Archive or backup email that is in my MIT account
On this page:
This article applies to members of the MIT community who are looking for a way to archive or backup all of their MIT email. This can be useful to ensure that you always have a copy of messages in case you accidentally delete one or more or if you're leaving MIT and want to have an archive before your email account is deactivated.
![]() | Not responsible for lost email if messages don't archive correctly Once mail leaves the MIT servers, the messages/attachments will live locally on the computer that you archive it to. Please make sure you have a backup of your computer so that if the database that holds local mail has any issues, you have a recovery point. |
What you'll need:
- A desktop email client like Outlook, Apple Mail, or Mozilla Thunderbird.
- All MIT students, faculty, and staff can download MS Office from the IS&T software download page for Office
- It is possible to use any IMAP-capable desktop email client instead of Microsoft Outlook. This can be useful if you're already using Apple Mail or Mozilla Thunderbird or are not a current student, faculty, or staff member and cannot download Microsoft Office.
Download a desktop email client
Outlook
- Go to the IS&T software download page for Office and download Office 2013 / 2016 / 2019 if you're a Windows user (NOTE: the version of Office you would use depends on the version of Windows you are running) or Office 2016 / 2019 for Mac if you're on an Apple computer.
- Install MS Office
Install the application per the instructions on those pages. If you're on a PC, completely extract the ZIP file to a new folder before installing Office.
- Setup Outlook.
To learn how to set up Outlook, follow the instructions depending on your Office version: Configure Your Exchange Email.
Once you have your account setup, you can use the following resources:
Mozilla Thunderbird
You can download the latest version of Mozilla Thunderbird from Mozilla.
Once you have your account setup, you can use the following resources:
Apple Mail
Apple Mail is included in all modern macOS versions and can be found in the Applications folder.
If you do not have your email set up in Apple Mail, you can follow the instructions below depending on the version of macOS you are running: (if you are not sure what version of the macOS you are running, please see this article from Apple's Support Knowledge Base)
Setup OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) Mail, Calendars, Contacts, and notes for MIT's Exchange Environment
Setup OS X 10.10 Yosemite Mail, Calendars, Contacts and Notes for MIT's Exchange Environment
Once you have your account setup, you can use the following resources: