Redirecting from guest accounts

[Grhm]

Advice, please.
I'd like to redirect all the mail that arrives in my legacy guest account into my new paid-for family account, but without losing the free status of my guest account.
I've tried using 'POP', but apparently that is "not allowed at my service level".
I read somewhere that E-mails can be lifted from guest accounts using IMAP, but despite trawling through all the menus and screens in the 'classic' interface, and reading a lot of help files, I've not been able to ascertain how it is done.
(I am slightly handicapped by the fact that the new web interface doesn't like my phone, and I have no computer, so unless I make a special trip to the library I am limited to the 'classic' web interface.)
I've found a lot of stuff about using IMAP to transfer mail from a Fastmail account to client software, but nothing about using IMAP to transfer mail from one account to another. Can it be done, even?
Some expert advice would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks,
Graham.

[n5bb]

First, POP links would be how to read messages from another account. What you want instead is a simple forward rule, which is very easy to set up:

• You will have to log in to your Guest account using the normal web interface at http://www.fastmail.com - you can't use the Classic interface.
• Then click the large button which shows your email address in the upper left and choose Settings, then Rules.
• Click New Rule at the top, then click the default condition (The sender's email) and change it to All messages.
• In the Action area, select Send a copy to and enter your new email address (to which you want to forward the old messages). Also select Discard the message so the old account doesn't fill up with messages.
• Finally click Save at the top. You should now see a Forward rule as follows:
  • Send a copy of the message to another account:
  • All messages
  • Send a copy to (email address you entered). Discard the message (unless it matches an organize rule)
• You should then test the rule by sending a message to the old Guest address and confirming that it arrives at your new address. If that works, you should log out of the Guest account by clicking the large button in the upper left which shows your email address and selecting Log out.
• I just tested these exact steps with a Guest account and the forwarding worked perfectly.

If you can use the Fastmail iPad or Android application you can also create this rule.

Bill

[Grhm]

Thank you, Bill.
That makes a lot of sense.
I'll try out your admirably clear instructions next week when the library is open.
(My Nokia C2-01 isn't clever enough to run those apps, sadly, although thank you for suggesting it.)
I have just one concern:
The 'account status' of my legacy guest account says it will be closed after 120 days 'inactivity'.
Does automatic forwarding using rules count as 'activity'?
Many thanks,
Graham.

[communicant]

Originally Posted by Grhm

Does automatic forwarding using rules count as 'activity'?

So far as I know, automatic forwarding does not count as activity that re-sets an inactivity limit. You will still need to log in to your free account at least once every four months, but that is not a great burden. You could set your phone to remind you to do so.

[Grhm]

Hi
Thank you for that clarification.
It does seem logical that, while access with POP or IMAP would keep an account active, this method of retrieving mail will not.
That is as I feared.
Unfortunately, history shows that any solution to a problem that relies on my remembering to do something over an extended time is bound to fail !
The phone reminder thing is a good idea, though. Thank you for suggesting that.
All the best,
Graham

[David]

Originally Posted by Grhm

Hi

Unfortunately, history shows that any solution to a problem that relies on my remembering to do something over an extended time is bound to fail !

Graham

An old fashioned diary that you check every day (filled in advance for the following year) would do the trick, possibly. Doing this would take some effort, but repetition (when it comes to remembrance) might work for you.

[Grhm]

Yes, that is another good suggestion. Thank you.

[n5bb]

In the Fastmail Family account you have a calendar feature which can send you reminder emails on any future date.

Also remember that you could move the Guest account address to an alias at your Family account. I believe that if you delete your Guest account, that alias becomes available so you can immediately create that alias in your Family account. You might want to file a support request (from your Family account) to confirm this.

