Corbett
Corbett IMAP Backup Tool saves mail from any IMAP account on 100+ servers to PST, MBOX, EML, MSG, PDF, HTML, CSV or TXT, or moves it straight into another account. Filters, preview and server detection keep every IMAP email backup quick. Try free demo first.
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Mail moves from your server to your PC alone. Corbett never sees your account or messages.
Free demo, scanned clean on VirusTotal and a 30-day money-back window.
Lifetime licence from $99 Demo saves 10 items per folder
Quick answer
An IMAP backup tool signs in to an IMAP account, copies emails and attachments, and saves them as files on a drive you control. Corbett IMAP Backup Tool does that for 100+ IMAP servers and saves PST, MBOX, EML, MSG, PDF, HTML, CSV or TXT files on Windows.
What it saves
Emails, attachments, folders and message headers
Where it saves
Local drive, USB drive, external disk or NAS
Who uses it
IT admins, business owners, agencies and home users
Core features
Five screens of Corbett IMAP backup software, in backup order.
Automatic setup
Go to Email Accounts, select Add Account, enter an email address and password, and select Find. IMAP backup tool detects host and port on its own. If login fails, advanced settings accept non-standard servers, so any mailbox with IMAP switched on connects.
Gmail, Yahoo and iCloud accept an app password, and Gmail and Office 365 accept modern sign-in (OAuth 2.0). Add several accounts to one session or load many from a CSV list. Compact view limits your folder list to key folders. Credentials link your PC to your provider and go nowhere else.
Folder selection
Your mailbox loads as one tree with a checkbox per folder. Inbox, Sent, Drafts, labels and nested subfolders switch on or off one by one, and folder totals show backup size before anything starts.
Untick Spam, Trash or any folder not worth saving. Original folder names carry into output, so your IMAP email backup mirrors your mailbox.
Message preview
Click a message and it opens beside four analysis views. Admins and forensic teams use them to confirm sender, route and size before saving.
Content shows your mail with every address line. Message header lists From, To and Subject. Properties reports item attributes, while hex and raw message views show stored values and message code.
Selective backup
Quick Search finds a keyword from your search bar and highlights every match in yellow. Advance Search goes deeper with two fields: All Search covers every field including calendar and date, and Emails Search covers name, subject, To, Cc and content.
Filters trim your mailbox before saving. Set From and To dates, filter by sender or recipient, and limit attachments by size or extension. A separate option saves addresses, phone numbers, contact photos and attachments alone. Duplicate emails are skipped.
Output options
After preview, choose an outcome: files on disk in one of eight formats or a direct move into another IMAP account. Folder structure, attachments and dates survive both routes.
Select Export, choose PST, MBOX, EML, MSG, PDF, HTML, CSV, TXT or vCard, mark folders and Browse to a local drive, USB drive, external disk or NAS. Options include email headers, skip greyed out folders, create empty folders, delete old folders and open folder after export. Moving mail between servers? Open IMAP Migration Tool for that job.
Sync vs backup
IMAP keeps mail on a server and shows it to many devices. RFC 9051 defines IMAP as access to messages that stay on a server. Sync mirrors that server, so it is not an IMAP email backup.
What IMAP sync does
Every phone, laptop and webmail window shows one mailbox. A change on one device appears on all of them.
Where sync fails
Delete a message on one device and it vanishes everywhere. A closed account or lapsed plan removes every folder with it.
What a backup adds
IMAP backup tool copies messages to files on your own drive. Account trouble, provider changes and mistakes no longer touch your mail.
Accepted accounts
IMAP backup software connects to any mailbox with IMAP switched on. Examples below show where 100+ IMAP servers and domains come from.
| Hosting type | Popular examples | Sign-in |
|---|---|---|
| Webmail | Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook.com, Hotmail, AOL, iCloud, GMX and Zoho | App password or OAuth 2.0 |
| Shared hosting | HostGator, Bluehost, GoDaddy and Namecheap mailboxes | Email, password and server name |
| Business email | Rackspace Email, FastMail and Zoho Mail | Email, password and server name |
| Cloud mail | Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace | OAuth 2.0 or admin impersonation |
| Private mail servers | Dovecot, Courier, Axigen and hMailServer | Server name, port and login |
| Custom domains | Any company domain with IMAP switched on | Server name, port and login |
Need one provider only? Open Gmail Backup Tool, Yahoo Backup Tool or Email Backup Software for all 209+ services.
