Has anyone had a successful, pain free migration to Google Mail?

[essjay1]

Most people discussing the migration of Telus email to Google Mail are coming with questions and/or complaints.  This is unnerving as I contemplate initiating the migration.  It would be helpful to know how often the migration works seamlessly.  If ever. 😉

Has anyone had a successful, problem free migration to Google Mail?

[essjay1]

@Oldislander 

I don't understand how you can see your mailboxes in Telus webmail without being logged in.  When you say you can't log in, are you talking about Telus webmail?

It seems to me that if the mailboxes are still with Telus then they must be on Telus's servers and not yet on Google's.  If what you crucially want to achieve is to have copies of your old messages, then it might be worth the experiment to see if you can download them to a 3rd party client.  And it would be an experiment that might fail.  

If you have Windows and/or Microsoft Office, you already have either Outlook or Windows Mail in one of their various versions.  Or you could download, install, and use Thunderbird.  

I just tried creating a new POP account in Tbird.  Tbird can do that either automatically or manually.  When I chose the automatic route it filled in the settings for incoming mail with pop.gmail.com, which is not what we want.  When I changed to select Manual Configuration I could change the incoming mail setting to pop.telus.net, which is the one we want to test.  When I chose the "re-test" button, it confirmed that the settings were workable, although I did not go so far as to download any of my mail into an account that I don't actually want.

The settings that Thunderbird filled in for me during the test are:

Protocol:

[essjay1]

@Oldislander 

Sorry.  The previous post got away from me.  As I was saying:

The settings that Thunderbird filled in for me during the test are:

Protocol:  POP3

Server:  pop.telus.net  (This is for incoming mail.)

Port:  995

SSL:  SSL/TLS

Authentication:  Kerberos/GSSAPI

Username:

To complete setting up the account, even though you won't actually be using it, you will need to include the settings for sending mail.  They are:

Protocol:  SMTP

Server:  smtp.telus.net

Port: 465

SSL:  SSL/TLS

Authentication:  Normal password

Username.  

If you press the Test or Re-test button, Tbird should tell you that the configuration is recognized by the server.  Now, whether or not a Checking Mail will work is another question.  Especially since you want it to capture mailbox folder names as well as messages.  

The settings should work for Outlook or Windows Mail if you already have them.  The whole experiment is just that, but if it works it will give you copies of your messages that you can refer to even if Telus never gets your migration to Google sorted.

Good luck.  Let us know what happens. 

[Oldislander]

Thanks for the detailed information.   I am thinking of trying Thunderbird for use on my iMac as I am not a fan of Gmail;   even with mailboxes, it would not by my second choice after Telus. 

[polecat]

@Oldislander  My move to gsuite  took 6 hours  lap desk and ipad. I had to have a tech do it if i tryed it ran me in a constant loop. I knew there was lots of trouble  so printed the important saved emails and also my contacts. My emails in saved folders did not arrive and they can't help me. The contacts did arrive. Not impressed. Polecat

[essjay1]

I absolutely agree.  Everything (messages, contacts, etc.) should be backed up before letting Telus or Google touch anything.  That way even if they mess up so much that you lose your messages you have data you can probably work with whether in a new email application or even, if really necessary, in a data file that can be read in a text reader.  

Although, if people have only ever used email inside a browser (like webmail or Gmail) I'm not sure how one would back up the data.  Also, I am totally a Windows person, so I have no idea how to deal with the problem in an Apple environment. 

[RonAKA]

@essjay1 that is good information. I never really thought about those that use a cloud browser based email system only. I suppose some do not even have a PC or Mac, and try to handle everything with a smartphone. I suppose that is possible but I sure could not do it. 

If someone is on a browser cloud based storage email that is compatible with Thunderbird all you have to do is an IMAP installation of Thunderbird and you have both a computer based email system with your own files on your hard drive, as well as a cloud based browser system you can access anywhere. When you install Thunderbird and link it to a browser based cloud email system, the first thing it does is download all your email and save it on your hard drive. After that it mirrors what is changed on either the browser based system (like Gmail) or on Thunderbird. The mirroring is virtually instant. 