Bill

[Grhm]

Thank you for those further thoughts, Bill.
I think it would be easier than you suggest to bring my guest account under the umbrella of my 'family' account. There is a screen under the 'manage' link, in the classic interface at least, called 'import user', which appears to be designed specifically to do exactly that.
I am reluctant to try it, though, as I gather that the guest account would then irretrievably lose its free legacy status.
The calendar appears to be yet another function that is denied to us second-class citizens who use the 'classic' interface, but I will certainly investigate it next time I am on a computer at the library that permits use of the 'new' interface.
It does sound like a very good idea to set up a periodic E-mail reminder to log in to my guest account, though.
If I take up all three suggestions from this thread I'll be reminded three times via three independent systems (phone alert, paper diary, and E-mail), and then maybe, just maybe, I might not forget !
Many thanks,
Graham

[ewal]

Simply have your main account email address be the backup email address in the guest account. You will then get an automatic email to your main account from Fastmail prior to the planned closure of the guest account.

I have been keeping a guest account alive for my daughter created when she was 12 years old. She is now 25 years old and the automatic email warning never missed a beat - so far.

[Grhm]

Aha !
Another excellent idea.
Thank you.

[Grhm]

Hi again,
I went to the library today and tried out Bill's instructions for setting up a forwarding rule, but I hit a snag.
When I clicked on 'save', the rule appeared briefly, but then vanished.
I tried this several times with the same infuriating result, before noticing a tiny, inconspicuous, grey box at the very bottom of the screen, that said "You must enable the spam filter before adding a forwarding rule."
(Warning! Intemperate rant follows!)
<RANT>
Spam filters are a pain in the arse.
For many years I have had a couple of Hotmail accounts that I have accessed exclusively via POP links. But a few months ago I became aware by chance that quite a large proportion of mails people were sending to those accounts were not arriving in my inbox.
I admit to becoming mildly paranoid about this, before I discovered, again by chance, that the culprit wasn't GCHQ after all, but Microsoft. They were redirecting about one in four of my incoming mails, apparently chosen at random, into the 'spam' folder, where they would sit for a while, unseen by me, and then be quietly deleted.
This was happening despite my never having chosen to activate Hotmail's spam filter.
While investigating this, in addition to discovering how horribly bleak and featureless the user interface has become for Hotmail [or 'MS Mail', or 'Microsoft Account', or 'Outlook', or whatever it is they're calling it this week], I discovered that Hotmail now compels all users to have their spam filters turned on whether they want it or not.
Even at its lowest setting it was wrongly deleting about 25% of my mail, so I dread to think what it does on higher settings.
I want nothing to do with spam filters !
I will decide, myself, what to read and what to delete, thank you very much. I will not be dictated to by any of these fashionable new, uncontrollable, unpredictable, unaccountable, ill-conceived, fuzzy-illogical Bayesian-type algorithms.
</RANT>

The obvious way round this problem would be to turn on the spam filter through gritted teeth, and then set up two rules that both redirect mail into my new account, one from the inbox and one from the spam folder.
But I gather from another thread here that although Fastmail don't (yet) compel users to submit everything to their spam filter, once you have turned it on they won't let you turn it off again.
So I'm very reluctant to try that out - if it doesn't work I'll be stuck with the same problem that I had with Hotmail.
(Sigh)
Any bright ideas?
Thanks,
Graham

[n5bb]

All you have to do is set a Custom spam filter and set the filing threshold to 50.0, which will never be reached.

Bill

[Grhm]

I have no idea what a "filing threshold of 50" means, and I have no wish to find out.
As I think I made clear, I am not going to turn the spam filter on.
Can anyone answer my original question, which was can I use IMAP to transfer mail from one Fastmail account to another, and if so how?
Thanks,
Graham

[BritTim]

First, the procedure outlined below is intended for a one-time migration of old mail from an old account to a new account. The characteristics of IMAP make it unsuitable for periodic transfer of incoming email to your new account.

To access the mail migration utility, use Import and Export -> Import mail from another service such as Gmail or Yahoo. Let us know if any of the fields on the Migrate IMAP Mailbox screen are unclear.