Working process
Four steps take a live IMAP mailbox to files on your drive. Try them on one account in free demo first.
Add your IMAP account
Open IMAP backup tool, go to Email Accounts and select Add Account. Enter your email address and password, select Find to detect your server, then select Add. Gmail, Yahoo and iCloud accept an app password.
Select folders and filters
Your IMAP mailbox loads as one tree. Tick folders, then set a date range, sender, subject or attachment filter to trim your IMAP backup.
Select format and location
Choose PST, MBOX, EML, MSG, PDF, HTML, CSV or TXT for your IMAP email backup. Save to a local drive, USB drive, external disk or NAS.
Start IMAP backup
Press start and watch live progress for every folder. A log and CSV report list what was saved.
Want screenshots for every click? Follow IMAP backup guide.
Working process
Prefer text? Open IMAP backup guide for every click with screenshots.
Advanced options
Small IMAP backup options that save hours on large IMAP email backup jobs.
OAuth 2.0 sign-in
Modern authentication for Gmail and Office 365
Office 365 admin backup
Impersonation backs up user mailboxes with one admin login
Bulk sign-in
Load many IMAP accounts from one CSV list
Proxy support
Connect through your own proxy server
Split PST by size
Cut large PST output into smaller files
Unicode PST
Modern PST format with a 50 GB default limit in Outlook
Merge accounts
Combine many IMAP accounts into one PST
Duplicate skip
Repeated emails are saved once
Auto retry
Failed items are tried again without a restart
Live progress
Watch every folder as it saves
Log and CSV report
See what was saved and what failed
USB and NAS targets
Save backups to external drives and network storage
Quick and advance search
Find IMAP emails by keyword before backup
Include email headers
Keep full header data in exported mail
Open folder after export
Jump to saved IMAP backup in one click
Choose output
IMAP backup tool saves to eight formats. Match format to what you plan to do with your backup.
| Format | Best for | Opens in |
|---|---|---|
| PST | One file per mailbox with folders intact | Microsoft Outlook |
| MBOX | Moving mail to a free email client | Thunderbird and Apple Mail |
| EML | One file per email, easy to search | Windows Mail and most email clients |
| MSG | Single messages kept as Outlook items | Microsoft Outlook |
| Legal files, audits and printing | Any PDF viewer | |
| HTML | Reading mail with no email client | Any web browser |
| CSV | Lists of senders, dates and subjects | Excel and Google Sheets |
| TXT | Plain text archives | Any text editor |
Free demo
Test IMAP Backup Tool on a Live Mailbox
Install free demo, add any IMAP account, tick folders and select a format for your IMAP backup. Free demo saves 10 items per folder, so output is easy to check.
Download free demoTry before you buy
Free demo connects, loads and previews your full mailbox. Only export is capped.
| Feature | Free demo | Full version |
|---|---|---|
| Connect accounts and load mailboxes | Yes | Yes |
| Preview, filter and analysis views | All available | All available |
| Emails exported per folder | 10 | Unlimited |
| Mailbox size limit | Export stops at 10 per folder | None |
| Price | Free | $99 one time |
Use cases
Anyone whose work lives in a mailbox they do not fully control.
IT administrators
Back up leaver IMAP mailboxes before an account closes and load many IMAP accounts from one CSV list. Admin backup for Office 365 works without asking every user for a password.
Teams changing provider
Back up IMAP emails before DNS, hosting or provider changes. Staff keep every message even after an IMAP plan ends.
Agencies and IT consultants
Use IMAP backup software for many client accounts in one session and save every account to its own folder.
Legal and compliance teams
Back up IMAP emails to PDF or PST with headers intact for audits, disputes and records requests.