[misswoolly]

Is the end of October now the cut-off date?  I was told originally it was the end of September.  We still haven't heard anything from Telus and I'm getting a bit worried.  Is there any way to contact someone to find out if we are going to receive a notice or if we have somehow been lost in the process?  Thank you.

[RonAKA]

@misswoolly - I looked back through my saved links with respect to the migration. See this one:

TELUS email powered by Google: What you need to know

It contains this information about how to schedule your migration. It appears you can use the Wi-Fi app to jump the queue and schedule your own time, rather than wait for an invitation.

"

Step 1: Schedule your migration

• You will receive an invitation from us. Follow the directions in the email to securely schedule your migration date and choose the details of your migration. (Please note that due to the number of customers who use TELUS email today, we will be migrating all accounts using a staggered approach.) You will receive an invitation anywhere from June 2020 onwards. Can’t wait to get your invite? You can get an early access pass through the My Wi-Fi app, in the Notifications section. This app is free, and it helps you take control of your TELUS Wi-Fi
• Schedule your migration by logging in to TELUS Webmail: This way, you will securely be able to choose your migration preferences. If you don’t remember your password, please visit telus.com/reset
• Learn how to schedule your TELUS email migration
• "

However, make sure you are prepared for your migration. I would make sure you have backups of any mail that is on the Telus server. If you are not using an email software program to view and manage your email, you should consider downloading and installing one like Thunderbird. Use the POP3 method to link to the Telus server. It will download your mail and keep a copy on your hard drive. It will also accept the Gmail account that will get set up so you have all your email in one place (but not in the same account). 

[Oldislander]

It only transfers part of Telus mail. No mailboxes and several other things disappear and Telus personnel have no idea how to deal with it.

[RonAKA]

@Oldislander 

Yes, that is why I like to have Thunderbird download all my mail and not trust Telus to do anything. That is what I did and never lost anything. I did forget that there was some email in my Telus Webmail, Sent Mail, folder, but Telus did successfully transfer that to Gmail. 

[misswoolly]

Thank you for posting this information.  Much appreciated.

[BigBen121]

I have survived the migration and it went really well - I was surprised.  In this household there are two iphones, two ipads, one android phone, a macbookpro, mac mini and two windows PC.

All the apple products went really fast without and issues setup was very easy and the information Telus provided was easy to follow.

The PC's were more of a challenge  - both run Outlook 365 and I thought I would use my skills by manually setting them up - no go.

I ended up using the GSuite sync tool which worked really well - all the mail and all the folders we have were imported as expected to both machines.

The hiccough were contacts but that was not a Telus/Gmail issues as I have mine in icloud and my wife's are in outlook.com. However it was easy to import once the conversion was done. All in all I was surprised how easy this was and how relatively quickly it went!

[canucks4life]

Curious if we're now able to keep our telus.net Email address after the migration no charge if switching Internet providers 🤔

[giantbrownguy]

Noticed you didn't get a reply. Likely not. The @Anonymous.net email is tied to your account. They have no incentive to let you keep it if you leave. 

[giantbrownguy]

The service is set up through a corporate G-Suite system, so they are paying Google to run the @Anonymous.net emails. It's not the same as the free gmail email accounts.

[BA2020]

Re: Telus regular Email changed to Telus Google Mail
We are a small business and have just been migrated from our very reliable MS OutlooK 10, including use of offline folders, many contacts, the ability to print in a letter format and actually be able to read the print with out a magnifying glass. No one has assisted or given actual one on one guidance with their transfer to Telus Google Mail. We do want to try to find apps that might help with printing or things like this. Still waiting for the promised transfer of contacts or how to connect to our many offline folders.
Spent many hours several times on hold to no avail. Now have read that there is no way to reconnect to the offline folders. As well another comment stated to get past tier one help - it must be paid for?!
Seems no one can assist - you are on your own! We can’t even get back into our previous MS Outlook 10 program on our own computer to at least go through our offline folders!
Please bring back the previous reliable system!!

