How to Combine Two Mailboxes in Outlook

Merge two Outlook email address folders.
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Many of us have two or more email accounts -- a work address, a personal address and perhaps one for purchasing merchandise on the Net. Microsoft Outlook 2013 allows you to bring all these account messages into one personal folder (.PST) delivered to a single mailbox. You can set up your combined POP3, IMAP and Exchange mailboxes in three ways. Forwarding and merging work best for POP3; forwarding for IMAP and rule creation for Exchange emails.

1 Forwarding

2 Open your Internet mail account

Open your Internet mail account. Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hot Mail and most others have a tool called “Settings” that may be represented by a gear or an “Options” heading in the control panel bar at the top of the screen.

3 Open the tab

Open the tab marked “Forwarding.” This may be marked with email types such as IMAP or POP. If nothing appears with these headings, run a search for “Forwarding Mail” inside the email client page.

4 Find the heading

Find the heading that reads “Add Forwarding Address” or similar and enter the primary address you want all your mail sent to in Outlook 2013.

5 Confirm your forwarding email address

Confirm your forwarding email address and review the various choices offered, such as if you want to keep copies on the server or confirm your changes by responding to a separate email sent to your account before changes can take effect.

6 Save all changes after completing your settings modifications

Save all changes after completing your settings modifications.

7 Merging

8 Open your Outlook program

Open your Outlook program and navigate to "File," then "Account Settings."

9 Open Account Settings

Open "Account Settings," then "Email Accounts" and select the POP email address you want to merge with your primary email address.

10 Click the Change Folder button

Click the “Change Folder” button at the bottom left of the dialog box.

11 Designate the email account

Designate the email account into which you want the mail delivered by highlighting it in the dialog box, and click “OK.”

12 Rule Creation

13 Open Outlook and navigate to Tools

Open Outlook and navigate to "Tools," then to “Rule Wizard” and click on “New Rule.”

14 Click

Click on “Start creating a rule from a template.”

15 Check the template box

Check the template box “from people or public group,” and “through the specified account” under “Step 1: Select Conditions.” Select “Exchange” in the drop down dialog box that displays.

16 Click through the specified account

Click “through the specified account” in "Step2: Edit the Rule Description” and then click “move to the specified folder.” Select your POP3 .PST folder.

17 Click Apply and OK

Click “Apply” and “OK.”

  • Be careful not to create any new .PST files when merging mailboxes. Doing so can separate all previously saved emails and prevent them from displaying in Outlook, as well as making them difficult to access in the future.
  • Saving a copy of your emails on the Internet server can be helpful as a backup to record keeping. Use the Outlook Rule Wizard to create a command to forward IMAP and Exchange emails to your POP3 mailbox.

Joe Murray began writing professionally in 1980. As a technical writer, he authored white papers and articles for Hewlett Packard and Intel. Since retiring, Murray has written several home-exchange travel articles for KnowYourTrade.com and CHECtravel,com among other outlets. He holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Santa Clara University.

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