De-duplication of email attachments #4838
• Preserve mailbox folder structure #4839
• Email import controls (pause, continue, cancel) #4840
• Adaptive email import load control #4841
• Multi user email import #4842
• Differential (repeating) email import from the same account (one-way-sync) #4853

Technical tasks

Implementation hints

For detailed description and discussion see the wiki page for email import (/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=87492762 )

[MatMatt]

Is there a schedule for the email import (i.e. gmail -> tuta)? (This is what stops me to do the final migration to tuta.)

[charlag]

No ETA, see https://tutanota.com/roadmap

[MatMatt]

ETA?

[charlag]

No estimated time until it lands. You can check the approximate order of feature implementation on the roadmap. We know that it's something a lot of people need but we try to balance needs of different users. Hope you understand.

[mummybot]

To be able to migrate email to Tutanota will open your product up to a horde of new customers. Eagerly awaiting this feature to become available!

[MatMatt]

Here is the possibility to vote for the email import feature:
https://tutanota.uservoice.com/forums/237921-general/suggestions/34768582-enable-gmail-users-to-migrate-their-information-to

[davidhfo]

This one has more votes:
https://tutanota.uservoice.com/forums/237921-general/suggestions/6860065-import-external-e-mail-account

[MatMatt]

I just realised there are 3 (!!!) voting 'slots':
currently 887 Votes here: https://tutanota.uservoice.com/forums/237921-general/suggestions/6860065-import-external-e-mail-account
647 here https://tutanota.uservoice.com/forums/237921-general/suggestions/9798387-allow-archiving-and-import-export-of-mail
124 here: https://tutanota.uservoice.com/forums/237921-general/suggestions/6860065-import-external-e-mail-account

= currently summing up to 1648 in total.

[g-k-m]

I wanna switch to tutanota so badly cuz my friends say gmail is bad and google ceo wakes up by reading our emails, but the lack of email import feature is preventing me from doing so :(
Now they laugh at me and call me a loser

[jawiz]

If I want to contribute towards getting this feature developed, what would be the outline processing required here? Parse e-mail files and index them securely?

[charlag]

@jawiz there's a problem with IDs which include timestamp & we have some ideas on how to solve this but this is not a client-side issue. Parsing emails is not a big deal I think.

[jawiz]

@charlag Got it. Is it so that the server-side code is not open-source?

[charlag]

@jawiz yes, we evaluate the idea of publishing a smaller server, suitable for self-hosting but no promises right now.

[Kodehyrden]

This is by far the most important feature that needs to be implemented. This will open for a lot of new users. Currently it is too far down on the roadmap. Should be on the very top, currently it is #14 on the feature backlog. Super annoying there's no ETA. You can live with the web-clients on any device so the idea that you want to prioritize native clients over this is wrong. When those clients is out it will likely generate a horde of new errors that will delay further the delivery of this feature. To me it appears to be a poor product management decision.

[mummybot]

It's quite possible that the reason it is not being prioritised is due to business or infrastructure considerations. Once they allow importing, both disk space and user numbers will go through the roof. It might not be a case of misprioritisation.

[charlag]

There are no native clients. All clients are the web client in disguise. Currently only @nig is working on them so it doesn't slow us down. We need to fix some things but "desktop clients" is already done basically.
This week I learned that the problem with server side is already solved and it would be fairly straightforward to implement import now.
One thing I think is important is that we enable compression before enabling import. Current clients are already rolled out with support for compression but after some additional testing we think that we may change compression algorithm.

[jaydn]

Pretty please. I am keen to jump ship to Tuta, but not so keen on not having my previous emails accessible everywhere.

[lilgrassin]

What would be the likelihood of supporting PST email archive imports?

[exander77]

@charlag Got it. Is it so that the server-side code is not open-source?

Is there a timeline? I would go for it right away and paid PRO...

[bitmand]

I have to say, this was such a weird experience.

I spend a long time looking at different email providers and finally choose Tutanota. Registered an account, bought premium and extra aliases package. Setup DNS for DKIM and verification and only thing I needed to fix, before changing MX records, was to import my existing email...