[BA2020]

Please to note for BA2020.
I missed out the most important word in my post approx 8 hrs ago!
We DON’T want to try to find suitable apps that “might” be able to help with printing or email formatting or needed to open attachments, etc.
We do not have a lot of computer knowledge at all. We are not pleased.
We are now only receiving in box email to which google has already sifted through the inbox putting what they think is important to us into the inbox and rest into other folders - oops now called “labels”?! This pre-sifting of our mail should not be done at all it should be left up to the email user to decide what's important for themselves.
Still not able to get through to Telus as to finding contacts and help with offline folders. EGADS!!

[RonAKA]

@BA2020 

First off, I am not from Telus, and I am not sure anyone here is. We are just users of the Telus services in most cases. I am retired and not so young any longer either. I did not ask for this migration to Gmail either. But, it does have some advantages, but certainly comes with the pain of having to make changes. The up side is that you do not have to notify everyone that your email address has changed. 

On the print size for Gmail that is a common problem for new users. When you want to print an email make sure you use the Print Icon just to the right of the title of the email. See the icon highlighted in yellow in the snip below.

This icon will bring up a print preview page which will show you what the printed page looks like. If it is not filling the page as you like, then scroll down to More, and then to Scale. In the scale set it to Default. 

That is the simple part. Not having access to Outlook or your offline folders is more puzzling. If you created folders in Outlook and they were saved on the Telus server, then it will be Telus that has to give you access to them.

I have not used Outlook for 10 years or so, and cannot help you much with it. It appears that if you want to continue to use Outlook you have to download a file and do some setup to access the new Gmail account with Outlook. Here is a link that explains how to do it. You need to check you have a suitable version of Outlook before proceeding. Normally you select Help in your Outlook, and it will show you what version of Outlook you have. Here is the link:

Set up TELUS email on your computer using G Suite Sync for Microsoft® Outlook®

Hope that helps some,

[Oldislander]

I am not the least impressed with gmail and do not appreciate being forced to use it by Telus, particularly when the Telus technicians have no idea how to make the complete transition. Having said that I have downloaded Mac Mail and can now use the old Telus mail with all my saved mailboxes.

[BA2020]

Thank you for your support and information.
I have been on hold so much it is very frustrating. I am not computer savvy and especially don’t want to mess up the business email.

[BA2020]

Also wanted to add we are unable to even open our MS Outlook 10 program on the computer.It seems to be trying to connect to the Internet also. Did read that can change the program to work “offline“? then would be able to at least look at offline folders? - just not sure of anything!
Telus seems to have just migrated us all into their own type of delete folder - we are all in the “closed & done” folder.

[RonAKA]

@BA2020 

It seems like Outlook may be trying to connect to the old Telus account, and it needs to be set up to access the new Gmail account. Unfortunately I have not used Outlook for many years and I don't remember much about it, other than I was not happy with it, and made the change to Thunderbird. 

[lgartner]

My conversion was a nightmare. Every mail moved over to google however now my Outlook 2016 client will not recognize the imap google server and my contacts are totally messed up. I am an ex 20 year employee of Telus and understand IT pretty well. Telus "help desk" said wait 24 hours and see if it works...and its been 3 days and it still doesn't work on Outlook. Fair warning to others...this migration is not well planned. Back up your old info.

--------> I would also HIGHLY suggest that if you have not used your telus online webmail contacts as your primary contacts; that before you go through this migration that you delete every single contact inside of the telus webmail and then upload (import) the contact list that you do use regularly into the telus webmail......or else your contacts will be as messed up as mine.

[vangirl604]

My emails transferred over, but not my contacts, notes or calendar.

Also I cannot set up telus email in Outlook 365 on my laptop

[RonAKA]

@vangirl604 

Are you trying to set up Outlook using POP3 or IMAP? I recall seeing some posts indicating there are issues using POP3 and the new Gsuite Gmail. I set my Thunderbird up using IMAP and it worked fine. I previously had Thunderbird set up with POP3 on the Telus Server. However, I was scared off trying to do it based on the negative posts here.