// PLUSNET EMAIL MIGRATION
Move Your Plusnet Email to Gmail Before It Closes
If you’ve had a ‘your email is changing’ message from Plusnet, you’re not imagining it — Plusnet is winding down its email service and moving mailboxes to another company. Here’s how to move your Plusnet email and years of messages safely into Gmail, in plain English, with the option to have us do the whole thing for you. Rated 4.9 on Google.
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/01 — THE CLOSURE EXPLAINED
What’s happening to Plusnet email — and what to do
To move your Plusnet email to Gmail before it closes, set up a free Gmail account, copy your old @plus.com or @plus.net messages across using Gmail’s built-in import tool or the free Thunderbird program, then switch to using Gmail every day. The safest time to do this is now, while your Plusnet mailbox is still fully open — not after it has been moved or closed.
Here’s what’s actually going on. In 2025 Plusnet confirmed it will no longer offer an email service to new or existing customers, and it began moving legacy email, webspace and domain accounts to a separate supplier called Greenby. It’s a phased migration rather than one switch-off date, so different people are moved at different times.
What it means for you depends on your situation:
- If you’re still a Plusnet broadband customer, Greenby email is provided free for two years after migration — after that you’d pay to keep it.
- If you’ve already left Plusnet (or only ever had the email), the mailbox stays live for around 30 days after migration, then costs about £15 a year to keep.
- The move to Greenby happens automatically unless you opt out — but if you cancel your Plusnet broadband before your mailbox has migrated, the email is closed with it, so never cancel until it has safely moved or you’ve copied it into Gmail.
Either way, moving your mail into Gmail puts you in control and takes your email off your broadband provider for good. It’s the same clean break we handle in our wider email migration service.
/02 — WHAT CHANGES
Moving to Gmail: what you keep and what changes
The important thing to grasp up front: moving to Gmail gives you a new address that ends in @gmail.com. You can bring years of old emails and your contacts with you, but you can’t run your old @plus.net address from inside Gmail once Plusnet stops hosting it. That’s the trade-off — a fresh, free address you own forever, in exchange for telling people your new details.
Why Gmail is a sensible landing spot for most people:
- It’s free and completely separate from whichever broadband provider you use, so this can never happen to you again if you switch broadband.
- Generous storage (15GB shared across Gmail, Drive and Photos), strong spam filtering and reliable search through decades of mail.
- It works the same on a Windows PC, an Android phone and any web browser — and we can help you set it up on your phone too.
If you’d rather read your new Gmail inside the Outlook program you’re used to, that’s fine — see our guide on adding Gmail to Outlook. And if you juggle a mix of old ISP addresses, the same principles apply; we regularly help people sort out other tricky provider mailboxes too, such as BT Internet email that won’t add to the new Outlook.
Greenby is a perfectly valid option if you’d prefer to keep your existing address and don’t mind paying later. For most home users, though, a free independent address wins.
/03 — MOVING YOUR OLD MAIL
How to copy your old Plusnet emails into Gmail
There are three sensible ways to get your existing Plusnet mail into Gmail. Pick the one that matches how much you want to keep.
- Gmail’s ‘Import mail and contacts’ — in Gmail, go to Settings, then See all settings, then Accounts and Import, then Import mail and contacts. Gmail pulls your old messages and address book across for you. Simplest for most people.
- Gmail’s ‘Check mail from other accounts’ — under the same Accounts and Import tab, choose Add a mail account and connect over POP. Be aware this usually only collects your Inbox, not your filed folders.
- Thunderbird (free) — add both your Plusnet and Gmail accounts, then right-click a folder and choose Copy To. The most thorough method, because it preserves your folder structure exactly.
The Plusnet server settings you’ll need are: incoming imap.plus.net, port 993, SSL/TLS (or POP on mail.plus.net, port 995); outgoing relay.plus.net, port 587. If yours is an older force9 or free-online address, swap the server name to match. These now route through a proxy that quietly sends you to Plusnet or Greenby depending on whether your account has already been migrated.
Whichever route you choose, don’t delete anything from Plusnet until you’ve confirmed every message has landed safely in Gmail.
/04 — DON’T FORGET YOUR LOGINS
The part everyone forgets: your logins and contacts
Copying your mail is only half the job. Your Plusnet email address is probably the username or recovery address for dozens of other accounts — online banking, Amazon, PayPal, your energy supplier, the DVLA, your NHS login and more. If that address goes dark and you haven’t updated them, you can find yourself locked out at the worst possible moment.
Before your Plusnet mailbox closes, work through the important ones and change the contact address to your new Gmail:
- Banking and money — bank, building society, PayPal, credit cards, pensions.
- Shopping and subscriptions — Amazon, eBay, streaming services, anything that emails you receipts.
- Government and utilities — council tax, energy, water, TV Licence, HMRC.
- Anything that sends security codes to your email address.