Which apparently isn't possible 😕

I am truly confused - Tutanota seems like such a great product in so many ways, but I can't even get started using it - and even if I started from scratch with an empty mailbox, I can't get out of Tutanota again without loosing all my email.

It just feels really really weird - like buying a car and afterwards realizing that wheels wasn't included. Account cancelled again, but I really hope that a bulk import/export feature will be available at some point.

[exander77]

@bitmand I feel you, man. I had exactly the same experience, bought premium... This is such a core feature, that nobody is going to check if it is supported. Was a huge disappointment for me. It needs IMAP or an IMAP bridge.

[hurricanejosh]

The FAQ page states that email import will be available in Q1 2020. Well quarter 1 is over, and the feature still isn't here...

[ghost]

Is there an update on the ETA of the Email import feature?
I see this was just unlocked after being locked since 2020.
Thanks

[JoopNL]

Is there an update on the ETA of the Email import feature? I see this was just unlocked after being locked since 2020. Thanks

Not an answer to your question, but some info about the history of this issue: https://www.reddit.com/r/tutanota/comments/wqusq3/compilation_of_tutanota_statements_on_email

[rvalitov]

I'm new to Tutanota, I like how it's positioned especially the focus on sustainability ❤️

I purchased PRO and became disappointed in in 10 minutes 😭 . How an email service in 2023 does not support even a single method to import emails? 😮 I have to ask for refund, because I have no idea how to use a service without such feature. Moreover I'm shocked that it's still not implemented since 2018. What could be a higher priority feature? 🤔

[vitoreiji]

I'm new to Tutanota, I like how it's positioned especially the focus on sustainability heart

I purchased PRO and became disappointed in in 10 minutes sob . How an email service in 2023 does not support even a single method to import emails? open_mouth I have to ask for refund, because I have no idea how to use a service without such feature. Moreover I'm shocked that it's still not implemented since 2018. What could be a higher priority feature? thinking

Thanks for the feedback. I should mention that this feature is being actively worked on right now, so stay tuned :)

[majerr]

I'm new to Tutanota, I like how it's positioned especially the focus on sustainability heart

I purchased PRO and became disappointed in in 10 minutes sob . How an email service in 2023 does not support even a >> single method to import emails? open_mouth I have to ask for refund, because I have no idea how to use a service without >> such feature. Moreover I'm shocked that it's still not implemented since 2018. What could be a higher priority feature?

Thanks for the feedback. I should mention that this feature is being actively worked on right now, so stay tuned :)

Same. Can't really believe I needed to check that this was a feature. ETA?

[ScotchTartan]

I'm new to Tutanota, I like how it's positioned especially the focus on sustainability heart

I purchased PRO and became disappointed in in 10 minutes sob . How an email service in 2023 does not support even a >> single method to import emails? open_mouth I have to ask for refund, because I have no idea how to use a service without >> such feature. Moreover I'm shocked that it's still not implemented since 2018. What could be a higher priority feature?

Thanks for the feedback. I should mention that this feature is being actively worked on right now, so stay tuned :)

Same. Can't really believe I needed to check that this was a feature. ETA?

It's a very basic feature for an email provider but it's impossible to find out how much time it takes in this scenario (privacy/encryption) so be patient.

The good news it's in active development.

[DickerPeter]

Hello, do you know when the import will be finished? A good 4 years have now passed.

[54m4d]

I think the target was 5 or 6 years, so 1-2 years to go.

[KrisBierma]

Is this estimate ^^ true? If not, what is an accurate time estimate for having import done?

[Tols78]

Good morning,

Is the email import function (for example from mailbox to tutanota) planned very soon? Thank you for your feedback

[ScotchTartan]

Good morning,

Is the email import function (for example from mailbox to tutanota) planned very soon? Thank you for your feedback

Take a chair, almost 10 years for pinch to zoom xD

[GeekCitizen]

Hello,
I'm not used to posting on Github but after 1 year of sub, I've decided to unsub and move to another supplier.
"Standard" features like Pinch to Zoom, Import feature are really a huge miss.
The main changes I saw was the pricing and not for "improvement" although it's obvious that they need to pay their bills and their staff (required to develop, yes ;) ).
Tutanota is nice and the idea is great but their velocity is unfortunately too low, probably relating to their technological choice of relying of their "own" encryption technologies instead of quite standard stuff.

