How to Transfer Emails from CenturyLink to Gmail—Best Guide

Written By Suman Rawat
Updated on January 31st, 2025

Summary: Gmail is the leading email service provider, recognized for its powerful features and integration with Google services. This makes it a preferred choice for many users. On the other hand, CenturyLink offers email services primarily used by individuals and small businesses. Most users transfer emails from CenturyLink to Gmail to take advantage of Gmail’s advanced features and cloud access. Hence, if you are facing similar challenges, this comprehensive blog will explore various solutions. It will cover methods such as using the Email Backup Tool to seamlessly migrate emails from CenturyLink to Gmail.

Distinct Reasons to Transfer CenturyLink Emails to Gmail

Here are some clear reasons to transfer CenturyLink emails into Gmail:

There’s free cloud storage, ensuring there’s always enough space for emails and attachments.
It integrates with other Google tools and increases productivity.
Unlike CenturyLink, Gmail works perfectly on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.
You will be accessing your emails with no restrictions from any device.
Gmail’s intuitive and modern interface makes it easier to manage.

How to Migrate CenturyLink Emails to Gmail Manually?

To migrate CenturyLink emails into Gmail manually, follow this detailed process. This method requires configuring both your CenturyLink and Gmail accounts within an email client that supports IMAP.

Before starting the migration process, your CenturyLink and Gmail accounts should be active and IMAP-enabled.

Step 1: Enable IMAP Access in Gmail

Open any web browser and log in to your Gmail account using valid credentials.
After that, go to Settings, and then See All Settings.
Now, under the see all settings, click on the Forward and POP/IMAP options.
Here, enable IMAP Access in the IMAP section.
Lastly, click on the Save Changes button to save the changes.

Step 2: Add Your CenturyLink Email Account to Gmail

To start the transfer process, configure your CenturyLink account in an email client:

Now again, open the Gmail client.
After that, go to Settings, and then See All Settings.
Next, click on Accounts and Import options and then click on Add another account.
Enter the CenturyLink IMAP configuration details.
Lastly, wait to sync email data

Step 3: Transfer Emails from CenturyLink to Gmail

With both accounts configured in the email client, you can now begin the email migration process:

Open the CenturyLink and go to the mailboxes.
Now, select the email that you want to transfer.
Then, drag and drop the email into the desired Gmail folder.
In the end, wait for sync and verify that you have migrated the exact data.

Why Manual Migration May Be Challenging?

The process of transferring emails from CenturyLink to Gmail manually has several limitations that might be challenging for users. Here are some of the key limitations:

Manual migration involves multiple steps, which can be time-intensive.
Manual transfer increases the risk of missing essential metadata.
Setting up IMAP configurations does require a bit of technical knowledge.
It does not provide the ability to transfer emails in bulk.
These manual methods are susceptible to errors, potentially leading to data loss.

Using a professional email backup tool is usually recommended to overcome the mentioned limitations for a smoother process.

Professional Methods to Transfer Emails from CenturyLink to Gmail

The MacGater Email Backup Tool is an extensive utility for backing up web and cloud-based email clients. This application allows you to create email backups of message items in numerous email applications. It also maintains the same structure as the original folders while performing the backup procedure. It’s quite user-friendly and allows Windows and Mac to function within it. This tool is equipped with an intuitive, user-friendly interface that is suitable for both novices and experienced users.

Simple Steps to Migrate CenturyLink Emails

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First, download and install the Email Backup Tool on your default system.
After that, choose the CenturyLink email client as a source email client.
Here, log in and verify your email client using the valid credentials
Now, select the desired email client that you want to transfer.
After that, select Gmail as a destination email client.
Then, verify the Gmail account using your valid credentials.
Select the desired location to save the resultant output format.
In the end, tap the Save button.

Conclusion

This blog covers how to transfer emails from CenturyLink to Gmail. We have discussed two different ways that one could use to perform the migration. Here, we are sharing a manual solution as well as an automated process. However, the manual method has some limitations associated with it. Thus, recommend to the users the above-mentioned expert software to ensure a smooth and secure transfer process. For a detailed understanding of the tool’s features, run the free demo version.

About The Author:

Suman Rawat

Suman Rawat is a technical content writer and expert in the fields of email migration, data recovery, and email backup. Her passion for helping people has led her to resolve many user queries related to data conversion and cloud backup.