AT&T Email Backup Tool: Save ATT Emails to Outlook, Gmail or Hard Drive
The AT&T email backup tool from Turgs lets you save all AT&T (att.net) webmail emails to PST, EML, MBOX, PDF and more. You can also migrate directly to Gmail, Outlook or Office 365. Download the free trial, enter your AT&T credentials, select folders and click Backup. A 1,000-email mailbox typically completes in under 5 minutes.
AT&T has been consolidating email services for years. If you’re on att.net, sbcglobal.net, bellsouth.net or any of the other domains they’ve absorbed, your account could change at any time.
And if it does, you want a backup. A real one. Not just “some emails forwarded to Gmail.”
This guide walks you through every method to back up your AT&T email, from a quick manual forward to a full automated archive of your entire mailbox.
Why You Need an AT&T Email Backup Right Now
AT&T’s consumer email service has been through multiple transitions. AT&T has moved its email infrastructure to Yahoo servers, and accounts on att.net, sbcglobal.net, bellsouth.net and related domains are technically hosted by Yahoo on AT&T’s behalf.
That arrangement creates risk. Service changes, account suspensions or even a missed payment can lock you out. For anyone using an AT&T email address as their primary business or personal contact, that’s a real problem.
A backup gives you:
Local access. All your emails saved on your own computer, accessible without any internet connection or account login.
Migration flexibility. A clean export file you can import into any email client like Outlook, Thunderbird or Apple Mail, without starting over.
Legal protection. If you have any contracts, invoices or important correspondence in your AT&T inbox, a backup is your evidence trail.
Method 1: Forward AT&T Emails to Gmail (Quick but Limited)
If you just want new emails to arrive in Gmail going forward, forwarding is the fastest option. It won’t move your existing emails. Only new ones arriving after you set it up.
- Log in to your AT&T account at mail.att.net.
- Click the Settings gear icon in the top right corner.
- Go to Account, then select your AT&T email address.
- Scroll down to Access AT&T Mail elsewhere.
- Select Forward, enter your Gmail address and click Verify.
- Choose what happens to forwarded messages (keep a copy or delete from AT&T).
Verification sends a code to your Gmail. Enter it to confirm, and forwarding activates immediately.
This works for ongoing email. It does not help with anything already in your inbox.
Method 2: Full AT&T Email Backup with the Turgs Tool (Recommended)
For a complete backup: every email, every folder, all attachments, historical messages going back years. You need an automated tool. The Turgs Email Backup Tool connects to your AT&T account over IMAP and exports everything in the format you choose.
What the Tool Backs Up
All folders: Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Trash and any custom folders you’ve created. Every email with its full header data: sender, recipients, date, subject and body. Attachments included in the export file. Contacts and calendar items if available in the account.
Output Formats
- PST: imports directly into Microsoft Outlook.
- EML: compatible with Thunderbird, Windows Live Mail and most other desktop clients.
- MBOX: works with Apple Mail, Thunderbird and Gmail import.
- MSG: native Outlook message format.
- PDF: read-only archive for long-term storage.
- HTML, RTF, MHT: document formats for easy viewing.
Step-by-Step: How to Back Up AT&T Email
Step 1. Download the Turgs Email Backup Tool and install it on your Windows PC. The free trial lets you export 25 emails per folder to verify the output before purchasing.
Step 2. Open the tool. In the left panel, select AT&T Email from the email source list.
Step 3. Enter your AT&T email address and password. The tool connects via a secure IMAP connection. If your account is on the Yahoo-hosted infrastructure, use imap.mail.att.net as the incoming server.
Step 4. The tool loads your folder tree. Select all folders or choose specific ones. For example, Inbox only, Sent items, or a specific project folder.
Step 5. Choose your output format. PST if you’re heading to Outlook. MBOX if you’re going to Gmail or Apple Mail. PDF if you need a permanent archive.
Step 6. Apply date filters if needed. You can narrow the export to a specific date range, sender address or subject keyword. A 1,000-email mailbox with no filters takes about 5 minutes on a standard broadband connection.