A quick trick: while your Plusnet inbox is still open, scroll back through it — the companies that email you are your to-do list. Then let your regular contacts know your new address. It’s worth setting up a password manager at the same time; our guide on using a password manager makes the whole thing far less painful, and we can walk you through it on a remote support session.
/05 — DONE FOR YOU
Prefer to have it done for you?
If any of this feels daunting — and for a mailbox with twenty years of memories in it, that’s completely understandable — we can simply do it for you. We’re 365 Techies, a family-run team near Bournemouth, and moving people off closing email services is bread-and-butter work for us.
Most Plusnet-to-Gmail moves we handle remotely: we connect to your computer securely while you watch, set up your new Gmail, copy every message and folder across, sort out your contacts, and check your phone picks it up too. For anyone local, we also offer home visits and collection across Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and the wider Dorset area.
Typically we’ll:
- Create or tidy up your Gmail account and secure it properly.
- Transfer your full mailbox — inbox, sent items and every filed folder — with nothing left behind.
- Help you update the accounts that matter and tell your contacts.
- Set Gmail up on your phone and tablet so it all just works.
It’s backed by our no-fix-no-fee promise, and we work in plain English at your pace. Give us a ring on 01202 775566 or get in touch and we’ll talk you through it. Doing it as part of a bigger switch? See our email migration service.
/06 — DOING IT SAFELY
Doing it safely: what to watch out for
A few honest words of caution so this goes smoothly:
- Move first, cancel later. Don’t close your Plusnet broadband or email account until you’ve confirmed everything is safely in Gmail. Once the mailbox is gone, the mail is very hard to get back.
- POP only grabs your inbox. If you have lots of filed folders, the Thunderbird ‘Copy To’ method is the reliable way to keep them — the quick POP import can miss them.
- Mind the clock. If you’ve already left Plusnet, your window may be short (around 30 days after migration), so don’t leave it to the last minute.
- Watch for scam emails. A big, well-publicised change like this is exactly when scammers send fake ‘confirm your email’ messages. Plusnet won’t ask for your password by email — if in doubt, don’t click, and read our guide on spotting a fake website.
We can’t change Plusnet’s decision or magically recover a mailbox that’s already been deleted — but if you act while your account is still live, moving to Gmail is completely doable, and we’re here if you’d like a hand. We look after Windows and Android devices, which covers the vast majority of Plusnet email users.
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// GOOD QUESTIONS
Frequently asked
Is Plusnet really closing its email service?
Yes. In 2025 Plusnet confirmed it will no longer provide email to new or existing customers, and it’s moving legacy mailboxes, webspace and domains to a separate supplier called Greenby. It’s a phased migration rather than one closing date, so you may be moved earlier or later than a neighbour on the same service.
Will I lose my @plus.net email address?
By default, no. Unless you opt out, Plusnet moves your mailbox to Greenby automatically and your address keeps working — free for two years if you’re still a Plusnet broadband customer (paid after that), or around £15 a year once the 30-day grace period ends if you’ve left. The one real risk is cancelling your Plusnet broadband before the migration has finished, which closes the mailbox — so let it move first, or copy everything into Gmail before you leave.
Can I bring my old emails across to Gmail?
Yes. Gmail’s Import mail and contacts tool pulls your old messages and address book across, and the free Thunderbird program can copy every folder over exactly as it is. As long as you do it while your Plusnet mailbox is still open, you keep the lot — years of emails, attachments and contacts included.
Do I have to move to Gmail, or can I stay with Greenby?
You can stay with Greenby if you prefer to keep your existing address and don’t mind paying to continue after the free period. Many people, though, would rather have a free address that isn’t tied to a broadband provider. Gmail is a popular, reliable choice, but Outlook.com and others work the same way.
Can you just move it all for me?
Absolutely — it’s one of our most-requested jobs. We’ll set up your Gmail, copy every message and folder across, sort your contacts, update the important logins and get it working on your phone, usually over a secure remote session while you watch. It’s covered by our no-fix-no-fee promise. Call 01202 775566.
How long does it take and what does it cost?
It depends on how much mail you have and how tidy the mailbox is — a simple inbox is quick, twenty years of folders takes longer. Rather than quote a made-up figure, we’ll give you a straight price once we know what’s involved, and there’s no fee if we can’t help. Just give us a ring.
What are the Plusnet email settings?
For most accounts: incoming imap.plus.net on port 993 (SSL/TLS), or POP on mail.plus.net port 995; outgoing relay.plus.net on port 587. Older force9 and free-online addresses use their own server names. These now pass through a proxy that routes you to Plusnet or Greenby depending on whether your account has already moved.
What if my mailbox has already moved to Greenby?
That’s fine — you can still copy everything into Gmail using the same methods, as the server names redirect to Greenby automatically. The one thing we can’t do is recover a mailbox that has been fully closed and deleted, so the sooner you move it the safer. If you’re unsure of your status, we can check it with you.
Move your Plusnet email before you lose it
We’ll copy every message and folder into Gmail, update your logins and set it up on your phone — usually remotely, all in plain English. No-fix-no-fee.
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