[ScotchTartan]

Hello, I'm not used to posting on Github but after 1 year of sub, I've decided to unsub and move to another supplier. "Standard" features like Pinch to Zoom, Import feature are really a huge miss. The main changes I saw was the pricing and not for "improvement" although it's obvious that they need to pay their bills and their staff (required to develop, yes ;) ). Tutanota is nice and the idea is great but their velocity is unfortunately too low, probably relating to their technological choice of relying of their "own" encryption technologies instead of quite standard stuff.

Indeed, release a pinch to zoom feature on android app is quite easy, it is such a basic feature that its lack makes it almost impossible for many people to read emails.

In my particular case I am not going to renew the subscription, I understand that with the current price we should have some basic functions that are not even remotely fulfilled.
If they like algorithms so much that they set up an exclusive company for it, right now searching for an email is an odyssey, the filters are insufficient, can't import emails, notifications system is a failure, etc..... all of them are basic features.
I also don't understand this obsession with the encryption algorithm, since if a German court requires the emails, they have to be delivered, you can make family plans with PGP with state of art and quantum for enterprises with less features.

[yaneony]

Is it possible to import mails with 3rd party apps like Mailstore?

[GeekCitizen]

Is it possible to import mails with 3rd party apps like Mailstore?

No as there is no compatibility with 3rd Party mail client.

[yaneony]

That's shit. Was looking for new provider and Tuta was suggested, but without import... There is almost no use.

[iaarnio]

I'm on the same boat. I picked up Tuta, setup everything and was about to import...
Seems like this topic has been open for over 5 years now.
Unfortunately, showstopper for me.

[0xSalik]

I was about to move from skiff to tuta, dealbreaker, guess PM is our best bet.

[rscaramelo]

What is it 10 years and still no import?? No import, why move here?
With Skiff going away you would think they would urgently offer this.
Make me want to leave PM.

[SkyTechLabsAu]

Come on guys, what's taking so long? Its after-all a for loop iterating and copying from Point A to Point B. At least give us the inefficient version first and then improve on later.

[charlag]

Please stop requesting it repeatedly. There are some technical foundations missing for the import, otherwise it would already be here, we want it released at least as much as you do.

[meerumschlungen]

Please stop requesting it repeatedly. There are some technical foundations missing for the import, otherwise it would already be here, we want it released at least as much as you do.

Now this impudent message probably lets me cancel the service.
I was first pissed six years ago when I found out it was not possible, but I concluded to be patient. I still use my old software to search through old mails today. I subscribed to this issue back then, reading each post. As other people have already said, it's nothing but ridiculous up to this point. As @SkyTechLabsAu implies, probably nobody expects incremental imports, preserving source folder structures or needs the feature to be perfect in version 1.
This should be highly embarrassing not to provide this most basic feature, but at least, we have post quantum secure encryption now. From my point of view, the product owner should urgently consider to align the priorities with the paying customer's requirements.

[yaneony]

It's time to move away...

[SjoerdV]

Maybe switching to a 'minimal viable product' approach would have been better at some point, but maybe that train has come and gone...

In any case I would be very happy to just have a simple drag and drop approach for eml files (or even a single eml file, if needs be) in the web client for a single mailbox (so client encryption in the browser can take over completely).

Having my old emails (in eml format) indexed with something like recoll (or other local indexing software) is sufficient for me and is actually scalable enough for SMB. When I was in the Microsoft mail ecosystem, I never imported PST files if it was not needed anyway. Sometimes it's better to start fresh ;-)

[Ingenioes]

I'm really mind blown about this topic. I was ready to go for Tuta. Started a new account today, setup domain, setup my client and wanted to import ... and now this. I just recalled the contract and canceled my account. Big deal breaker for me ... guess I will move to the other big secure email provider.