Home users leaving an ISP
Back up IMAP mail and keep years of messages after you switch internet provider or close a free mailbox.
Anyone upgrading a PC
Back up IMAP emails locally before you move to a new computer, so nothing waits on a slow sync.
Why Corbett
No subscription
Lifetime IMAP backup price from $99
Safe source mailbox
IMAP backup never deletes mail at source
Direct connection
No Corbett server in between
Eight formats
Plus IMAP to IMAP account transfer
No size limit
Any IMAP mailbox size or message count
Auto server detection
IMAP host and port found for you
Smart filters
Date, sender, subject and size for IMAP backup
30-day refund
Money-back window after purchase
Manual or tool
Mail clients keep a cache, not a backup. Manual copying suits one small mailbox. Here is where it stops.
| Task | Manual method | IMAP Backup Tool |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | $99 one time |
| One mailbox | Copy from a mail client | Works too |
| Many accounts | Repeat for every login | One session from a CSV list |
| Output formats | Client format only | PST, MBOX, EML and more |
| Filters | Client rules | Date, sender, subject, size |
| Server address | Looked up by hand | Detected on its own |
| Preview | Open one message at a time | Content, header, hex, raw |
| Failed items | Spotted and copied again by hand | Auto retry with a log and CSV report |
| Mailbox to mailbox | Drag and drop in a client | Backup to another IMAP account |
Manual copying works in two rows only.
Moving a mailbox between servers is covered in Migrate IMAP to Gmail.
Specifications
Download details
System
Supported editions
Windows 11 (64 bit), 10, 8 and 7 in 32-bit or 64-bit, plus Windows Server 2016, 2012 R2 and 2008.
Start it with Run as Administrator.
Corbett has built Windows email utilities since 2020. Setup trouble and first-use questions go to our support desk.
User testimonials
Ratings from 413 users who archived IMAP mail through Corbett.
Collected across 413 reviews taken from portals and emails, shown unedited.
This software provides options like ‘add account’, ‘edit account’ and ‘remove account’, which give the flexibility to manage accounts. Being an IT administrator, my work to backup various domain emails got easier due to such features. Great Software!
An interesting feature of the IMAP backup tool free edition is that it provides selective extraction & backup of IMAP emails. I wanted to take the backup of a few selected folders. The software helped me in the selection of required folders. Thus, it saved both my time and effort.
The IMAP Mail Backup Tool allowed me to filter the emails by the option of Date, Recipient/Sender’s Address which eased my work. I am grateful to the team behind this for designing such an application that meets all customers’ specifications. Satisfied with my purchase.
Before backup
Three short checks keep your IMAP email backup clean.
Gather your login data
Have your email address, password, IMAP server name and port number ready. Host and port fill in on their own for most accounts.
Create an app password
Gmail, Yahoo and iCloud block normal passwords when two-step verification is on. Create an app password first, as Google app passwords help explains.
Choose your output
Local files cover PST, MBOX, EML, MSG, PDF, HTML, CSV and TXT. Account to account transfer needs login details for your second account.
Best practice
A backup only helps if you can open it later. Four habits keep saved mail usable for years.
Follow 3-2-1
Keep 3 copies on 2 types of media with 1 copy off site. Save to your drive, then copy to USB or NAS and to storage that you own off site.
Open a sample file
After every IMAP backup, open a few messages from your PST or MBOX. Catch a bad path or a missing folder while your account is still live.
Name backups by date
Save every backup to a folder named with account and date. Repeat backups copy your mailbox again, so dated folders keep versions apart.
Back up before you delete
Save mail before you close an account, change provider or remove a user. Deleted accounts cannot be recovered once your provider purges them.
Common questions
Steps, sign-in, formats, sync and licence answers.
An IMAP backup tool signs in to an IMAP account and saves emails, attachments and folders as files on your drive. Corbett IMAP Backup Tool saves PST, MBOX, EML, MSG, PDF, HTML, CSV and TXT files on Windows.
