July Update 2026. The Hide My Email flaw is unmasking Apple aliases (public disclosure on July 1st, still not fixed). Another argument for sovereign aliases: see the email comparison update.

May Update 2026. Another reason to migrate: Proton Mail now offers post-quantum encryption for new emails, included for free. Your communications remain unreadable even by a future quantum computer that stored today’s encrypted versions. Details in the radar.

Gmail is like that roommate apartment where the landlord reads your mail. Not maliciously, just systematically. Since 2004. To show you ads.

Switching to Proton Mail is getting your keys back. Emails between Proton users are end-to-end encrypted, keys generated on your devices, Proton has no technical access. For incoming emails from outside (like from Gmail), Proton encrypts them upon receipt with your public key, and only you can decrypt them. In both cases, Proton can’t read your emails, even if legally compelled.

The migration itself is simpler than it sounds. Allow 30 minutes for a light account, 1 to 2 hours if you have years of Gmail archives. At the end, you’ll have all your old emails in Proton, your contacts imported, and Gmail will automatically forward new messages to your Proton box during the transition.

Read: Apple Mail vs Gmail vs Proton Mail: The Honest Comparison to understand why Proton Mail is architecturally different.

Before You Begin

What you’ll need:

• A Mac running macOS 12 Monterey or later
• An active Gmail account with IMAP access enabled (enabled by default on most accounts)
• A Proton Mail account (the free plan is enough to test; if you have more than 1GB of emails, a paid plan is necessary, see Step 1)
• Between 30 minutes and 2 hours depending on your mail volume

What will change:

• Your emails will now pass through Proton’s servers (Switzerland), encrypted on the server side
• You’ll access your mailbox through the Proton Mail app on Mac (paid, 14-day free trial available) or through the web on mail.proton.me, or through Apple Mail with Proton Bridge (paid plan required for Bridge)
• Your new address will be in @proton.me (or @protonmail.com)

What won’t change right away:

• Your existing emails on Gmail will remain there until you import them
• Your newsletter subscriptions and registered accounts will keep your old Gmail address until you update them manually
• You can keep Gmail active in parallel throughout the transition

The operation is entirely reversible. You won’t delete anything at Google at this stage.

Step 1: Create Your Proton Mail Account

Go to proton.me/mail and sign up.

Free plan: 1 address @proton.me, 500MB of base storage (expandable to 1GB by completing the Proton startup checklist), web and mobile app access. Easy Switch is available on the free plan, but the available storage acts as a ceiling for import: with 1GB, you can import about 1GB of old emails.

Plus Mail plan: 15GB of storage, 10 addresses, custom domain support, access to Proton Bridge if you want to use Apple Mail, and SimpleLogin included (an email alias service, more on that in Step 6). Price: $3.99/month (annual billing).

If your Gmail account exceeds 1GB of archives, you’ll need to upgrade to a higher plan or clean up before migrating.

Tip: You can start on the free plan, import the last 12 months, and upgrade to a higher plan if necessary.

Choose your address carefully. [email protected] for professional use, something shorter for everyday use. You won’t be able to change it later.

Step 2: Import Your Emails from Gmail via Easy Switch

Proton offers a built-in import tool that connects directly to your Gmail account via OAuth, without needing your Gmail password on Proton. Google generates a temporary authorization, Proton uses it to read your mailbox, and that’s it.

In Proton Mail web:

1. Go to Settings (gear icon at the top right) > All Settings
2. Click on Import via Easy Switch
3. Select Gmail
4. Click on Connect to Google, a Google OAuth window will open
5. Log in with your Gmail account and authorize the access to your mailbox

Once connected, Easy Switch will display your Gmail folders (Inbox, Sent, Archives, etc.) and let you choose what you want to import. By default, it selects everything: Starred, All Mail, Important, contacts, and calendars.

Path: Proton Mail web > Settings > All Settings > Import via Easy Switch > Gmail > Connect to Google

What you should see: a list of your Gmail folders with message counts, and an estimate of the import time.

Tip: If you have years of archives, the import can take several hours and will run in the background. You can close the tab and come back later.

Recommendation: import the last 12 months first to start using Proton quickly, then come back for the rest.

Step 3: Import Your Contacts

Emails without contacts are half as useful. Google Contacts exports easily.

From Google Contacts:

1. Go to contacts.google.com
2. Click on Export in the left sidebar
3. Select All contacts and the format vCard (.vcf)
4. Download the .vcf file to your Mac

Path: contacts.google.com > Export > All contacts > vCard format

In Proton Mail web:

1. Go to the Contacts tab (icon at the top left)
2. Click on Import
3. Select the downloaded .vcf file
4. Confirm the import

Path: Proton Mail web > Contacts > Import > select the.vcf file

What you should see: a summary of the imported contacts, with any detected duplicates to merge.

Step 4: Set Up Proton Mail on Mac

Two options depending on your plan.

Option A: Proton Mail desktop app (paid plan, 14-day free trial)

Download the Proton Mail app from proton.me/mail/download.

It’s an Electron app (like VSCode), not a native AppKit app. It’s not as smooth as Apple Mail, but it handles encrypted emails without any additional configuration.

Warning: the desktop app is only for paid plans. Free accounts get a 14-day trial, after which access is limited to the web version on mail.proton.me.

Launch the app, log in with your Proton account, and you’ll access your mailbox directly.

Option B: Apple Mail via Proton Bridge (paid plan)

If you want to continue using Apple Mail with your encrypted Proton emails, you’ll need Proton Bridge, a tool that translates between Apple Mail and Proton servers by decrypting locally on your Mac.

Proton Bridge is only for paid plans.

Read: Proton Bridge + Apple Mail on Mac, the complete guide with all the setup steps.

Step 5: Enable Gmail Forwarding (optional)

This step is optional but highly recommended during the transition period. It ensures you won’t miss any messages while updating your accounts.

In Gmail:

1. Open Settings (gear icon at the top right) > See all settings
2. Go to the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab
3. Click on Add a forwarding address
4. Enter your Proton Mail address
5. Gmail will send a verification email to your Proton address, retrieve the confirmation code
6. Go back to Gmail, enter the code, and enable forwarding

Path: Gmail > Settings > See all settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP > Add a forwarding address

What you should see: your Proton address appears in the forwarding address list with the status “On”.

Tip: Keep this forwarding active for 3 to 6 months. It protects against any forgotten updates while you’re updating your important accounts.

For the Impatient

What this article does: migrate a Gmail mailbox to Proton Mail on Mac without losing any emails, while keeping a temporary forwarding active during the transition. The import is done through Proton’s Easy Switch tool (OAuth connection, no Gmail password needed on Proton).

In practice:

1. Create an account on proton.me/mail (free to start)
2. Proton Mail web > Settings > Import via Easy Switch > Gmail > Connect to Google
3. contacts.google.com > Export > All contacts > vCard (.vcf)
4. Proton Mail web > Contacts > Import > select the.vcf file
5. Proton Mail desktop app on proton.me/mail/download (paid, 14-day free trial available) or web version on mail.proton.me (free) or set up Proton Bridge + Apple Mail (paid plan required)
6. Gmail > Settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP > Add a forwarding address = your Proton address
7. Update important accounts in order of priority (banks, admin, services, networks)

Any technical terms? Check the glossary.