Step 7. Click Backup. The tool processes each folder and saves the output to your chosen location. A progress bar shows real-time status.
How to Migrate AT&T Email Directly to Gmail or Office 365
If your goal is moving to Gmail or Office 365 rather than saving a local file, the process is the same. Just choose Gmail or Office 365 as your output destination instead of a file format.
The tool asks for your destination account credentials and migrates the emails directly, folder by folder. Your AT&T folder structure maps to Gmail labels. The migration happens server-to-server through the tool. No manual download or re-upload required.
For more on the Office 365 migration path, the guide on migrating Gmail emails to Office 365 covers the same credential and folder-mapping steps.
AT&T Mail Server Settings
If you want to configure your AT&T email in a desktop client like Outlook or Thunderbird manually, here are the correct server settings.
IMAP (incoming): Server: imap.mail.att.net | Port: 993 | Encryption: SSL
POP3 (incoming): Server: inbound.att.net | Port: 995 | Encryption: SSL
SMTP (outgoing): Server: smtp.mail.att.net | Port: 465 or 587 | Encryption: SSL/STARTTLS
Use your full AT&T email address as the username. If your account uses two-factor authentication, you’ll need to generate an app-specific password from your AT&T account security settings before configuring a desktop client.
AT&T Email Domains Covered
The Turgs backup tool works with all AT&T-managed email domains. That includes att.net, sbcglobal.net, bellsouth.net, ameritech.net, flash.net, nvbell.net, pacbell.net, swbell.net, prodigy.net, snet.net and att.com. All of these use the same underlying Yahoo-hosted IMAP infrastructure.
If you’re also looking to archive emails from other major providers, the same process applies to downloading AT&T email attachments as standalone files, or you can compare the approach with backing up NetZero webmail and 1and1 webmail backup. All follow the same tool workflow. For a Yahoo-specific walkthrough, see exporting Yahoo Mail to PST.
Common Issues and Fixes
Login fails with correct credentials. AT&T accounts on the Yahoo infrastructure sometimes require you to enable IMAP access first. Log in to your AT&T webmail, go to Settings, then Security, and make sure third-party app access is enabled. You may also need to generate an app-specific password.
Only some emails appear. This usually means certain folders aren’t selected. Go back to the folder selection screen and enable all folders rather than just Inbox.
Backup stops partway through. Large mailboxes can time out on slow connections. Use the date range filter to break the export into smaller batches. One year at a time works well.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the AT&T email backup tool work with sbcglobal.net and bellsouth.net accounts?
Yes. All AT&T-managed domains including sbcglobal.net, bellsouth.net, ameritech.net and others use the same IMAP infrastructure. The tool connects to all of them using your email address and password. No special configuration needed.
Can I back up AT&T email on a Mac?
The Turgs Email Backup Tool runs on Windows only. On a Mac, the best option is to add your AT&T account to Apple Mail using IMAP settings, then use Apple Mail’s Export Mailbox feature to save the emails as MBOX files locally.
Will my AT&T email attachments be included in the backup?
Yes. Attachments are included in PST, EML, MBOX and MSG exports. In PDF export mode, attachments are embedded where technically possible. You can also extract just the attachments as standalone files using the selective export settings.
How long does a full AT&T email backup take?
A 1,000-email mailbox typically takes 4 to 6 minutes on a standard broadband connection. A 10,000-email account with large attachments may take 30 to 60 minutes. The tool’s progress bar shows folder-by-folder status throughout.
Is my AT&T password safe when I enter it in the tool?
The tool uses a direct IMAP connection to AT&T’s servers and does not transmit your credentials to any Turgs server. Your password is used only to authenticate the IMAP session and is not stored after the backup completes.
Can I schedule automatic AT&T email backups?
The current version of the tool is manual. Run it when you want a backup. For ongoing protection, the most practical approach is to run a backup monthly or before any planned account change, such as switching hosting providers or canceling a service.