Open IMAP Backup Tool, go to Email Accounts and select Add Account. Enter your email address and password, select Find, then Add. Preview folders, select Export, choose a format, mark folders, Browse to a save location and select Save. Free demo lets you test every step first.
Your email address or username and password. IMAP server name and port number fill in when you select Find, and advanced settings accept any other server if login fails.
Yes. Enter your email address and IMAP Backup Tool detects host and port. A custom settings screen accepts non-standard servers.
No. IMAP keeps messages on a server, as RFC 9051 describes, and sync mirrors that server across devices. A message deleted on one device disappears on all of them, so only a separate copy on your drive counts as a backup.
PST, MBOX, EML, MSG, PDF, HTML, CSV and TXT, plus vCard for contacts. You can also move mail straight into Gmail, Office 365, Thunderbird or another IMAP account.
Yes. Select IMAP as your saving option in IMAP Backup Tool, add your second account and begin. Mail moves from one IMAP domain to another with folders intact.
Yes. Quick Search finds a keyword from your search bar and highlights matches in yellow. Advance Search offers All Search for every field including calendar and date, and Emails Search for name, subject, To, Cc and content.
Include email headers, skip greyed out folders, create empty folders, delete old folders and open folder after export. Live progress shows while backup saves.
Yes. IMAP Backup Tool has a built-in viewer with content, message header, properties, hex and raw message views for every email.
Yes. IMAP Backup Tool filters by date range, sender or recipient address, folders, subject and content, and attachment size or extension.
Yes. Load a CSV list of addresses and passwords and IMAP Backup Tool signs in to all of them in one session. Save every account to its own folder or merge them into one PST.
Yes when two-step verification blocks your normal password. Create an app password with your provider and type it in place of your password. Gmail and Office 365 can use OAuth 2.0 sign-in instead. Google explains app passwords in Google app passwords help.
Yes. IMAP Backup Tool signs in with an admin account and uses impersonation to back up user mailboxes without collecting user passwords. Queue many users in one IMAP backup session.
Yes. Set a size limit and IMAP Backup Tool splits output into several Unicode PST files. Outlook sets a 50 GB default limit per Unicode PST, as Microsoft PST file size limits documentation explains, so splitting keeps files easy to open.
Yes. Select merge option and every added account lands in a single PST file, with folders kept apart by account.
Yes. IMAP backup keeps folder hierarchy and attachments save with their emails in every format. A separate option in IMAP Backup Tool saves attachments, addresses and phone numbers alone.
Yes. IMAP Backup Tool saves repeated emails once, so output stays clean when a mailbox holds copies.
Auto retry tries failed items again without a restart. A log and CSV report list what was saved and what failed.
No. Every session copies folders you select. Set a From date in filters to save only newer mail, and save every session to a dated folder.
Yes. IMAP Backup Tool saves to any local drive, USB drive, external disk or network drive.
No. Mail moves from your server to your PC alone. Corbett never sees your account or messages.
Yes. Free demo of IMAP Backup Tool saves 10 items per folder, which lets you test every IMAP backup step before buying.
Yes. Save your IMAP backup to your drive, copy it to USB or NAS and keep 1 copy off site. CISA back up business data guide lists that rule.
Windows 11 (64 bit), 10, 8 and 7, plus Windows Server 2016, 2012 R2 and 2008.
Personal licence covers 5 machines, Business covers 25 and Enterprise covers 100. All three are one time payments with lifetime validity.
Yes. Every licence includes 24/7 customer support.
By email once payment clears, with a setup link and your activation key attached.
Yes. Refunds are accepted within 30 days of purchase.
Step by step
Guides for IMAP mail, downloads and moves between accounts.
IMAP downloads and setup
Moving IMAP mail
Server cutovers use IMAP Migration Tool and hosted account moves use Email Migration Tool. More formats sit with email converter tool, broken archives belong with email recovery software and saved mail opens free in email viewer software. All 209+ services sit under Email Backup Software.
Get started
Test IMAP Backup Tool on one account first. Full access is $99 in a single payment, and refunds are open for 30 days.
Download free demo Purchase now
87.4 MB · Windows 11 and below · 30 days money back