Export Windows Live Mail to Gmail

Retiring my mother's PC that runs Windows Live Mail with years of family correspondence in local storage folders.

The destination is her Gmail account so everything survives the machine. What is the path?

The neat surprise: WLM itself is the migration tool, because it speaks IMAP well enough to upload its own storage folders into Gmail directly, no exports or conversions on the happy path.

1

In Gmail's settings enable IMAP under Forwarding and POP/IMAP, and if the account has 2 step verification, make an app password for WLM.

2

In WLM add the Gmail account: Accounts, Email, entering the address and that app password. WLM configures Gmail's IMAP servers itself on that era of account setup, imap.gmail.com appearing in the account properties.

3

Once the Gmail account shows in WLM's folder pane, create folders under it mirroring the storage folders, then drag the contents of each storage folder into its Gmail twin. Each drag uploads to the server, watch the progress per folder and let one finish before the next.

4

Verify in Gmail's web interface where the folders appear as labels, comparing counts per folder, then the PC can retire with everything already living server side.

Two practical notes for the session: thousands of messages per drag can stall on that old client, batches of a few hundred keep it steady and WLM being discontinued means an odd crash mid upload is possible, harmless since re-dragging skips nothing important, duplicates being removable in Gmail afterwards. The contacts deserve their own five minutes too: WLM's contacts export to CSV from its contacts view and import at contacts.google.com, completing the machine's retirement properly.

Uploaded 14 storage folders over an afternoon in batches, counts verified in the browser. Contacts CSV imported too. My mother watched her 2009 emails appear on her phone with genuine wonder. PC retired with honors.