If you’re considering our new email service but worry it might disturb your existing setup, this post is for you. It covers the essentials: how to create your STW mailbox, bring in your existing ServeTheWorld emails if you already have a free email account with us, and consolidate third-party accounts like Gmail or Outlook. For detailed step-by-step instructions and screenshots, please visit our support page.
Start with a new mailbox
ServeTheWorld Mail, powered by Open-Xchange, is a privacy-minded, GDPR-compliant service that lets you create mailboxes on your own domain — whether for businesses, nonprofits, communities, or individuals who want to reinforce their own name, identity, or brand online. At the same time, it can also bring together your existing inboxes from other providers into one consistent interface. Switching between accounts, calendars, and tasks feels natural and well-organized, helping you stay productive.
Step 1: Create Your STW Mailbox
Everything begins at the order form. Choose your plan — Trial, Mail, or Productivity — and select the domain you want to use. Once ordered, the product appears in your User Control Panel, where you activate it, create your mailbox, and configure DNS records so your domain points to STW Mail.
Even with a single new mailbox, you can manage multiple addresses on the same domain. For example, you might create yourname@domain.com alongside addresses like info@domain.com or support@domain.com. By setting up forwarding, all messages can arrive in your primary inbox — making it simple to cover different roles without creating multiple mailboxes.
Import existing ServeTheWorld mail
When ordering, you’ll see the option for our current free mailbox owners to import their existing emails into the new service. We normally need one business day to prepare this. Your old mailbox stays unchanged; if you later revert to it, the 60-day trial mailbox and its contents will simply be deleted.
Step 2: Optionally consolidate other accounts
Once your STW mailbox is active, you can add your other, third-party email accounts to appear beneath your STW emails or merge them into a single inbox. Whether it’s Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, Outlook, or an Exchange-based work account, the process is safe: STW Mail only reads or imports data — your original accounts remain unchanged.
Option 1: Add email account (linking — quick way)
Inside STW Mail settings, choose Add email account, then enter your address and password. If automatic detection fails, you can enter IMAP/SMTP details manually.
Because linked accounts remain stored with the third-party service rather than copied into STW Mail, they don’t use up your storage quota. The trade-off is that large inboxes can take longer to refresh and display their contents. Note that contacts from linked accounts are not imported — when you start typing an address, names won’t auto-complete unless you’ve already exchanged emails with them inside your new STW Mail.
Option 2: Migration Assistant (copying — slower way)
From your user profile menu, select Import your emails. This tool copies emails (and, where supported, calendars and contacts) into STW Mail. The process launches in a separate browser tab and ends with a delta synchronisation transfer to catch any new mail that arrived during migration.
Unlike linking, migration does consume your STW Mail storage. It is also slower: major cloud email providers such as Gmail or Yahoo throttle exports of large inboxes, typically limiting transfers to 1–2 GB per day. As a result, very large accounts may take several days to complete. The migration runs automatically in the background, and you’ll be notified once everything is finished. For very large mailboxes, it may be more efficient to start with linking and then migrate later.
Option 3: Manual import (fallback way)
If needed, you can export mail as .eml, calendars as .ics, and contacts as .vcf from other providers, then drag and drop respective files into STW Mail. This open-format method is best for smaller datasets or specific folders.
A Note on Passwords
If adding Gmail, Yahoo, or similar accounts, your normal password may not work. Many providers now require generating special in-app passwords for third-party platforms like STW Mail. It’s not an error on our side — it’s part of their stricter authentication.
Why Try It Now?
The introductory 60-day trial gives you one new mailbox on your chosen domain, with the ability to consolidate your other emails either by linking or importing them. This way, you experience right away how STW Mail pulls everything — your accounts, calendars, and tasks — into one organized view.
We’re treating this as a pilot. The trial period may change, or it may not be offered in the same form later. For now, it’s your chance to test it thoroughly and decide if it’s right for you.
In Case You Missed It
For more detailed instructions and screenshots, visit our technical support page.