How do I download my e-mail to my hard drive?

If you would like to automatically download your e-mail to your hard drive every time you check it, you want to set up a POP3 connection. Note that this will delete the original message from the Pomona servers. Head over to our e-mail setup instructions and select the POP3 instructions.

If you simply want a one-time backup of your Pomona e-mail in case of an emergency or if you just want local copies of some (or all) of them, select the program you use to check e-mail below (webmail users should select SquirrelMail):

• SquirrelMail (all webmail users)
• Thunderbird (PC/Mac)
• Outlook (PC)
• Entourage (Mac)

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Downloading mail with SquirrelMail (one time backup)

1. Go to http://squirrelmail.pomona.edu and log in using your Pomona username (no CAMPUS\ necessary) and password.
2. If this is your first time using SquirrelMail, you'll have to enter your full name and e-mail address.
3. You're now at the inbox. Check the boxes next to the messages you want to download and click the Archive button at the bottom of the page.
   

This will save your e-mail in a compressed .ZIP file. The individual e-mail files will open in Outlook Express by default, but you can change this by right-clicking on the message, going to Open With..., and selecting a program.

Downloading mail with Thunderbird

Thunderbird offers an extremely easy way to download all your mail. Right-click the Local Folders header in the left pane and select New Folder... This window will pop up. Name the folder something like Pomona Backup and click OK.

Now you can click on the folders you want to copy and drag them to the "Pomona Backup" folder. Then click on the offline icon in the bottom left corner of the screen, or go to File > Offline > Work Offline.

The default location for your downloaded e-mail is a fairly random folder that's hidden in the program files. You can change this location by going to Tools > Account Settings and clicking the Local Folders option. Under "Local directory," you can select a more accessible location like My Documents for your mail to be stored. Click Browse... to peruse your system files, then click OK once you've selected a location.

Downloading mail with Outlook Exchange

Open Outlook, and go to File > Archive...

Here you can choose what you will archive. By default, Outlook selects anything more than three months old located in your inbox (and subfolders). You can change the date to archive more recent mail, or select your name at the top to archive your contacts, tasks, and calendar. Also, you may want to change the destination of the file to something more accessible than the default location. Once you're satisfied with your settings, click OK.

Now at the bottom of your Outlook window, you should see information about how many files are left to archive. Depending on how much mail you have, this will take 5-15 minutes.

To access this archive, go to File > Open > Outlook Data File... and select the appropriate archive.

Downloading mail with Entourage Exchange

1. In Entourage, go to File > Export...
   
   
   
2. This screen gives you several options for saving your Entourage information. Pick the ones you like and click the right arrow.
   
   
   
3. You're probably not going to want to delete your e-mail from the server, as that will make it inaccessible through Webmail or other clients. Click the right arrow.
   
   
   
4. Now you'll be promted to save the archive. The extension .rge refers to an Entourage archive, so don't mess with it. Give the file a descriptive name like "Mail Backup" and select where you want it to go. By clicking the blue arrow that's pointing down, you can see the exact location of the file, so you can find it again. Click Save.
   
   
   
5. You'll see a progress bar, then Entourage will tell you that it's all done. You now have a copy of your e-mail (along with your contacts and all that other useful stuff) saved to your hard drive. Yay!