Top 2 Solutions to Backup IMAP Email in Outlook 2010

User case: How to backup IMAP email in Outlook 2010?

"Hey guys, I'm using Outlook 2010 to manage my emails and I want to backup my IMAP email. Do you have any suggestions on how to do this? Should I use a third-party software or is there a built-in feature in Outlook 2010 that can do this? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!"

For those who use Outlook 2010 as their email client and have configured their email account as an IMAP account, it's crucial to regularly backup their email data to avoid losing them in case of an unexpected event. In this article, we'll explore various methods to backup IMAP email in Outlook 2010. If you're seeking some practical tips and tricks to keep your email data safe and secure, keep reading!

What makes IMAP backup essential for businesses & personal?

IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol, which is a standard protocol used for receiving email messages from a mail server. It allows users to access their email messages from multiple devices, such as desktop computers, laptops, smartphones, and tablets, while keeping the messages stored on the mail server.

However, it should be noted that IMAP just helps email clients connect with email servers to provide data accessibility, it does not create copies of your data or download it on your system, which makes backup IMAP in Outlook necessary. This is because data loss can occur due to various reasons such as application crashes, malware/virus attacks, physical damage to the computer, data theft due to phishing, or user mismanagement.

One way to prevent data loss is by moving older data to a separate archive folder. Failing to backup data can result in business process failures that can be challenging to recover from. Therefore, regularly saving and backing up data can be highly beneficial for organizations and individuals. Okay, now let's see how to backup IMAP email in Outlook 2010.

Top 2 solutions to backup IMAP email in Outlook 2010

Below are 2 methods you can utilize to backup your IMAP mail in Outlook 2010.

• Solution 1. Manually backup IMAP email with Outlook 2010
• Solution 2. Auto backup IMAP email in Outlook 2010 by third-party backup software

Solution 1. Manually backup IMAP email with Outlook 2010

Exporting your mailbox data to a PST file is among the simplest methods to backup your IMAP email in Outlook 2010. Here's how to do it:

1. Launch Outlook 2010 and navigate to the email folder you wish to backup.

2. Click on the File tab located in the top left-hand corner of the screen.

3. From the menu on the left, select Open & Export and then click on Import/Export.

4. In the Import and Export Wizard, choose Export to a file and then click on Next.

5. Select Outlook Data File (.pst) as the file type and pick the email folder you want to export. You can also select to include the subfolders.

6. Choose a location on your computer to save the file and enter a name for it and click Finish to complete the process and export the emails to the file.

However, it's important to understand some of the limitations of the export feature, such as only being able to download one folder at a time, which is time-consuming and needs to be repeated several times. Additionally, Outlook only allows you to backup your emails in PST file format, and the process can be complex and challenging to follow for many users.

Therefore, to simplify the IMAP email backup process, I recommend considering an automated solution that is suitable for most users.

Solution 2. Auto backup IMAP email in Outlook 2010 by third-party backup software

If you're looking for a more comprehensive backup solution for your IMAP email in Outlook 2010, a third-party backup tool may be the way to go. While there are several options available, one tool that stands out is AOMEI Backupper Professional. This mail backup software allows you to securely backup IMAP email in Outlook, and  backup contacts, calendar, notes and other data from Outlook and save it to a safe location. Here are some of the benefits:

★ It enables you to backup tasks in your email account regardless of whether it's Outlook, Gmail, Hotmail, or any other email account added into the Outlook client.
★ You can choose different storage devices, such as thumb drives, cloud drives, local/external hard drives, USB flash drives, and NAS devices, as the backup location.
★ Its Schedule Backup feature lets you set different time frequencies to run email backups, such as Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Event Triggers or USB plug in.

To get started, download this powerful Outlook email backup software, which is compatible with Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, XP, and Vista.

To begin backing up your IMAP email in Outlook 2010, follow these steps:

1. Open Outlook and enter your IMAP email account. Click Connect and then follow the on-screen instructions to add the IMAP account, including selecting the emails you want to backup.

2. Launch AOMEI Backupper Professional and navigate to the main interface. From there, select the Backup option and choose Outlook Backup to proceed.

3. Proceed to the next step by selecting Add Outlook data and choosing the IMAP emails that you wish to backup from within Outlook. Once you have made your selections, click OK to confirm.

4. Next, select the backup destination where you would like to store your backups by clicking on the box below.

5. Click on the Start Backup button. With this step, the primary actions required to backup your IMAP email in Outlook 2010 have been accomplished. However, you may still make modifications to your backup settings. Of course if you want to know how to backup IMAP mail in Outlook 365, click here.

❤ Schedule Backup: One option available to you is to schedule your backups. This allows you to choose from a range of frequencies such as Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Event triggers, or USB plug in. Be sure to select the Wake the computer to run scheduled task option.

❤ Backup Scheme: This allows you to select from full backup, incremental backup, or differential backup options based on your specific requirements. Additionally, you can enable the Automatic Backup Cleanup function to regularly delete old backups, which may prevent issues with disk storage becoming full.

Summary

This tutorial aims to teach you how to backup IMAP email in Outlook 2010, allowing you to safeguard your data. Whether you opt to use the Export feature within Outlook 2010 or a third-party backup tool such as AOMEI Backupper Professional, you can be confident that your data is always protected.

Moreover, AOMEI Backupper is not just limited to IMAP email backups. It is also capable of backing up other data sources such as backup Gmail Emails to Outlook, among others.