Switching to Gmail

One of the most important concerns when switching e-mail programs is maintaining your current e-mail messages and contacts. If you are like most people, contacts are very important. Rebuilding the contact list from scratch is nearly impossible, or at least time consuming and difficult. Some programs, such as Microsoft Outlook, also manage information resources like your calendar. These can be exported and many of them imported into either Gmail or some other Google service.

Cross-Ref 

See Chapter 26 to learn about importing events into Google Calendar.

Import your contacts

Most e-mail programs allow you to export your contacts in CSV (Comma Separated Value) format. Some programs offer several different export formats; but when exporting so that you can import into Gmail you will want to select the CSV format. Save the exported CSV file to a place on your hard drive where you know where to find it during the import process. It is common for some e-mail programs to select the export folder for you, and then it takes forever to find the export file. Therefore, knowing where the export file is saved is an important step.

Once you have an exported file in CSV format you can begin the importing process into Gmail. Follow these steps:

1. Launch Gmail and log in to your account.

2. Look along the left side of the page, and find and click the Contacts link. This launches the Contacts page.

3. In the upper-right corner click the Import link. This launches the Import Contacts page in a new browser window.

4. Type the path to the exported CSV file in the File to import: text box, or click Browse and locate the file, and the path is added automatically.

5. Click Import Contacts.

When the process is complete the Import Contacts window reports how many contacts were imported into Gmail. When you are satisfied that the import is successful, click the Close link and the Import Contacts windows disappears. In the Contacts page, click the All Contacts tab to verify that your import is successful. You may notice that some of the information doesn’t map correctly between contact programs, and some information may be wrong or missing. You may have to correct this manually by editing the contact in Gmail.

Announcing your new Gmail address

Once you import your contacts into Gmail you will want to let people know about your new e-mail address. The way to do this is to open your Contacts list and select everyone you want to notify. Here’s how:

1. Launch Gmail and log in to your account.

2. Along the left side of the page locate and click the Contacts link.

3. Select each contact by selecting the checkbox next to the contact name. You can select all contacts by clicking the All link at the bottom of the Contacts link. You may want to send a private, individual message to each contact.

4. Click Compose. This launches the compose e-mail form.

5. Write a letter to your contacts and include your new Gmail e-mail address.

6. Click Send.

Note 

When selecting more than one contact and composing an e-mail message, all of the contact e-mail addresses are listed in the e-mail you send to everyone. This is often considered a breach of privacy, and many people would prefer not to be sent e-mail messages listing multiple people.

Add another email address to Gmail

Gmail is a great way to manage all of your email. Use the Gmail interface with more than one e-mail address. To add a new e-mail address to Gmail, just follow these steps

1. Click the Settings link next to your login name along the top of the page. This launches your Gmail Settings page.

2. Click the Accounts tab.

3. Below where you see your Gmail e-mail address displayed, click the Add another email address link. This launches a new window containing the Add another e-mail address form.

4. Type your name and the e-mail address you want to add.

5. Optionally click the Specify a different “reply-to” address link

6. Click Next Step >>.

Gmail will want to send a verification e-mail to be sure you are not trying to masquerade by using someone else’s e-mail address (spoofing). When you receive the e-mail, type the Verification Code.