Migrate AOL Mail to Outlook Application by Converting PFC to PST

AOL is a popular web-based email client and has the data stored in the PFC (Personal Cabinet File) format whereas Microsoft Outlook stores the emails and its related contents in PST format. Due to the mismatch of the file formats, AOL emails cannot be accessed directly in Outlook. They have to be converted to the PST format and then can be viewed on Outlook. To convert AOL PFC to PST, this blog discusses the methods to migrate AOL Mail to Outlook email application. Once a user asked:

"I have an account in AOL for a long time and now I wish to have a new account in Microsoft Outlook. Could you help me in transferring the contents of my AOL account to the Outlook account so that I can retain the data without losing any information?"

Reasons to Convert AOL to Outlook PST

Reasons may be varied as when the users of a particular organization have to move from AOL Mail to Outlook. Also, Microsoft Outlook has some unique features, which coax the users towards this migration. Those features of Outlook luring users are as follows: 

• 1. It can be integrated with different inbuilt MS Office applications.
  
• 2. It is a highly secure email client having cross-program functionalities.
  

Manual Methods to Migrate AOL Mail to Outlook

Method 1: Migrate via Emails

• 1. The user has to select the email messages that are to be transferred to Outlook PST format
  
• 2. Send the emails to the email account on MS Outlook
  
• 3. The emails received in MS Outlook will be automatically in PST form and can be viewed after configuring the email account.
  

Method 2: Add AOL Mail Account to Outlook 2010 Using IMAP

• 1. Open Outlook program.
  
• 2. Click on File -> Info -> Account Settings menu to open the Account Settings Window
  
• 3. Click the New button in the Email tab which is the first tab.
  
• 4. The adjacent Manual setup or additional server types checkbox is to be ticked and click on Next.
  
• 5. From the list of options, select IMAP/POP.
  
• 6. Verify the following under the Server information section-
  - Account Type- IMAP
  - Incoming Mail Server- imap.aol.com
  - Outgoing mail server (SMTP)- smtp.aol.com
  
  
• 7. In the Login Information, enter-
  - User Name- Full address of AOL email, for eg, xyz@aol.com
  - Password- your AOL email password
  
  
• 8. To migrate AOL Mail to Outlook, check on the Remember Password box.
  
• 9. Click on More Settings.
  
• 10. The Internet E-Mail Settings screen pops up and click on the Outgoing Server tab.
  
• 11. When the Outgoing Server tab is visible, check the My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication box.
  
• 12. Also, next you need to click on the radio button- for this, use same settings as there in my incoming mail server.
  
• 13. Click on the Advanced tab now and verify the following-
  - Incoming Server (IMAP) – Port 993
  - Incoming Server encrypted connection- SSL
  - Outgoing Server (SMTP) - Port 587
  - Outgoing Server encrypted connection- TLS/Auto
  
• 14. Click on OK button.
  
• 15. For testing to see if everything is entered properly or not, check the ‘Test Account Settings by clicking the Next button’ box. Click on the Next button.
  
• 16. If everything is entered properly, then you get a congratulations message display window saying that the tasks have been completed. Close the window. Now you can use your AOL account through Outlook.
  
• 17. You will get a final congratulations window. Click on Finish button.
  
• 18. Now you can access your AOL email account through Microsoft Outlook 2010. The method for other versions of Outlook like 2007, 2013, 2016 is the same. Care should be taken to verify the IMAP accounts and ports for the incoming and outgoing server.
  

Limitations of Manual Methods

The problem with such methods to migrate AOL Mail to Outlook is that they are suitable only for a few emails. When bulk emails and the folders are to be migrated, the techniques don’t really work. Also, some important emails may be left out in this process. Another drawback of the manual approach is that the user should have some technical expertise in IMAP/POP3 settings. Also, such processes are very lengthy and time-consuming.

Automated Tool as an Alternative

The above-listed shortcomings of the manual approach are overcome by using a reliable third-party tool like AOL to PST Converter which can effectively migrates migrate AOL Mail to Outlook email application in an easy way. There is no sort of data loss in this method. There is another advantage of doing this. It can be used to take a backup of AOL emails so that it can be retrieved when needed.

Ending Notes

AOL users face issues such as security threats and server being down, and these are the reasons why they migrate AOL Mail to Outlook. In this blog, both the manual method and the automated approach are discussed. The use of the third-party tool is also recommended since it is safe and reliable to move the data conveniently.